Backlight, by Jeroen Richards (PG)

[justacat.livejournal.com]

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Author on LJ: joey112
Author Website: No

Why this must be read:

In Backlight, Ray's been captured by a bad guy.  He's been tied and beaten and is gradually losing hope and his grip on reality; meanwhile, Bodie is searching desperately for him and is close to panic, sensing that Ray's in deep trouble but unable to find him.

It's a very short story, and a commonly encountered premise, but I found it unusually powerful and effective, particularly the way Ray, in an effort to keep himself conscious and sane and calm, repeats to himself the colors of the paint on his palette at home:  cadmium red, Indian yellow, Prussian blue, etc.  The relationship between the two of them, while not explicit, is obvious with careful reading, and that very understatedness is what gives it its power:  you sense pretty quickly how much there is to lose, on both sides. 

And the ending leaves you with a wonderful sappy feeling, reminiscent of the end of Man Without a Past ("Bodie, you dumb crud"):  neither of them says anything, there are no overt displays of affection, but the strength of the bond between them is impossible to miss, and when you read the words you can almost imagine the look in their eyes as they gaze at each other: pure, unconcealable love.

Backlight

(Originally published in A Third Priority A-3, IDP Press, 2001)