ci5hq | Pros Novel Read-Along - Painted Angels by Angelfish

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Pros Novel Read-Along - Painted Angels by Angelfish - Chapter Five

At last!

Painted Angels by Angelfish.
Cover art by

firlefanzine

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

There has been a bomb explosion, and like the other emergency services, Bodie and Doyle, now working together as a team, responded. On arrival, however, Doyle remained by the car, too scared to go any further, while Bodie ran straight into the cloud of smoke to help.

Eventually Doyle screws up his courage and joins Bodie, who is assessing what seems to be a detonator. Doyle recognises it as a specific Irish terrorist group, and Bodie immediately knows who he's talking about. They realise that there's a second device nearby, ready to go off when the emergency services have arrived. They find it, and Doyle uses his penknife to cut the wires - a mad guess between red or blue, because it could be either - and saves the situation.

Even as they're laughing in relief, however, one of the first bomb's victims staggers into them and collapses. They're badly burned and blinded, and asking for Richard. Bodie recoils but Doyle pretends to be Richard as comfort as the man dies in his arms.

The next thing Doyle knows is that he's sitting on a wall outside a church with Bodie, though he can't remember getting there. Bodie is rubbing his back, then "tangles... fingers into his hair, carressing" and explains that the first time in such a situation is the worst, and he'll be okay. Doyle points out that he doesn't ever want to be "okay" with this situation, and begins to feel guilty about not having been able to stop it. He knows London so well, he should have seen some sign. Bodie rejects this - "Jesus Christ, Doyle. You'll sink both of us."

Doyle realises he's been in shock, recovers, and just as he's getting up spots a priest helping the victims. He's not impressed - "Oh great... God's here." Bodie's puzzled by this, and Doyle realises that the priest is giving first aid, not the last rites. As he watches the priest, however, and then hears his voice, Doyle realises that he's familiar. ""Gabriel. Gabe!" and begins to walk into the crowd."

So - what did you think?

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"...Doyle with his knees turned to water, clutching at the car door..." was - as you can probably imagine - no-no-no-no-NO!"

LOL! Exactly my thoughts!

"...And gaah for super-Bodie (in comparison) running straight in while Doyle cowers."

That's the way professionals should act in such a situation. In any case, showing any feelings AFTER such an operation.

No, I have no problem with the Bodie here. But that's not the Doyle we know! And it's not just his hesitation at the beginning, it's also all this musing about heaven and hell - at this wrong moment, when there is real hell around him.

"...tough one for a Catholic, taught from birth that God is up there and mankind down here, hopelessly and forever separate. He has put God back where He should be -- right in his own human breast, with all the joy and pain and agonising responsibility that entails. There is need for him to enter hell..."

And so on..., and so on...

What follows is a superb bomb disposal scene. *bows*

And then again, as you mentioned it, the scenes outside the Brunswick church, and the moment he sees Gabe. All his professionalism is forgotten, and he acts like the heroine in a regency novel.
Hello? Where is my Doyle, please????

Anyway - up until now, I still enjoy the powerfull writing!
...it reminds me a bit of reading Kate MacLean - you don't like these guys, you don't even know them - but you can't stop reading! ;-)

I was thinking Kate MacLean, too, with the narrow point of view.
We are inside Doyle's head, but have no idea what Bodie is really feeling, only getting to see his perfect behavior under pressure.

I'm trying to tell myself that Doyle's hesitation is really just a split second, before going in like he is trained to do.
In the episodes, Doyle does what needs to be done, and saves any doubts and feelings for later.
He really doesn't display that kind of behavior (though we aren't mind readers, and Bodie has said he is scared all the time, for example, but we don't really see that from his actions)
So conceivably, they could both be scared to death, but in this story, Doyle is always the one needing support from a Bodie who knows it all, and has so much more experience.

but have no idea what Bodie is really feeling, only getting to see his perfect behavior under pressure
Maybe that's something else that throws me though - because we do get the story from Bodie's pov sometimes. Like when he thinks about how he thought Doyle was going to abandon him because he didn't follow Bodie straight in - "he'd gone cod white...", that bit. I suppose below that we get a bit of Bodie's positive view of Doyle, in the bomb defusing scene, but it's not the sort of hero-view that we're shown of Bodie... When we see Doyle he's quite often scared or nervous or summat, but when we see Bodie he never is... It just seems unbalanced as writing, as much as anything, I think....

a Bodie who knows it all, and has so much more experience
And that - that right there's what I don't get, or believe! Different experience yeah, but in fact Doyle's been the one dealing with the IRA's terrorism in London since he started in the police force...

hat's the way professionals should act in such a situation. In any case, showing any feelings AFTER such an operation.
Yes! Exactly! That's what they've been trained to do!

this musing about heaven and hell - at this wrong moment, when there is real hell around him
Yes, that too. Although I think the bit you quote below isn't so much him musing as the author telling us what his life has been like. But still... It's too much hesitation, too much cowering, when he should be getting on with his job.

Love the bomb defusing scene - now that I can just picture! *g*

and the moment he sees Gabe. All his professionalism is forgotten, and he acts like the heroine in a regency novel.
Hmmn, I don't know about this, I actually didn't have a problem with him here. His professionalism has taken a hit anyway when he's reacted so strongly about the man dying in his arms (which I have no problem with - there's professionalism and then there's being a robot, and I don't think there's many trained professionals who wouldn't be affected by what happened then), and he's just about to head back in to help again when he sees Gabe. As long as he doesn't just vanish from the job entirely, I'm okay with this bit...

reading Kate MacLean - you don't like these guys, you don't even know them
Ah, now we disagree over Kate MacLean too, I seem to remember... I adore her Pros stories! *g* And I'm also never thrown out of them by the sort of inconsistencies we see from Angelfish here...

"...and the moment he sees Gabe. All his professionalism is forgotten, and he acts like the heroine in a regency novel.
...As long as he doesn't just vanish from the job entirely, I'm okay with this bit..."

But he does! He could have come back later, after the event, to look for Gabe. Now that he knows where he probably works. But no! Without thinking he "...and begins to walk into the crowd."
That's a very stupid thing to do at that moment!

"...Ah, now we disagree over Kate MacLean too, I seem to remember... I adore her Pros stories!"

Well, then we should put her on the list for the next Novel Read-Along! :-)

He could have come back later, after the event, to look for Gabe. Now that he knows where he probably works.
No, it makes absolute sense to me that he walks towards Gabe at the end of this chapter (But he does! had better not be a spoiler, btw!). He's not leaving the site of the bombing, and just abandoning everything, but he has just seen someone who's absolutely tied up with a major trauma in his life. I don't think it's a conscious decision on Doyle's part at all, and I don't blame him either - if I suddenly saw someone I'd loved and lost years ago, and not been able to find since, then I'd probably drop everything to follow them too! And to be fair, he doesn't know that Gabe works at the nearby church, he could just have been passing when the bomb went off, he could have been visiting it, etc.

That's a very stupid thing to do at that moment!
Why?! Why is it "stupid"?

We've got the next novel-read-along story lined up, but we can put Maclean on the list for another time! *g*

"Why?! Why is it "stupid"?"

It is absolutely nonprofessional. It's a very critical situation, and every helping hand is needed - and this CI5 man walks away to follow some ghost from his past...

"...but he has just seen someone who's absolutely tied up with a major trauma in his life. I don't think it's a conscious decision on Doyle's part at all,... "

Oh, come on! Even worse! He's not some butcher or school teacher, or whatever. If he can't handle his past - at such moments -, he's in the wrong job!

And I'd like to see Cowley's reaction if he knew! ;-)

It is absolutely nonprofessional. It's a very critical situation, and every helping hand is needed - and this CI5 man walks away to follow some ghost from his past...
Okay, so you're saying unprofessional (an assessment of the situation) - "stupid" is just a person insult with an ambiguous basis!

I still disagree though - it's not as if Doyle's been slacking (if we ignore the un-Doyle-like behaviour of not running straight in like Bodie did). The reason they're sitting on the wall in the first place is that they worked out who planted the bomb, worked out that there was a second bomb, found it, defused it with seconds to spare, and were just recovering from that when a victim so badly burned that he's blind and his nerves are no longer working, literally falls onto them. Doyle offers what comfort he can, but the man still dies in his arms. I think any professional, no matter how experienced, would be excused for taking whatever kind of break they need in order to keep their sanity. Professionals and the emergency services are trained and experienced, but they're also still people.

And as I said before, there's a limit at this stage to how much they can personally do. Yes, they can jump in and help triage any victims who haven't been given attention yet, but to be honest I'm surprised that Gabe is finding bodies out in the open like that to deal with, because as Doyle notes at the start of the chapter, the emergency services were already there when Bodie and Doyle arrived - "no need for Bodie to run straight in". So there'd be police and other CI5 agents and first responders already on the scene, plus ambulances and medics, plus apparently unhurt passers-by like Gabe. If there was no need for Bodie to run right in as soon as they got there, then twenty or so minutes later there are going to be even more people there to help, and even less need for the lads to wade in. So I reckon they're due a breather, myself!

I reckon Cowley would have recalled them once they'd found the second bomb - and sent them off to chase down Christy McMahon... *g*

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! :-P

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid

I think I know that song!

Stupid Cupid you're a real mean guy
I'd like to clip your wings so you can't fly

Hehe! I never heard that song!
But not bad! :-)

I think it was sung by an American singer, Connie Francis, in the 1950s.

Here you go Stupid Cupid (https://youtu.be/2kJA8v577W8) by Connie Francis

I hope you can see it too.

That's the one! Thank you.

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Pros Novel Read-Along - Painted Angels by Angelfish - Chapter Five

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