Halotolerant and PFL (msmoat) gave a writer’s panel BistoCon 2018 and the discussion included how stories change depending on the writer’s choice for point of view (POV). The last part of the panel consisted of an activity to write a drabble based on the prompt Dangers of CI5. All stories were written within the time limit and are posted unedited.
Participant writers counted off into four different groups: 1- Doyle POV, 2- Bodie POV, 3- Cowley or another agent POV, 4- someone else not in the first three categories POV.
Below, in random order, are some of the stories we wrote at the con. The author’s names and emails are included with permission in case anyone wants to send feedback. Enjoy!
The Danger of CI5 by merentha13
1- Doyle POV
“Look at them all,” Doyle shook his head in disgust. “Soaking up the old man’s words like they’re from God himself.”
“Remember when it was us sitting there?”
Doyle ignored Bodie’s wink. “I remember a young innocent plod, eyes with idealism.” He felt Bodie’s eyes on him. “Looks a bit worse for wear now, he does.”
“Piss off, Bodie.” He leaned against the wall and listened through the half open door. “We learned the hard way about what CI5 is all about. Should be us givin’ the lecture.” He frowned. “They should be told about Macklin, all night obbos, weeks undercover, bullets, bombs and betrayals.”
“All part of it, me lad. Bodie smirked.
Doyle rolled his eyes and felt his lips twitch. “And you love the danger.”
A Quiet Night at Home by ArwenOak
2- Bodie POV
Smaltz to the max
Cow’s outfit wasn’t so different from the SAS after all, a lot of slogging, a fast dust-up and then a spell in hospital or some downtime in a pub or with a willing bird. So why was he cold sober and sitting perched on a silly excuse of a chair, watching Doyle throw together an omelet that looked too healthy by far?
Damnit, he wasn’t getting old, it was just that with Ray he could relax and be himself. No trying to be politically correct or ooze emotion to pull a bird, not even the physical dominance and wary measurement necessary to pick up a not-too-dangerous bloke for a quick shag. Just sitting here and talking about nothing much or just discussing the day with glances and shrugs, being with Ray was just so easy. Huh… maybe this is what contentment felt like?
Watching Bodie’s posture relax that last bit, Doyle hid a small smile. His Mum always said that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. Luring Bodie was both more complex and less, you had to feed the spirit as well as the stomach, but it gained him as much as he gave.
Dangers of CI5 by Verlaine
3- Cowley POV
“You’ve only yourself to blame, George.” Liz Walsh’s voice is gentle but no less unforgiving for that.
“Tried and condemned me already, have you, Miss Walsh?”
“You aren’t the first I’ve seen succumb to temptation. Though I had thought better of you.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.” I want it to come out as a sneer, and I’m shocked to hear how weak I sound, how much my words are a plea for understanding.
“If you’d done it for money, I perhaps could have understood. Even ideology, however misguided. But jealously -?” Her voice trails off and she shakes her head.
There is no answer I can make to that.
“Take him away, Mr Anson.”
Anson won’t look at me as he leads me out, hands cuffed behind me. He won’t look at Doyle’s body either.
The Danger of CI5 by ci5mates
4- Outside POV
Doyle wins but he’s bloody angry. He drops the muddied bike, steps over it, and storms toward Bodie, but the fool’s too busy giving King Billy stick to notice.
Shit.
“Come for the day, Ray said. It’ll be fun, he said.”
Yeah right.
I should have known this was going to be a pissing contest, it always is with these two.
So why did Bodie push him to ride in the first place? It was damn dangerous and Ray was lucky not to get hurt. I thought they were mates?
They’ll be no sex tonight. Not for me anyway.
The Dangers of CI5 by Liz A. Vogel
1- Doyle POV
All night reading files
Who drank the bloody coffee?
Bullets fly like rain.
Called in, 5 a.m.
Make a fresh pot, you bastards.
Coffee tastes like socks.
He’s asleep again.
Sitting in a car all night,
Hearing Bodie snore.
Dangers of CI5 by krisser
2- Bodie POV
When he rushed into the house yelling, “Get out, there’s a bomb!” I knew in that minute that if we made it out alive I would have to have the discussion I had been avoiding.
Doyle ran straight at me with that angry expression I knew too well. This job could very well kill us.
“Bodie, get your arse moving.”
He shoved me hard. My legs started moving toward the window. We kicked it out and jumped just as the house blew.
Rolling away from the debris Doyle grabbed me close. “Tonight we quit pratting about.”
I smiled in relief.
Dangers of CI5 by jat_sapphire
3- Cowley POV
There are days Cowley inhabits a body which seems to belong to someone else, one he wears like a mackintosh, one that runs itself like an automaton. Others see him stride or limp; they hear him speak in the voice they expect and respond to familiar frowns and tight smiles.
Inside is another man entirely.
He touches a file, turns the pages, and feels skin or hair under his fingertips. The glint on the cut glass holding his whiskey is a bright smile, eyes covering fear with humor. He picks up the phone receiver and feels the voice at the other end pierce his chest. He watches strong, skillful hands drive his car, swift limbs running, and the sight moves him more than anyone will ever know.
The core of him, he likes to think, is his vision of England, the far-off hint of roses and lavender. Whatever he has to do, whatever his agents must do, to protect that is worth … anything.
But when they are injured, when they die, when their eyes go dull and their hands are still, when they’ll never run like hawks diving again, then his private danger squeezes his throat and snaps at his heels.
Someday it will catch him and break him open, and its name is grief.
The Dangers of CI5 by Chris
4- Outside POV
They had that reputation, you know? I know blokes who either changed their whole plan, or just flat-out chose to take their ideas somewhere else because they knew Cowley’s lads were that good. They’d be on your scheme faster than the Concorde got across the pond, and you’d be in the tank with a black eye, a cut lip, and too many regrets. But we thought we knew the dangers of CI5, and figured we’d learned from all those other sods who just never could quite get it right. We really believed we were going to be the legends who finally out-foxed Bodie and Doyle and got away clean.
We were dead wrong, of course.
Dangers of CI5 by Halotolerant
1- Doyle POV
“Why hello, welcome to the Sun New Inn!”
The young man behind the check-in desk gathered up two keys and held them out, cocking a hip in contrapposto.
Ray smiled back at him – if the lad was eighteen he was not a day older, blond and brilliant of tooth, tanned, trim and exuding confidence in his body, his sexuality, his sex appeal.
“Can I confirm your names for the register?”
Ray looked over at Bodie – there’d been so little time to make his plan, the chase, the fear had driven them flying up through the Gay Village, no time to create a cover.
Bodie, though, gave nothing of that away. He had something in his posture already mirroring that of the clerk.
“Shall I do this, darling?” Bodie said softly – and you could have believed his voice was truly intimate, tender even.
Did Ray’s confusion show in his face? Bodie put a hand to his shoulder, soft, warm. Far too reassuring.
“We’ll only need one room, thank you, we’re married,” Bodie said, suavely. “Well,” and he gave a little laugh, high and calm, “married in our heads at least.” He was probably batting his eyelashes.
“So you can put us down as the Dangers. Mr and Mr Danger of Sea-Eye Foive, Cornwall, England.”
Dangers of CI5 by CarolROI
2- Bodie POV
Bodie stuck his head into the restroom. “Anyone seen Doyle?”
Anson, the only occupant, looked up from his tea. “The Cow has him on special assignment.”
Scowling, Bodie retreated to the hallway. Special assignment? How could that have come up in the thirty minutes Bodie’d been out getting a haircut?
Murphy passed him in the hall. “Seen Doyle?” Bodie asked.
“Infirmary.” Murphy replied with a jerk of his head in that direction.
Bodie spun around and headed that way more puzzled than before. “A special assignment that sent Doyle to the infirmary in under thirty minutes? What the hell?
A shout and a number of swear words boomed down the hallway. Bodie broke into a sprint, automatically drawing his gun as he cleared the threshold of the infirmary door.
His partner was twitching on the bed, a grimace on his face, his hand held in a firm grasp by the CI5 nurse, who was pressing an alcohol swab to his finger.
“Doyle! What’s wrong?”
Yanking his hand free of the nurse’s grip, he shook it, then blew on his fingertip. “The dangers of CI5, Bodie. Paper cut.”
Holstering his gun, Bodie gave Doyle a grumble and a head slap.
No Regrets by Kat aka LilyK
3- Cowley POV
Being married to the job has its advantages. I’ve not had to deal with a demanding spouse who would have insisted that I be home for the dinner she prepared. Nor did I have to accommodate crying children in my home. I’ve been gifted with a life of no encumbrances and no split loyalties. Dedication to England is all I’ve needed. All I’ve wanted. I’ve no regrets.
That’s what I tell myself every morning when I wake and every night before I sleep.
No regrets.
Dangers of CI5 by Cyanne
4- Outside POV
Another car. They’d trashed another one of his precious cars—look at it. Just look at it. Rear windscreen smashed, both front tyres shot up, a long scratch through the silver paint on the driver’s side, and were those branches stuck in the shards of broken mirror?
Oil leaking all over the place, and is that coolant mixing in? Damn, they destroyed the radiator and the engine was literally shot to pieces.
How either of them still had a driver’s license was a mystery that was well beyond his pay grade. And were those cum stains on the upholstery?
That’s the last straw, MI5 has to be hiring. Their agents couldn’t possibly be any worse.
Dangers of CI5 by FJBryan
1- Doyle POV
Shaking his head, Bodie let the refrigerator door close with a bang.
“What’s wrong?”
“Anson nicked the last of the milk. Again.“
The heavy sigh that followed meant an errand, or hell to pay later. I settled for the errand, dropping the Private Eye on my desk. “Back in a sec.”
Bodie turned from the computer and gave me a look. We’d been keeping it quiet at headquarters. “Never used to nip out for me milk before.”
“And I won’t do it every time from now on. Stretchin’ my legs as I go. We’ve been stuck here waiting for McCabe’s informant too long.”
“And Cowley won’t love you if you’re away when the balloon goes up.” Bodie pursed his lips wryly.
“Hit the beeper if it does and I’ll be back in a flash.” I was out the door when I realised – “Hey, you owe me ten quid for dinner last night.” I stuck my hand out, expectantly.
“Still keeping score, Ray?” Bodie pulled out the note from his wallet and passed it over. “Until our next pay rise, yes.”
The Dangers of CI5 by Queenafoster
3- Cowley POV
One of my best teams—Bodie and Doyle—came from different services. Bodie was trained by the SAS and served abroad for other… groups. Doyle came from the Metropolitan Police. On the surface, they’re quite different, but together… well together they have a symbiosis that is actually quite rare. Unfortunately, to my disappointment, it has become apparent that they have developed greater loyalty to each other than to England. Or to me. While I could potentially use this to achieve a goal, I’m concerned that this new facet of their partnership may become something I cannot control or manipulate. These are men who may potentially hold the fate of England in their hands. The danger lies if I cannot anticipate how they may act in any given situation.
Dangers of CI5 by Snow White
4– Other Agents’ POV
“Damn,” shouted Anson as he pushed through the doors of A&E at St Thomas. Lucas and McCabe were a step behind him.
“Where are they?” asked an anxious Susan as she came hurrying up with Doyle’s bloody jacket held tightly against her chest.
“I don’t know,” said a now somewhat calmer Anson. “I just heard on the radio about the accident and was ordered to come here.”
“We got the same call,” grimaced a confused McCabe. “It’s a false alarm. You can all stand down,” exclaimed a smiling Murphy. “Bodie fractured his eyelash, and Doyle fell down the stairs laughing.
Dangers of CI5 by Dawnwind
2 – Bodie’s POV
Blood dripped down Doyle’s fingers. Bodie yanked a handkerchief out of his pocket, shoving it at Doyle, steering one handed.
“Don’t get that all over,” he groused, his heart in pieces. There was no time. Later, once they’d finished. He hated that Doyle was hurt. Shouldn’t have happened.
Couldn’t dwell on that now. Had to make it to the pier by five pm. Less than three minutes, or they’d be blown to smithereens.
He floored the accelerator, tyres screaming on the roadway.
Doyle lept from the car, running with the bomb. It splashed into the Thames. “You did it, Bodie!”