Reading Room Theme IV - Older Lads Fic - Fire Held High and Away by Miriam Heddy

[starlite876.livejournal.com]

Title: Fire Held High and Away
Author: Miriam Heddy
Link to story or zine/ProsLib info: at the Circuit Archive or at the Hatstand Archive or on the ProsLib CD or in The Bisto Kids zine
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle

The title of the story is explained in the first couple of paragraphs which describes how the person who holds the Olympic Torch must to strike a balance when running and holding the Olympic Torch - that the torch must be held high and away or else the torch bearer would be burnt by the fire.



The story is written entirely from Bodie's POV and begins right after Involvement when Ann has left Doyle. The story then skips forward a couple of years and now the lads are no longer part of the 'A' squad but still with CI5. Doyle is being groomed to be Cowley's successor, while Bodie is working in the training centre, having taking over Macklin's job.

Although the lads are no longer partners on the streets, there are still best friends and rely on each other both at work and off work. When Doyle is stressed and frustrated with dealing with the bureaucracy it is Bodie who tries and cheers him up. Most of the time off work they spend together in each other's company. Although Bodie is bisexual in this story, they are not lovers (at least not at the start of the story).

We see the day-to-day lives of the lads both at work and off work, and the sneakiness of Doyle to orchestrate them into sharing a flat together. The move from friendship into something more is well written and I love the fact that Bodie had absolutely no idea of what Doyle was up to.

But what works for me best in this story is the banter between the lads - sharp and witty, and seem so true to what we see of the lads on screen.

Did this story work for you?

Do you think it is possible that either one or both of the lads would/could be groomed to takeover from Cowley? This seems to be a common premise in many Older Lads stories - for example, the story in last week's review had Doyle second-in-charge of CI5. In other Older Lads stories both Bodie and Doyle are "co-controllers" of CI5. Do you think it would take both lads to do Cowley's job? Or would one lad be more successful than the other, and if so who would be more successful as controller of CI5?

I will most likely not be able to access my computer for the next 24 hours due to the time zone differences and work commitments (I'm on a training course to learn about the thrilling subject of Project Management Life Cycle *snooze* ) so please discuss amongst yourselves and I hope to be able to come back to the LJ and read everyone's comments soon.

Comments

[firlefanzine.livejournal.com]

I really should be working... ;-)
***

"What I see in this is that Doyle hasn't forgotten about Bodie at all - instead he's been separated from him, and is trying to do his half of the job alone - and he's nervous about it. We know he's short-tempered from the eps, and it seems very canon to me that he'd snap something sarcastic back at Bodie if he felt deep down that Bodie had abandoned him somehow. And Bodie doesn't really seem to want to do the job that Doyle does, he's too laid back for it, again just as we see in the eps."
I was talking about the moment when Doyle complains about HIM being tested by Cowley during his holidays. It wasn't yet clear if Cowley would plan something similar with Bodie. Doyle doesn't spend one moment thinking of Bodie – and I don't see Doyle this way in canon! He may be short-fused but he is not that insensitive.

"It occurs to him as well that he and Doyle should be considered together, that if they're thinking of Cowley's job as the "top job" then there's no reason why Doyle should be thought of as more "top" than Bodie himself (especially if he thought Cowley did prefer him really). But we don't hear him sounding cross or bitter about it really because he isn't...
Yes! "It occurs to him…" That's a very good description for what Bodie is doing in this fic. He doesn't contemplates anything, he just 'reacts'

"In fact, I think the introductory paragraph tells us more than I first realised about this story, and about the way Bodie's mind is working."
I don't like such metaphors unless they are very obvious… ;-)
You declaration may be right – but someone else could interpret it completely different – so I don't even start thinking about it… Sorry!

"Nearly ALL of Bodie's thoughts circle around Ray, everything is RAY centric..."
"And that's why Bodie's strength is in the training job he's been given - accurate short-term assessment and training, he just doesn't have the focus that's needed to do Cowley's job."
I don't see it this way. He just takes things for granted and he doesn't need confirmation all the time. He's somehow happy with his job for the moment, knowing there is more to come.
But as I said, those are all my own assumptions – because we don't get enough answers from Bodie himself in this fic.

"He does know exactly how to bring Doyle down from focussing too much on the job though, and that's where they complement each other again.
Yeah – but where is "Bodie" in this scheme of life?

Back to work... Sigh...

[starlite876.livejournal.com]

I think I phased it badly when I said "Bodie is working in the training centre, having taking over Macklin's job." because I do believe that Cowley is also grooming Bodie to do more. But this leads me back to the question that it appears that neither Bodie nor Doyle can takeover Cowley's role and that the job requires both of them to work together.

I'm about to run out the door for work, but just wanted to thank you for your thoughtful comments.