The Greatest Treason

Bodie/Doyle Fanfiction
Title:	The Greatest Treason
Author(s):	Lezlie Shell
Date(s):	1995
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	The Professionals
External Links:	online here
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"The Greatest Treason" is a Bodie/Doyle story written by Lezlie Shell.

It was published in D-Notice.

Summary

This is the straightened out plot: the story is a sequence of flashbacks and forwards. D is bisexual but gave up men on joining the police: B finds out and they teeter closer till, after Ann Holly, a last attempt at straightness, D gives in to temptation and initiates sex. The relationship is not doing great, though -- as they are both too wary. Then they are found out and blackmailed (essentially by accident) and B goes to tell C. C salvages the situation (says it was a setup op) but wants D out (C knew D was bi and never liked him or it). B however manages to convince C the relationship was a fluke and is over: at the same time both B&D realize that what they have is precious and decide to commit. All ends well.

Comments by the Author

I finished a story. I never thought I'd be able to make that statement ever again. Everyone has had bouts of writers' block, but I suffer from non-writer's block which is even more serious. People who suffer from writers' block at least consider themselves to be blocked from something they have a legitimate right to think they can do. Non-writer's block must be a fan writer thing. It's kind of like feeling cheated because you can't play Mozart even though you never bothered to learn how to play the piano.

I know, it doesn't make sense. I wrote to a deadline, passed it twice, and ended up dictating changes [K]] wanted at 1:00AM the night before the zine went to the copy shop. I know the story would have been better if I had more time. Unfortunately it would not have gotten done without the deadline.

Reactions and Reviews

1995

I managed to read two stories (Courtney's and Lezlie's); everything else depressed me too much. Sorry. Good writing, but not the sort of zine for someone with my tastes. Liked Lezlie's the best, though it had some rushed scenes. Courtney's was okay, but didn't do anything special for me. No reaction to page 8, either. Maybe it's just me.

Lezlie Conch contributed "The Greatest Treason." It is a story of hot sex and triple think machinations. It isn't one of Lezlie's "fun" stories, but it is certainly one of her best. The writing is strong, energetic and each of the writers have complete control of their characters and plots. They are tightly written with well thought out plots - no plot holes for these writers. The characters are at times hard, but always believable. They aren't always likeable, but they are very, very real. The sex is hot and always an integral part of the story. Never once did any of the writers throw in a sex scene just to capture the audience's attention. No PWP's allowed here.

2012

This story's one I found some months ago, and I keep coming back to it.

It's the one story in the zine D-Notice which is not online somewhere. (Chalk and Cheese is on AO3, the other three on the Circuit Archive.) I bought D-Notice second-hand a while ago, despite having read four of the five stories. (At least it meant I knew I'd like most of it.) The Greatest Treason was the big unknown. I'm now really glad I got the zine, or I would never have come across this story, and I like it very much.

It is a blackmail story, but this time this is not some undercover "draw the blackmailer out by pretending to be gay" plot. Bodie really is being blackmailed. He heads straight to Cowley, and Cowley, faced with the photographic evidence that two of his agents are lovers, is appalled and unforgiving. Flashbacks and memories are interpolated with the developing plot and that's how we learn what's been going on. I know some people don't like this technique, but I enjoy it when it's well-done, and I did here. I didn't feel I had to work hard to unravel it, or anything.

I like the characterisation of all three. This is a Cowley I can believe in, and the reaction I'd expect - especially his proposed solutions towards the end. The scene where Bodie discovers quite how it has affected Cowley really caught me, although the scenes involving Doyle are much more fun to read! I like Doyle's belligerence, and his feelings about Cowley. And there's the interaction between Bodie and Doyle after Bodie finds out something he hadn't known about his partner. (I am desperately trying not to spoil the plot here, can you tell?) There's some smashing dialogue, and some lovely terse descriptions.

The whole zine is good, but this was a stand-out story for me.

This one sounds pretty good - on one level, I could see an intolerant Cowley as being very, very realistic. Given the character, it could be homophobic, but it's much more likely the threat to CI5 because of the blackmail threat.

As a general comment, since Cowley tells us how much he hates prejudice of any sort in Klansmen, I'd need a very good reason to have him be homophobic.

I can accept any of a homophobic Cowley, a pragmatic Cowley, or a principled Cowley, if well-drawn. *However*, I think it's reasonable to draw a distinction between Cowley's private beliefs about morality and Cowley's position in the corridors of power. We're writing about 1977-1982-ish, and British people and British power structures and British law were all generally more homophobic than not. The law might have changed, but social attitudes, by and large, hadn't. You were kicked out of the police if you were gay, it had not been decriminalised in the army, it had not been decriminalised in the merchant navy, and the security services saw it as a reason to fail 'positive vetting' in the civil service. So that's the canon background not just for Doyle and Bodie but for 90% of CI5, if we accept they're largely ex-army and ex-police. I think it's entirely plausible that most of CI5 would be, at best, like Murphy in Shoshanna's Never Let Me Down, "I don't hate them, but they're a security risk and shouldn't be in classified jobs" and at worst bigots prepared to let their judgement affect how they treat people. Obviously I like to imagine it slightly differently, but I have absolutely no problem with Cowley behaving in keeping with the rest of the establishment - he has to work with them and for them and it was official policy that homosexuality meant you were a risk - before we even get onto what he actually believes.

An homophobic Cowley is absolutely and blatantly in contradiction with the most explicit canon: see "In the Public Interest"; not saying he would accept anything that could possibly be a threat to CI5.

I had to go away and find this story again too, to re-read it. It is pretty decent (though they apparently lived in New York at times... *g*), and I could believe Cowley reacting that way about keeping his own doorstep clean in the eyes of others. I liked the relationship between Cowley and Bodie too - the trust on Cowley's side, I mean, and the apparent understanding on Bodie's - and Cowley's reaction to that, and the way we're shown that Alf and Martin and Meredith and all have affected him so deeply (and that he's perhaps a wee bit twisted about it!) I don't have a problem with flashbacks done well either, and Conch/Shell is a good writer, so it all worked nicely! Thanks for the rec! And flicking through the zine also reminded me that I've not read The Goodbye Soldiers for a very long time... so thank you for that too!

Yes, I liked the relationship between Bodie and Cowley in this, and totally forgot to mention that. Actually all the "how X regards Y" are interesting, because no two of them are alike: between Bodie, Cowley and Doyle, there are six different direct takes: we get Bodie thinking about Cowley, but also we learn what Cowley thinks about Bodie, and we get Bodie thinking about Doyle, and learn what Doyle thinks about Bodie, and how Cowley and Doyle regard each other are very distinct viewpoints. Come to think of it, Doyle voices how he thinks Cowley thinks of *him*, which is a seventh, I suppose.

The Goodbye Soldiers is brilliant, and it sidetracked me writing this review, but I thought I'd do the one that people were less likely to have heard of.

Still don't know what to think of Face Value in the same zine.

This is not available online as far as I know, so it was the big unknown when I bought the zine. I loved it. It is a blackmail story, but this time this is not some undercover "draw the blackmailer out by pretending to be gay" plot. Bodie really is being blackmailed. He heads straight to Cowley, and Cowley, faced with the photographic evidence that two of his agents are lovers, is appalled and unforgiving. I like the characterisation of all three here. This is a Cowley I can believe in, and the reaction I'd expect. I like Doyle's rigid resolution, and subsequent volte-face, and his feelings about Cowley. I like the interaction between Bodie and Doyle after Bodie finds out something about Doyle he hadn't known. It's not laugh a minute banter, but there's some nice lines both in dialogue and narrative. I know that I recommended this in a haze of enthusiasm earlier this year and a few people tracked down copies of it. I'll be very interested to know what they thought of it.

2020

Great layered plot, well paced, loved Bodie playingCowley & the end - just wish there was an epilogue!

[Lezlie]: Honestly, after reading it for the first time in 15 years I double checked that the ending hadn't been cut off in scanning. Thanks for commenting!

I love the dialogues to bits. More than once, I had to stop and reread several lines before reading on, so pleasurably banter-y the banter was. :-) I'm so glad you decided to share this story online.

2022

really liked this, how bodie wants to take care of doyle and is willing to take risks for him (and the other way around), and how their different relationships with cowley is shown. Great writing!