When Bodie picked up Doyle from Cowley's office, it didn't take him long to notice that Doyle was in a bad mood. He snarled at the people he ran into in the corridors and was curt to the point of being rude to Bodie.

"What's eating you?!" Bodie angrily bit back when Doyle snapped at him over something totally unimportant.

Doyle grumbled an illegible answer and pulled the door of the Capri open.

"Huh?"

4.5 threw his RT on the dashboard.

"Cowley been screaming again?" Bodie tried to sympathise.

Another grunt.

"Doyle! Either act normally or shut up, 'cos this…"

"Toothache." Doyle spat out, "I've got a bloody toothache."

"Is that all? Then why don't you go to the dentist?!" Bodie released the handbrake and steered skilfully into the queue of traffic.

"Don't like dentists." Mumbled Doyle. He pulled open the glove compartment and rummaged through the things inside.

"What are you looking for?"

"Something strong. Scotch or cognac." Bodie could hardly hear him as Doyle's words came out muffled and slurred.

"There's a flask beneath the seat." He told him. "Shall I drive you to a dentist?"

"No! Nothing that a good drink and an aspirin won't fix." Doyle snarled, fishing the flask from under the seat and taking a few big gulps.

"Alright, alright, hold your horses." Mumbled Bodie. There was no point in arguing with Doyle over this - whatever he had on his mind, he sure as hell wouldn't be talked out of it. Bodie knew him well enough by now to know that he would have to knock Doyle out first before he would see reason.

But as the sunny day came to an end and the darkness of the evening took hold Doyle seemed to be feeling better, despite the fact that a lump was developing on his jaw that hadn't been there that morning. Bodie had seen him taking a couple of painkillers, and the tension slowly faded until he began to look tired and Bodie said goodnight and went home.

The sun woke Bodie before his alarm clock did. He felt good, vibrant and ready for action. To shake the night from his sleepy limbs he jumped out of bed, put on a pair of shorts and sneakers and ran down the stairs. He jogged for a few miles, felt the oxygen pumping through his body and decided to run over to Doyle to see if he would like to come along. Usually Doyle would be the one to urge him to do some exercise, but today Bodie would be there first.

After having rung the doorbell, he jogged impatiently in place outside Doyle's front door, and after what seemed like hours, he heard shuffling and the clicking of locks before his partner opened up.

Bodie noticed several things at the same time. First: Doyle looked as if he had a big marble stashed away in his cheek. Second: the dark shadows on his face proved he hadn't been able to sleep much. Third: he smelled of booze - more than was normal after a night on the town.

"What d'you want?" he grunted.

"Good morning. No point in asking you to join me for a run, is there?" Bodie asked rhetorically and shoved Ray back into the house.

"Get dressed. I'll take you to a dentist before I go to work."

Doyle swayed a little and hiccuped. His mood was even fouler than Bodie expected, but he was more surprised that Ray had been drinking that much. Blood shot eyes tried to focus at him but quickly glazed over again.

"Why didn't you go to a dentist last night? There must have been one on duty somewhere." Bodie looked at the mess in Doyle's normally tidy apartment. Several empty bottles and a partially emptied packet of aspirins corroborated Bodie's hunch.

"Who assigned you to be my mum?!" Ray snapped, his voice sharp from the drinks and the pain.

Bodie picked up the packet and pointed them at Doyle.

"No one, I took this quite lovely assignment on myself. If you don't get yourself decent in five minutes, you'll have to call a taxi, 'cos you're in no fit state to drive like this."

"Stop mothering me!" Ray shouted.

"Then stop acting like a kid!" Bodie shouted back. "Get dressed."

Bodie had been in the office for few hours when Cowley summoned him in and asked about Doyle's whereabouts.

"I dropped him off at a dentist this morning, sir. It looked nasty - infected."

"Indeed? Aye - that would explain his mood yesterday." His boss answered, his eyes softened with a thoughtful look behind his glasses. Then he pushed the button on the intercom and asked Betty to call 4.5 for him.

"He doesn't answer his phone, sir." The efficient secretary announced a few minutes later. "Nor on his RT, sir. I've tried several times."

"He can't be still at the dentist?"

"Maybe he's in bed." Bodie suggested, remembering Ray's unhappy face all too well. He had conveniently 'forgotten' to mention that Doyle had been hitting the bottle quite heavily as well. Which was, come to think of it, very un-like Doyle. He must have been feeling worse than Bodie had realised.

Surged by an undetermined feeling of guilt Bodie headed for the door.

"I'll check it out, sir. I'm sure he's at home or on his way here."

*****

Knocking, ringing and even Open Sesame-prayers didn't open the door, so Bodie climbed over the wooden gate and pushed his face against the glass.

At first he couldn't see much in the shades of the house, but after a while his eyes grew accustomed to the dimness inside and then he saw them.

Legs with Adidas-clad feet, stretched out on the carpet. The rest was invisible behind the couch.

He banged on the glass.

"Ray! Ray!"

Nothing moved or stirred inside.

Bodie ran his fingers over the doorsill, the flower pots and the mat - no key.

He grabbed one of the gardenia pots and threw it straight through the window next to the door. The glass shards splattered like water drops all around, even into his hair, but he paid no attention to it. Instead, he pushed his hand through the broken window glass and fiddled with what he felt beneath his sensitive fingers. He could reach the lock - only just, but still, he managed to open the door. Luckily the bolts weren't shut.

He stormed in and fell to his knees beside his partner.

"Ray?" Bodie's voice was soft, worry fighting with the invisible hand that wanted to choke him.

Then he heard a loud burp, and a revolting mix of alcohol, formaldehyde and sedative reached his nostrils.

"Ray?!" his voice got louder. "Doyle! For God's sake - wake up!"

One green eye slowly opened and a silly grin formed on 4.5's lips.

"'lo Bodie. Whadda you doin' 'ere?"

"Feeling like a bloody fool!" Bodie answered, feeling angry and relieved at the same time.

""m an itsy bitsy wee bit brunk."

"Drunk. Yes, you are. I daresay 'wee' is an understatement."

Bodie sighed and pulled his mate up from the floor and installed him on the couch. There was something not right about this picture, though. There were no bottles on the table or on the ground - Bodie had thrown the empty ones in the bin that morning and he cleared the table when Doyle had put on a change of clothes. He remembered putting the aspirin back in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and putting a book back on the table, where it still was.

Actually - it didn't look like Doyle had been anywhere but on the couch and the floor, where Bodie had found him.

When Bodie noticed the package of penicillin, the penny dropped. Of course! The drinks, the aspirin *and* the sedative had triggered Doyle's state. He took out the information paper from the box and his eyes flew over the information.

There it was, the warning he'd been looking for: 'this drug is not to be used in combination with alcohol. It might affect driving abilities, a setback in reflexes, etc etc.'

Etcetera, etcetera, Bodie thought. He ran a hand through his hair, then turned around and went to the kitchen to make some coffee. Meanwhile he debated what to do now. Obviously, if Doyle slept it off then there was no point in him staying here. Sleeping was something 4.5 could do perfectly well on his own.

He called Cowley, told him in a few words what had happened and was patched through to the staff doctor.

Much to his surprise, Bodie heard the Doctor say: "He had a fierce allergic reaction to penicillin once. If you see anything out of the ordinary Bodie, call me at once, d'you hear? You better stay there for a few hours - keep an eye on Doyle for any unexpected reactions."

So Bodie settled himself comfortably into a chair and took out a book while responding to his latest assignment: keep an eye on Doyle.

*****

"Whadda you shtill 'ere for?"

Doyle's voice was abnormally slurred, the stiffness in his lips and tongue from the sedative obviously hindering normal speech.

"Making sure there's nothing unhealthy left in your fridge by the time you're able to eat again." Bodie said with a smooth smile. "How's the jaw?"

"Whajaw?"

Bodie sighed and sat up straighter. He looked closer at his partner. The eyes were still glassy, tiny blood splatters were visible on the stubble and the jaw still looked thick and swollen.

"Next time you'd better stay off of the drink." He said. "I've told you a hundred times before, you can't handle it as well as I can."

"Me face 'urt." Mumbled Ray in his own defence. Then he hiccuped and his expression showed that he didn't like what he tasted in the back of his throat.

"Oh, com'on Bodie - don't tell me you never sfhkipped a dentisht appo- apoi- "

"Appointment, Johnny Walker. And no - I didn't." Dreamily he added "I used to date this gorgeous dentist once. Took my fear away for good." He cast his eyes at Doyle, who looked at him with a supercilious grin.

"I'm not afraid of the dentisht. The one I ushed to go …" he silenced, the hazy unfocussed stare revealing he was still intoxicated.

"The one you used to go…" Bodie helped.

"Huh?"

"Your dentist?"

"He wa' married to my Boy Szhcout leader."

"I thought you were never a Scout? I do recall you telling me that once. 'I took dancing lessons instead' you said."

"I did? I lied. Maybe it'z cos it'fsz sho bloody shtupid."

"What is? Being a Boy Scout?" Bodie couldn't follow the confused logic and tried to make some sense of the slurred words. Apparently Doyle couldn't pronounce the *s* very well, which made it even harder to follow.

"Zhe didn't like my hair."

"Sorry?"

"Made me wear a cap."

Bodie put his can of beer down brusquely, which provoked a faint questioning look from his partner, still lying down on the sofa.

"I'm totally lost, sunshine. The dentist - that part was still clear. But the rest?"

Doyle ran a hand over his face. Bodie figured he was trying to wipe away the feeling of cotton balls in his head, because in an occasional bright moment he knew he was behaving strangely and was trying in vain to fight it.

"I never did anyzing wrong, honeftly. Zhe shaid I had to wear that bloody cap."

"Cap? Those little green ones, with the yellow threads? And the scarf?"

"Exshactly."

"Go on."

"I wash sho proud of that uniform. I waz one of the Boysh too now." He hiccuped and burped and looked sheepishly at his partner. Suddenly Bodie could hardly suppress a laugh - this was turning out to be bloody funny. The haze in the eyes, the dumb expression written all over the face…. Not something Doyle would be caught with under normal circumstances. Plus the fact that he was revealing a little of his past…

"So you're a Boy Scout. And you're proud of your uniform. And then? Mrs. Dentist is your Akela and you…?"

"Zhe'sh a looker, all the boyz are in luv'. Zhe shais: 'Raymond put your cap on'. And I try to of coursh."

"Of course."

"But it won't sshtay on." Doyle tripped over the words and looked puzzled by his own incompetence.

"It won't shtay on. I've got too many curlz. Me mum doesn't like it szhort sho I've loadsh of them."

Bodie bit his lip, hiding his amusement while he pictured Mrs Doyle fussing with her child's hair and a pretty Akela more or less doing the same.

"Zshe came to help me, but the bloody zthing zjusht didn't shtay put." Doyle continued with growing irritation - either about this event from the past or his own inability to talk properly.

"Zh…Thn… Then zhe shaid I couldn't come along if I didn't wear zhe cap. Zshe took an elashtic band and tied the cap to my hair."

"Wha? " Bodie laughed, loudly now. "She did? What happened next?"

"I looked like a idiot, that'sh wha' 'appened. Cap all ftrange on my head, the bloody photo hung at de local photogfra- photo-"

"Photographer's." Bodie assisted

"Right… it hung zshere for weeksh. Anyway, me mum was furioush."

"Because of the picture?"

"No! Cosh zhe had to uszhe a pair of shiss- schiss-"

"Scissors." Bodie hiccuped too now, but from pure enjoyment. This was better than Saturday Night Live!

"Shisshors to cut the eleashtic out."

"And ruined your hair, by doing so."

"Yesh! The week after, Mrsh. Dentisht szhaid: 'Well Raymond, that'sh quite an improvement.' And shrtroke my hair."

"Which was the final insult, I take it?"

"Final inshult indeed. I kicked her zshins sho hard the bruish waszh visheble for weeksh."

"Ah… and now we've reached the apotheosis of this tale: you were afraid of vengeance. You were scared that the Dentist would get even with you because you'd kicked his wife…!"

Doyle looked ashamed, amused and defensive at the same time.

"Yeah… zhere wash only one Dentisht where we lived."

Bodie couldn't help roaring, tears of laughter ran over his cheeks as he looked at Doyle, slurred, battered, drunk, sedated, defensive, vulnerable and extremely funny.

His RT killed his laugh.

"3.7"

"This is Alpha One. How is 4.5?"

"Exsthremely well, zshir." Bodie mumbled.

"How's that, 3.7? I didn't copy?"

"He's alright, sir. Just a bit hazy from the drugs. But he's on the mend again."

"Good. Did you tell him he should visit the Dentist *before* the trouble starts?" Cowley obviously couldn't resist the temptation of giving Doyle a piece of his mind.

"Emm, something like that, sir. The Doctor advised me to keep an eye on him so I'll stay here for a couple of more hours, if that's okay."

"Alright, Bodie. For this once I'll let you off the hook - but you report in tomorrow morning, with or without 4.5. Is that understood?"

"Perfectly, sir."

"Alpha One out." And gone was his master's voice.

Bodie looked at Doyle for an instant and pouted his lips in thought. Then he jumped up and walked into the kitchen where he began opening doors and drawers, and taking out cutlery.

"Whadda you're gonna do?" Ray started sounding sleepy again.

"Prepare myself something to eat."

"Thersh eggsh in the phfridsg- phri-"

"Fridge. Yes, I know my way around your kitchen quite well, thank you. Do you want something to eat as well?"

No answer.

"Ray? Anything to eat?" Bodie repeated his question.

Still no answer.

When he looked into the living room he saw Doyle had fallen asleep again. He had turned to his side, pulled a thin blanket over his body, and all Bodie could see from where he was standing were the brown curls on the pillow.

"Shleep well, Goldilocksh." He chuckled and turned his attention to the pleasures ahead: bacon and eggs.