Fire (Professionals story)

Fanfiction
Title:	Fire
Author(s):	PFL
Date(s):
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	The Professionals
Relationship(s):	Bodie/Doyle
External Links:	online here
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Fire is a Bodie/Doyle story by PFL.

It was written for the "Discovered on All Hallow's Eve" challenge on the discoveredinalj livejournal community. The sequel to this story is Blood.

Reactions and Reviews

I had never read this story until now although admire and enjoy PFL’s writing. This link takes you to the individual story, but the original link in the list took you to an online zine containing five stories – all of which are worth reading.

“Fire” starts with Bodie and Doyle holed up in a ruined croft (croft is a Scottish term for a small area of land which would include the crofter’s dwelling), following a car accident. Or rather Bodie driving off the road to avoid “something”. His recollection is vague. Both are injured and Doyle’s injury to his leg appears to be life-threatening. I’m not totally convinced that he would have survived the blood loss, but that’s the joy of writing fiction I guess!

There was an initial panic in my mind that Doyle was going to die and there had been no helpful warnings/spoilers so I very naughtily went to the last page (I was reading this on my Kindle). I know, it’s a very bad thing to do, but I do it. I then became very confused. The last page was, of course, not the ending to “Fire” but the ending to the final story in the zine. So I had my comeuppance! Just in case you need reassurance, Doyle doesn’t die!

In some respects this story has a very small supernatural element. The implication that “something” made them leave the road and crash is never satisfactorily explained even though there is a tale of an unexplained death in the croft and the fact that Bodie was not the only driver to leave the road at that point as explained later in Cowley's office....The background to their stranded circumstances is a hint of an operation which should have been relatively routine degenerating into a much more dangerous situation. This explains the lack of back-up and gives the writer the opportunity to have them stranded and injured for long enough to examine, discuss and finally understand their complex relationship. Finally, it’s all very simple, they are meant to be together!

PFL takes the opportunity to reveal and explore characters as well as highlight Bodie’s survival techniques and medical training. Doyle’s soul-searching and the dialogue are well written and keep the reader’s attention. I felt that the characterisation was good and although perhaps not a story I will re-read, I enjoyed it and its very satisfactory, happy ending.

Well, but how they got out of the fire is never explained, either. In everything that's revealed during the story, Bodie isn't in shape to carry Doyle outside. I thought the supernatural was extremely subtle - which was kind of refreshing. :-)

IMO the supernatural elements are too 'subtle' (thanks golden_bastet for that term!), IF there is a story about it, I don't need horror or something like that, just a little hint of an explanation.

And a happy ending is absolutely required! (And I read endings as well when I'm not sure...)

The story may be dark and even desperate - but in the end B+D should end alive and together and happy! :-)

I liked it. I don't mind not having everything explained. I do that myself. It's fun having something to mull over.

I didn't feel it lacked supernatural elements because I liked how we're shown Bodie taking care of Doyle.

Yes, I want a happy ending. I'm not a fan of sad or (more annoying to me) ambiguous endings. *bg* I actually don't mind an upbeat but somewhat unresolved ending, which I think is different than ambiguous.

I find this story a little frustrating, to be honest. I like the ending, especially when Bodie and Doyle are talking to each other via the nurse! But I think it's one of those long stories that's just desperate to burst out of what it's been written as (which, to be fair, was the Discovered on All Hallow's Eve challenge). In many ways it's really a snippet from a longer story: there's been an operation involving homegrown terrorists and bodies in a safehouse, a haunted croft with an evil reputation, and Bodie and Doyle have begun a relationship but something has gone wrong that needs resolving. The only part of this story included in Fire is the resolution of the lads' relationship, which is fine, but... I'd like the rest as well, please!

In particular I'd like more about the supernatural element, if this is to be described as a supernatural story. Of course we don't have to label everything, but I think without a bit more development it's almost as if the supernatural in the story is a convenient plot device to get the lads into an accident, and nothing more - so I don't quite believe in it. On the other hand, if it'd been a more intrinsic part of the story, with a build up and then some closure, I would have felt more... complete.

The way the operation has been crammed into the story was also a bit difficult for me to read, more as if the author felt it was imperative to include the information and adding it as exposition via Bodie's hazy memory and the Murphy/Cowley exchange was the only means available. Again - I wanted more - or perhaps less, because the operation isn't the focus of the story.

So maybe, for me, it's that the focus of this story isn't clear enough... should I be interested in the lads? Well of course - but if I'm interested in the lads, then it's actually their glitching relationship that I want to know more about, and how they felt escaping the fire, how they saved each other, and we're not told that. If I'm interested in the supernatural element, then I'm not told who or why or how it's resolved, or how much Bodie really is open to it through his grandmother, just that there is something supernatural. And if I'm interested in the operation itself, then all I've been told is what happened at the end, not anything about it. So... as you'd expect from PFL this is well-written, but I feel there's just not enough of it to satisfy me on the level of a story...

As for happy endings - I do like a happy ending! But I'm also happy to read sad endings and ambiguous endings now and then, because for me it's not knowing the ending that makes it sweeter. If I know how something's going to resolve itself, if it's a given that they'll end up happily ever after, then something's taken away from the story, for me - why am I reading it? I'd be better off reading pwp (porn without plot), or a curtain fic, or a gen operation story. There is, for instance, a zine publisher who insists on happy endings for all her zine stories, and I don't think I'v ever read one of her zines, let alone bought it, because... why? I already know what's going to happen - they're going to live happily ever after - so I'd only be getting half a story each time. Same if I'm "warned" that a story is a death story (for instance) - now I know what's going to happen, so why bother reading it...?

Hmm. I actually find this one of the few supernatural stories that really sets my hair on end. Maybe it's the Blair Witch-style understatement. I don't often go for supernatural in Pros (or at all, come to that) but I find the supernatural element in this one genuinely creepy.

I really liked this. And what I really liked is the way the supernatural element was used. Was there something going on, or was it just Bodie's concussion, mixed with tales and warning from his youth? Like "The Haunting of Hill House," you never really know if it's tricks of the spirits or tricks of the mind.

I love this story, but it doesn't quite hold up as a supernatural story for me. There's not enough, and there weren't enough hooks for me to hang detail on all by myself. I can gloss over Bodie seeing something with an evil face, and someone else dying in the cottage. Bodie was tired and stressed, and people die all over the place. Meh.

I love the writing, and I really like the insight it gives to their characters and their relationship. In fact, although I have read this several times, I have pretty much ignored the supernatural element and so was surprised when it turned up in this reading room. I'm always happy to re-read it, though *g*

And yes, I do prefer happy endings. I try quite hard not to read death fic, and ther are a couple of authors I shy away from because I know that a happy ending is unlikely. If there aren't warnings, and I'm unsure, I will often skip to the end just to check. That's not to say that everything has to go smoothly throughout the story, but I do like it to end well. I think this is because I read for relaxation and because there's usually enough stress or difficulty happening elsewhere in my life for me to read stuff that will probably depress me. I know, I know - Mills and Boon all the way *g*

I really enjoyed the story, I loved the h/c but then I am a real sucker for it and the hint of mystery added a nice twist.

I didn't feel I needed more of the supernatural element, it was subtle enough for me not to be put off (not a fan of supernatural stories generally) but I still considered it a valuable thread throughout, creating mystery and interest in the why's and wherefores. For one thing it satisfied was my need to know why Bodie went off the road! I mean he is an experienced driver and I don't like to think he couldn't control the car at speed, it wouldn't seem right for him to crash because he was driving past his capability.

Personally I don't always want to have the answers given to me on a plate, I like the challenge of working it out in my own head. This story made me ponder the answers to the unanswered questions and I like that in a story, were they destined to survive, did they only survive because of the fire, did Bodie's gran have some insight?

I thought the scene in the croft was brilliant. It was chilling, emotional and tender without being soppy. I thought it was realistic how Bodie gradually remembered what had happened before and how his fear grew as he remembered Doyle had been shot. I don't necessarily want a happy ending but I want a satisfying one. Happy or not, it needs to be realistic and believable. I definitely wouldn't read the ending of a story...ever and I would prefer not to know if it is a death fic prior to reading although if I do know at least I'm ready for it.

I love this story, as I love most things by this author. As a hurt/comfort and a psychological drama, it totally works for me. As a supernatural thing, not so much. For me, here, the supernatural element(s) are so utterly secondary as to be almost throw-aways - plot device and nothing more. But I love the story. :-D