Soul Survivor

Fanfiction
Title:	Soul Survivor
Author(s):	Lizzie
Date(s):	2001
Length:
Genre(s):	slash, Bodie/Doyle
Fandom(s):	The Professionals
Relationship(s):	Bodie/Doyle
External Links:	Soul Survivor
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Soul Survivor by Professionals story by Lizzie.

It was published in Priority A-3 #3.

Reactions and Reviews

An older Bodie and Doyle story, which has links to the Titanic. I enjoyed the story; I enjoyed the characterisation of the older boys and the OCs whom Lizzie introduced. Their parts were not big, but Lizzie managed to make them real, not just characters on a page.

The story is an established relationship one and there is no angst between or within the boys' relationship. It's all set around an antique mirror that Bodie buys and hangs over their bed. The mirror is believed to have come from the Titanic, and was one of the 'survivors' of the sinking. It appears that the mirror has supernatural powers and has been responsible for more than one death, indeed Bodie awakes to cold fingers on his back... no they are not Ray's!

We meet a lovely old lady who takes to them both, asks them in slightly covert terms if they are intimate with each other, and we discover that the mirror is responsible for her brother's death. She calls them William and Raymond and bakes a wonderful Victoria sponge, which Bodie devours.

There's a lovely little sex scene in the back of the car once they get back home, all the more enjoyable because of the slight risk element. Bodie makes a comment about all sex manuals recommending different places and they exchange some fun banter, before Bodie tells Ray to get into the back; Doyle obliges.

The story is a good combination of love, humour, a believable plot, great banter and by-play, tension--the final scene when the mirror attacks and almost kills Bodie, is particularly good, especially because Bodie only goes out into the garden (where they have left the mirror) to do his 'boy scout' act with the neighbours cat--and some overall very memorable lines and good characterisation.

I love the line, "Doyle had 'grown into' his looks," and I also really like the scene when they are visiting the antique seller to enquire about the mirror and the guy is obviously attracted to them both. Firstly Doyle and then Bodie, and another of Lizzie's lines I particularly liked was when Doyle mouths, "mine." Simple, straightforward, and compact, and very in keeping with the Bodie and Doyle of the show. We do see a lot of possessiveness in the show, and Lizzie manages to show that this has continued in one very simple line.

Basically it's a good, gentle, yet totally believable read, a story I will enjoy reading again.

An established relationship story set when Doyle is forty-five years old. Bodie and Doyle are still apparently working for CI5, but nothing is seen of their working lives; all the action is set in their free time and involves neither CI5 nor relationship issues. The Lads are openly living together. The story concerns the events that occur when Bodie buys a mirror that was reputedly salvaged from the Titanic.

The story didn't work for me, but I should note that supernatural stories aren't a favourite of mine. I felt a significant lack of tension throughout, in no small measure because, as a story in a zine that is known to publish only tales with happy endings, I never felt any doubt the Lads would triumph over the evil mirror. Even if there had been actual suspense, however, the premise was too ludicrous for me to care about the outcome.

A few other things didn't work well for me personally. For instance, the story has a lot of dialogue, but I could never imagine Bodie and Doyle actually speaking the innuendo and types of jokes these characters utter. Bodie is characterised by a continual desire for food, and sex rears its head in one form or another with monotonous regularity. A sex scene in the car outside their own house, for example, seems entirely gratuitous, and not exactly romantic:

Slowly, Doyle recovered.

"What would you like?" he whispered.

"Your arse," Bodie replied, hoarsely. "It won't take long; just show the dog the bone. I'm leaking like hell."

Readers who like supernatural stories with a non-relationship focus, however, might find this story enjoyable.