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rinpoo-blog · 9 months ago

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Penfriends.

Cover made by: Connie the Wolf, on Furaffinity, give them lots of money.

Synopsis: In 1894, 17-year-old Olivia Flaversham had been writing to a long-distance penfriend named Fievel Mousekewitz for almost five years. This past year, she is left waiting for Fievel's following letter to arrive, but it never comes. Seeing her heartbreak, her father pays his savings to allow Olivia to go and see if her friend is well.

Olivia sat in pensive silence as the train bounced and shook on the westward rail line. Between both of her hands sat a handwritten envelope dated the end of last year.

Running her thumbs along it, she felt a pain in her heart and a tense anxiety through her whole body. She'd never believed she'd find herself here, but the closer she drew to the destination written on the envelope, the more uncertain she became.

She'd written to Fievel for years, and she felt she'd developed a strong bond with him through those years. She'd never met him, nor did she think she ever would, but it didn't stop her from fantasizing repeatedly about doing so.

With her father having moved around so much after the incident with Ratigan, she found friends challenging to maintain. It wasn't until the advent of the penfriend's board in East London that she found that opportunity.

While humans were restricted only by their mechanical toys, the mice had the aid of birds. All it took was a simple exchange with them for far-off mail delivery, and one could talk to any mouse in the world if one wished.

Thinking back, it was on that cluttered board that she set her address to be taken elsewhere. She never expected to hear back, but was elated when she received a handwritten letter in the winter of 1890.

It was the beginning of a long correspondence that extended far past the ocean and struck straight through to her heart. She'd never say it, but as she spent more and more money sending letters to Fievel, the more she felt like she "loved" him.

It was a stupid thought in her mind: how can someone love another if they've never met them? Still, the fact that Fievel faithfully responded and continued through every address until the last meant that she felt she did know him well.

He told her everything, as did she… Their fears, their family, their wants, and their tears….

Olivia sighed and wiped the wetness away from her eyes with the back of her hand.

She was scared for him; for the first time in his life, he'd not responded to her for almost a year. She sent dozens of letters, some pleading for a reply, but he never wrote back….

Did he hate her all of a sudden? Did he find someone else to spend his time with?

She didn't know; not knowing was far more painful than accepting any possible truth. She'd become so crestfallen over the affair that tears wet her pillow nightly, and her hygiene plummeted into disrepair for a time.

As Olivia remembered the pain, she glanced out the window containing the endless expanse of gorgeous desert space.

"…."

It was her father who eventually came and spoke to her. She didn't know why he suggested she come here to see Fievel, but the mere suggestion of it had made her eyes sparkle so brightly that he only hugged her lovingly.

"You're growing up so fast…." She whispered her father's words while resting her chin on her hand.

She had grown and spent many years improving her intuition and problem-solving skills. Basil had rubbed off on her, and her competence was likely why her father was not concerned about her traveling so far alone.

"…."

As the locomotive began to slow, one of the servicemice on the train called out to passengers in her tiny train cart.

"Next stop, Green River, Utah!"

His voice was thunderous, and it jolted Olivia from her thoughts. Standing up, she slid the envelope into her leather side bag while picking it up and then straightened her long, blue coat and plaid dress.

Despite the area, she was dressed in similar attire that she'd had as a child. She always kept her favorite color and the beautiful red bow gifted by her dear, departed mother.

As the train pulled to a complete stop with a screeching sound, she quickly left and stepped outside onto the train platform with the many other humans and mice stopping there.

Immediately, the sun blinded her, and she squinted hard to dull the pain. The rays were hot against her, and she began to sweat immediately.

With a huff, Olivia walked beneath the ticket window for shade and, from there, was able to better see the entirety of the quaint western town before her.

Mice and men walked around in the sun, and many seemed to be at work. To her right was a billboard with various sheets of paper containing many different informational tidbits.

Some of which caught her eye….

Penfriends signup! Come meet mice from around the world!

Olivia smiled somewhat as she looked at the board full of numerous addresses, names, and locations. Indeed, she could only imagine Fievel walking here and grabbing her letter to nobody….

Turning, she was about to leave when another poster caught her attention immediately.

Greetings, New Arrivals! Job Opening! October 4, 1894:

Looking for a skilled typist and an investigator with experience.

See Sheriff Fievel Mousekewitz for an interview!

…

"That's only weeks ago!"

Olivia's heart pounded, and excitement nearly stole her breath. Quickly looking about at the many mousey establishments built into human ones, she could see the one labeled "Sheriff" fairly easily.

Pausing briefly, she thought over her options, and it was then that an idea came to her.

She could erase all of these turbulent feelings if she went in for the "interview" instead of as herself…. Fievel did not know what she looked like, so if it was clear he was too busy for her, she could let him go without making it complicated….

Sure, she told herself that, but as she walked out into the sun, she found her bravery lessening with each step. Standing before the establishment labeled "Sheriff," she heard an old man's voice greet her.

"Well, hello M'am, haven't seen you roun' here before."

Olivia turned to see a mining mouse standing with his pick over his shoulder.

"Oh, yes…. I am here to see Sheriff Fievel. Is he in?"

The older mouse tipped his hat and responded kindly. "Sure is, though. I hope ya ain't gonna ask him to climb no mountains or nothin'; boy's havin' a rough time of it…."

Olivia became terrified and so tried to keep her worry hidden. "Oh… Well… H-he's, ok? Isn't he?"

The man laughed and nodded. "Yep, just needin' help, but not findin' the right kind, I s'pose."

Olivia nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that is what I am here for… To, erm… help…"

The old man grinned and spit on the ground. "Well, then, Missey, welcome to Green River! I look forward to seein' yer pretty face roun' here!"

Olivia was silent and watched the man walk away. He was friendly, but her mind could concentrate on nothing but Fievel.

Turning to stand in front of the entryway, she breathed in to calm herself and slowly opened the door. Gently, it moved, and as she peeked in, she could see a young mouse sitting at a desk.

His white hat glistened in the sun through a small hole in the wall, and his hand wrote shakily on a paper set before him. Taking his white coat and form in, she zeroed in on the Sheriff's shimmering gold star as it reflected in the sunlight.

"…."

Olivia's immediate thoughts were how handsome he was, even more so than her imagination allowed. Though he was so young, she was always surprised that he was the central acting Sheriff.

Pushing in, Fievel was oblivious to her presence. He seemed preoccupied and struggling. Glancing down at his papers, Olivia could see his hand trembling and that his handwriting was exceedingly poor, unlike the nice pen strokes he usually produced when writing her.

Glancing at his expression, he seemed forlorn and sad but dutiful regardless. Olivia was now beside his makeshift desk admiring him, but then she self-consciously felt like a creep for doing so.

"…."

Perhaps…. Perhaps it was time to talk to Fievel…. Even with her planned cover, she felt unbelievably uneasy.

"Uhm…. Ah-Hem…" Olivia muttered as she placed her hand to her mouth and made a sound.

It finally broke Fievel's concentration, and he glanced up. Immediately, he placed his fountain pen down, and it seemed he could not break his stare on the sudden company.

"I… Well, hello…." He began. "Is there something I can help you with?"

His voice was calm and masculine but oozing with unbridled empathy. He was as kind as his letters portrayed, Olivia could tell…

"Uhm, erm, well, uhhh…." Olivia lost her nerve as she bashfully ran her shoe across the wooden planks.

Fievel placed his left hand underneath his hat behind his head and scratched, then laughed nervously. "Well, I haven't seen you in Green River before…. Did you travel here and now need help with something?"

Olivia cleared her throat and then timidly lied in her subtle Scottish accent. "Well, I… I am here about your poster..."

Fievel looked confused, but then it seemed to snap into his mind. "Oh! Well, I haven't had too many come in for those positions, so it is good somebody finally decided to show…."

He laughed a bit more, then returned the pen to his right hand. "Go on, have a seat! We can discuss how you can help."

Olivia quietly walked before the desk and sat in the wooden chair made from a discarded toy block. From her new vantage point, she could clearly see the right arm of his coat was severely torn, and he had bandages creeping out of his coat sleeve above his hand.

"…."

Fievel looked down at a form atop his messy desk and placed his pen on it to fill out the essential details. Olivia watched as he struggled and hid his pain through subtle, deep breaths.

His handwriting suffered immeasurably, so she broke the silence with her immediate thoughts. "Uhm, it looks like you are having a hard time writing…. Why don't you use your left hand instead?"

Fievel frowned and then held up his right hand, after which he responded. "I am right-handed, and believe it or not, this hand still writes better than my left…. If I want to be able to read what I write later, then I need to use it."

"…."

Olivia watched him as he began writing, and then she spoke again. "What happened, Fievel?"

Her direct utterance of his name made him look up at her, and his cheeks turned slightly pink in the sunlight. She spoke as if she cared about him, and it was flattering from someone so drop-dead gorgeous.

"I…" Fievel began. "Well, we have been having a lot of trouble with rising crime and cat bandits recently. My friend Tiger is out looking for them now, but I got severely swiped a few months back… It has been slow healing."

It made sense to Olivia now, and she watched as Fievel went back to writing with his injury. Overworked and clearly suffering, he likely hadn't written her because of how serious things were for him presently.

She gazed at the floor and watched her feet. She felt like a selfish, despicable mouse. Not just because she was lying to Fievel right now but because she ever even thought he would abandon her.

"…."

After a moment longer, she heard Fievel speak.

"Ok, Miss, all I need is your name, and we can discuss your abilities that will help around here."

Olivia stared blankly at him as he readied his pen to write on the paper again. Now, she knew she could slink away with him never knowing, but she also felt obligated to tell him that she was finally here.

Glancing over at his plethora of messy papers strewn about the desk, Olivia caught a glimpse of lines he had clearly been drafting for a letter to send her at some point.

"…"

"Dear, Olivia…. Sorry that I have not responded…."

"Olivia, I do not know how to say this. We have spoken for so long, and because of that, I am afraid to…."

"Olivia, I do not want to worry you, but…."

"Olivia, please, forgive me for not writing…. I hope that you won't be mad…."

"Olivia, you are my best friend…."

The last one, in particular, got to her so much she couldn't read anymore, and she wiped her eyes to keep them from sprouting tears.

It was at this point that she heard Fievel speak again.

"Miss, are you alright?"

She nodded slowly, trying to hide her sentimentality, and just responded. "Sorry…. now, what was it you were saying?"

Fievel merely grinned kindly and responded playfully. "I asked you your name, silly. I haven't learned it yet!"

Olivia stared, and when Fievel looked down at the paper again, she spoke softly to him.

"I… My name is Olivia Flaversham…."

Fievel absent-mindedly began to write the name in awkward handwriting, but by the time he'd finished "Olivia" and made it to "Fla," his pen slipped right off the page, leaving behind a trail of ink.

He looked up and stared directly at Olivia, his mouth agape and eyes wide. It was clearly a mixture of awe and terror.

"I…. Olivia?!" He choked out.

Olivia could only give him a dopey smile, and she nodded her head to his question without speaking.

Fievel immediately got up and looked down at her from his standing position. When she mimicked him, she stood straight and decided to try and speak through her trepidation.

"I… It is so go…." She began but was abruptly silenced.

Fievel had spontaneously thrust himself forward from around the side of the desk, and before she could even think, she found herself with his left arm wrapped around her, brought into an intimate hug.

She wasn't frightened or offended by the sudden gesture…. She wanted this more than he could possibly imagine.

She inhaled his scent when she wrapped her arms around his frame and placed her head against his chest. It was intoxicating to her and was making her knees weak.

They stood in the Sheriff's office while the sun beamed onto them from the mousehole window. Their eyes were shut, and they felt that their strong bond had been infinitely tempered beyond any ability to destroy it.

"…."

After some time, Fievel removed himself and looked her over. Then, he spoke honestly.

"Sorry about that, Olivia…. I don't know why I did that…."

Olivia shook her head and smiled. "No, it is good to meet you too. I… Well, it has honestly been a dream for me to do so for a long time now."

Fievel agreed and beamed brighter than she'd seen him since she'd gotten here. "I feel that way, too…. I really can't believe you are here…. Come to think of it, how did you get here? What brought you all this way?"

"…"

There was absolute bashfulness in her reasoning, and now, it was her face's turn to go soft pink. Glancing up towards Fievel's face, she eventually explained that her father had given her the money…. However, when it came to admitting her reasoning, she was avoidant.

"I… Well, I always wanted to visit here, and uhm… I figured I could see you while I was at it."

Fievel nodded and simply tipped the brim of his cowboy hat. "Well, you are always welcome to spend time here with me whenever you'd like…."

Olivia's heart skipped an entire beat, and part of her wanted to jump for joy. Even though she was utterly unwilling to admit her deep care for him and her worries over his not writing to her, she would allow herself all the space in the world to feel this way privately.

"…."

As Fievel turned and sat at his desk, he held out his left hand and prompted her to sit back down. "Shall we continue with the hiring process?"

Olivia merely gave him a smirk and shook her head. "You know that I have been working every day to be more like Basil, so I am pretty sure we can skip the paperwork…."

"Fair enough," Fievel began, then got back up and stood before her. "Uhm…. Olivia?"

Olivia looked over his solemn expression and then answered hesitantly. "Y-Yes?"

Fievel sighed and then let out what he wanted to say. "I am incredibly sorry I didn't write you…. Things happened, but that is no excuse to ignore somebody I care about."

"Oh…." Olivia cast her gaze away from him.

Hearing him say that lifted her spirit, and she felt entirely at peace again. Shifting her bag slung over her shoulder, she tried to express her feelings over his words.

"I… Fievel, I want…." There was a pause as a loud noise grumbled audibly from the center of her torso.

She put her hand on her stomach, and Fievel chuckled at her stomach interrupting her. "Well, someone's hungry…. Come on, why don't we get something to eat?"

Olivia was ashamed over the noises her belly made but had little time to really dwell on it. Before she could even answer, she felt Fievel grab her hand with his left one and pull her gently out the door into the sun.

The shame and anxiety she'd felt previously now felt like a living dream. Growing up, she'd fantasized about doing this with Fievel, and as this fantasy turned into an actual event, she was left with the undeniable revelation that she did and had loved him far more than she ever allowed herself.

Olivia now realized there was no shame in it; she'd known "who" Fievel was for so long that coming here wasn't like meeting a stranger at all; it was like a reunion with a very dear friend.

"…"

…

Olivia squinted again as the two made their way out into the overwhelming sunlight, but as the two walked, her eyes adjusted better over time.

Glancing at the quaint western town, she was charmed by how different it was from England. The rustic wooden structures matched the desert scenery well, and the many establishments made by human settlers had since been expanded to the many mice that migrated here.

Glancing down at her hand touching Fievel's, she preserved her feeling of floating off the ground and only broke her grasp on him when he stopped and directed her to what appeared to be a restaurant.

Curiously examining the establishment, it was apparent it was connected to some human inn. The closer they got to the hole in the wooden porch, the more detail Olivia could see on the tiny old sign before her.

"Mouse House!"

Olivia only vaguely recalled reading about it from Fievel some time ago and looked at him curiously.

After interpreting her expression, he spoke on it to refresh her memory.

"It is a place where they serve quick, good food. I never saw anything like it before it came here, so it will be a nice treat for you to experience.

Olivia nodded quietly, then entered the establishment with Fievel. The place was packed while looking very homely and well-furnished with repurposed human trinkets. There was an overwhelming scent of delectably cooked meat and vegetables wafting throughout the place.

The room was waited on by a plethora of gorgeous mice in distinct, white, and black starched skirts. Olivia was surprised by the civility and atmosphere of the place and followed Fievel to one of the only empty tables, where they both took a seat.

…

It was only mere minutes before one of the girls came over and spoke to them. "Hello, Ma'am, Sheriff Fievel! What can I get y'all to drink today?"

Fievel leaned back in his chair and spoke his routine favorite. "I'd like an iced tea, please."

"Right," the waitress began, turning his already set China cup upside down and letting it tilt off the saucer.

"And you, Miss?"

Olivia thought, and tea did sound delectable right about now. "I'd like a hot tea, please…."

The waitress smiled and turned Olivia's cup upside down on the saucer. "Right, now, what would you like to eat, or did ya need me to return in a moment?"

Olivia was uncertain, but Fievel spoke for himself and on her behalf. "I'd like some beef and vegetables, and Olivia likes seafood…. Do you have anything nice in stock?"

Olivia beamed and merely stayed quiet. Fievel had remembered that she liked fish and seafood. Trendy dishes in England…. He seemed to remember even small details she'd written him.

The waitress nodded in Olivia's direction and responded. "Well, she's in luck. We have a catch of fresh oysters brought in from Maine this mornin'."

Olivia had never had oysters, but her curiosity was piqued as it sounded like somewhat of a delicacy to her. "That sounds lovely, I will try that…."

With their orders given, the waitress was off, and Fievel, sitting across from her, was relatively lax.

Even though she was here experiencing this, it still felt unreal…. It wasn't until a few moments later, when another waitress came by and set up their China and poured their preferred drinks without a word, that she could speak.

"I… This is really neat…."

Fievel leaned forward and then took a sip of his cold tea. "Yeah, this place is really great…. I come here all the time and dine while I write to you…."

Olivia blushed again and then shook her head. "I meant, sitting here with you…."

Fievel had his moment to turn hot, and he looked at the table. "Yeah, I…. Uhm…."

Olivia raised an eyebrow curiously and then encouraged him to continue. "Yes, Fievel…?"

Fievel rested his injured arm on the table and just shook his head. "I dunno', I just feel like I have things I want to say, but I am not sure I ought to…."

Olivia felt similarly, but as she was about to tell him she wanted to hear it, the waitress returned and placed their meals directly in front of them.

Olivia was shocked by the sudden interruption but still captivated by how it was presented. Her oysters were on a decoratively painted plate that resembled that of an oyster shell.

Their composure and smell were delectable, and as she forgot what she was about to say to Fievel, she decided to try her meal.

Fievel quietly cut a small sirloin strip and observed Olivia as she tasted her oysters. At first, Olivia seemed unsure of the texture, but as she settled on the flavor, she found it highly palatable.

"Mmm…. This is just as good as English cod…."

Fievel laughed and took a bite of his meal. "Well, I am extremely overjoyed you like it. Please, enjoy yourself. It is my treat."

Olivia was speechless, not because of the gesture, per se, but more so because this now resembled dating and courtship to her.

"…."

Fievel was utterly unperturbed by how others might interpret this, so she merely acted as if she didn't care either.

By the time the two were rounding down their meal, a call from beside them broke their gaze on one another.

"Fievel! Hey, and who is this, huh!?"

When they looked over, they saw a dolled-up mouse girl not quite as tall as Fievel. At first, Olivia felt anxious, but then Fievel dispelled all of it by speaking.

"Tanya…. Don't you have a show right now!?"

Tanya walked over happily and shook her head. "Well, no! It was canceled…. That still doesn't answer my question, though!"

Olivia recognized the name, and she spoke before Fievel could introduce her. "Tanya? Fievel's sister?"

Tanya frowned and then looked at Fievel before playfully teasing him. "Been talking about me, are you?"

By their interaction, Olivia could tell they loved one another dearly. Indeed, he had written a lot about Tanya to her, and to finally see her felt like an honor.

Fievel shook his head and responded. "No, this is…. Well, uhm…. How do I put this?"

Tanya put her hands on her hips and responded directly. "How about her name? She seems to know mine!"

Fievel rubbed his right hand with his left and then spoke. "Well, you probably won't believe this, but, well, this is Olivia…."

Tanya stared as if she'd blown a fuse, and then, when she looked over Olivia, her expression turned to shock. "You mean…? YOUR OLIVIA?!"

Hearing Tanya raise her voice with those words made Olivia freeze in utter fear, but Fievel only confirmed it with a "yes."

Tanya went over and scrutinized Olivia and then quickly grabbed a seat from a newly emptied table and dragged it over. With her now sitting next to Olivia, she began to speak.

"Wow, I can't believe she's here! You've been talking to her for several years now!"

Olivia grinned at Tanya's developed gregarious demeanor and responded. "Yes…. I am here, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Tanya…."

Tanya shut her eyes and chuckled, then leaned back before deciding to humiliate Fievel. "Well, good thing you are, Fievel does nothing but talk about 'Olivia this,' and 'Olivia that…' I feel like I know you even though you've never been here."

Fievel pulled his hat down slightly, seeing where this was going, and hid his gaze from them behind the brim of his hat.

"…."

"Oh…" Olivia was caught off guard, so she ended up saying more than she had intended.

"I didn't know he thought about me as much as I do about him…."

When she uttered the words, Fievel raised his hat slightly to glance, and Tanya had a knowing look on her face before speaking again.

"You two are made for one another, I am oh-so sure…."

"…."

There was an awkward silence between Fievel and Olivia, so Tanya just rolled her eyes. After that, she raised her hand and called over the waitress.

Within seconds, a dried fruit pie had been ordered on Fievel's dime, and when it came, the three beginning to eat had cushioned the anxiety of the two.

Tanya began to ease into a conversation and genuinely showed interest in Olivia, her father, Basil, and England.

…

Hours went by, and the three continued bonding. When Tanya had her fill, she decided to let Olivia and Fievel have the time they truly deserved.

When the check came, Fievel paid the 70-cents for their dinners and pie, as well as left a generous 20-cent tip for the server.

…

By the time they made it outside, Olivia was surprised by the massive drop in temperature at night. It made her feel happy she'd worn her clothes from England.

Once they made it out onto the dusty trail, she was wholly entranced by the clear presence of night. The gorgeous sky was so absent in light that she could see the stars and galaxies beyond them in a way that defied expectations.

Fievel timidly spoke after the two walked in silence next to one another for a while.

"So, if you'd like, I can put you up at an inn, or you can stay with me for the night…."

The offer came off as more of a request to her, and Olivia's immediate thought was the latter regardless. "I'd like to see your home…."

With that, nothing more needed to be said, and Fievel led her along the now sparsely lit roads of the town.

"…."

…

By the time Fievel and Olivia made it to his home located under the porch of the human Sheriff's office, she was surprised by the modesty of it. It was cramped with various things but decently organized.

She watched as he lit a small lantern made of scrapped tin, and then took his hat off for the first time. His unkempt head fur was adorable and made her smile.

Placing it on a dull human fishing hook that he used as a hanger, he took her bag and set it beside it. After that, he struggled with his jacket until he finally pulled it off and hung it. Olivia could now see how badly he had been hurt; indeed, it looked agonizing from her perspective.

Bandages ran along his upper arm, down through his forearm, stopping at his wrist, and he was very slow to use or move it. Olivia placed her hands to her mouth and, for the first time, really felt deeply sorry.

Seeing her, Fievel frowned, and walked up to stand right before her. When she looked up at his face, he spoke.

"Don't worry, Olivia…. I… Well, I am ok…. I figured out that you are here because you were worried…. I really am sorry for that."

Olivia's motivation was now transparent to him, so rather than deny it, she responded. "I was so scared you stopped talking to me forever…. I am sorry for doubting you…. Really, Fievel…."

Fievel raised his left hand and rubbed her cheek, which she did not bother to try to stop. The dim flickering light of the small lantern made the mood tensely intimate.

Fievel eventually sighed and then spoke once more. "As I was trying to say earlier…. I have so much I want to tell you, but I…. It is like, now that I have the chance, I feel unsure and unable…."

Olivia's eyes sparkled with the light of the flickering flame beside her, and her pulse quickened. As Fievel drew his face closer to hers, she mimicked him. Then, when she could feel his warm breath on her face, she responded.

"Just…. Say what you need to, Fievel…. What's in your heart…."

Fievel stared, and the moment felt like an eternity. Before long, he moved closer until their noses practically touched and spoke.

"I love you, Olivia Flaversham…."

That was all he needed to say and all she needed to hear. Without a bit of hesitation, the two pressed their mouths together. It was slow at first but quickly escalated beyond their control.

Pent-up feelings exploded forth from years of childish fantasy and personal experimentation. They'd both dreamed about this, what this could be like, and now that they had a face to add to those fantasies, it only inexorably propelled their desire for love.

As they awkwardly added their tongues to the kissing, Olivia let out a moan, which caused Fievel to vigorously push her against the wooden wall of his home.

She shut her eyes and kissed ever harder as he used his left hand to hold her up against the wood. Her hands began searching his body and found his sides. Softly, she caressed them as the two freed their imprisoned passion for one another.

Eventually, the infinitely long kiss broke, and they were gasping for oxygen. Looking into Fievel's eyes, Olivia stated the obvious because she felt just as much of a need for it as Fievel.

"I… Love you too, Fievel Mousekewitz…."

…

With undeniable desire, Olivia touched just about anywhere she could while they hugged. Inevitably, Fievel moved in due to the good feelings that were being shared and began to kiss along her exposed neck.

She gasped in excited titillation as she shut her eyes. After returning the love that she had given him to her, she squealed with delight and then commented on his prurient behavior.

"Fievel…. I… This is e-embarrassing…. You are experienced with this?"

Fievel stopped kissing her neck, then gazed into her eyes again. "N-no… I…. I've never even courted a girl before…. I just…."

There was slight hesitation to continue, but Olivia just waited patiently, which inevitably caused Fievel to spill his private thoughts.

…

"Well, every time you would write me, I would get so excited…. The writing started at a time when, uhm, I was becoming more interested in girls…. I guess you could say, I liked you so much that I could only dream of you above all else."

Olivia found it sweet, and so shyly reciprocated. "Well, it is the same for me…. When I realized I felt that way, I felt stupid for liking someone I never met in person…."

"…."

Fievel stood there admiring her, feeling as if they were identical. After a bout of sentimental silence, it wasn't but a few moments later, that Olivia whispered into his ear. Her mind made up about where she wanted this to go.

"What kinds of things did you dream of, Fievel?"

He became nervous and stammered heavily. "M-marrying you, uhm…. S-some other s-stuff…."

"What other stuff?" She grinned mischievously.

"…." Fievel refused to speak any more on it.

With assertiveness, Olivia moved forward and whispered again to him.

"Show me…. Please…."

…

It didn't take more than that for Fievel to begin touching her body with his uninjured hand, and then, before they knew it, it was a whirlwind of unadulterated ecstasy.

Moving back and forth, groping, moaning, and then, the clothes they wore were shedding all about the floor. Neither could stop it, but at this point, neither wanted to.

When they inevitably made it atop Fievel's bed made out of an old human matchbox. They began to roll all over its covers until Olivia found herself on top positioning herself...

"…."

…

Sometime after their thrillful fling, filled with adulation, need, and a desire for experience. They wound up under Fievel's covers by the flickering of the lantern light.

Their nude bodies soaked so through with passion-laden sweat that their fur was damp. Olivia's hand rested atop Fievel's bare chest, and he used his left arm to hold her body against his.

The boisterous sounds of the quaint western town had ceased long ago, and given them the solitude to feel inner peace.

Olivia moved in and kissed Fievel, after which he spoke.

"Olivia…. Thanks for coming…. It has made me the happiest mouse that ever lived…."

Olivia giggled slightly and then shook her head. "No, you've made ME the happiest mouse that ever lived…."

…

There was a drawn-out silence, and then Fievel spoke in a more reserved and somber manner. "Well, whenever you need to go, I will pay your way home…. I make quite a bit as a sheriff in town…"

Olivia frowned at first but then returned to a smile when she began to speak. "I… Well…. I think I will stay here for…. for a little bit. You are looking for help, and I…."

As she trailed off, Fievel rubbed her bare shoulder. "What of your father?"

Olivia sighed. That was the hard part, but ultimately, she recognized she needed what she had right now in her life more than anything else. "I can write him, as you did me…. Our home has been stable for a few years now, so it should be ok…."

Fievel nodded and then pecked her cheek. "Well, my home is yours, so long as you want it…."

Olivia collapsed onto him and nuzzled her head into his neck while lovingly holding him. "Forever and always, is the answer to that…."

With that, the two new lovers spent the night contented. Rather than reading their most recent letter received over and over and over again, they now could speak extempore to one another while experiencing the unbridled joy of physical contact.

"…."

#fanfiction #romance #sweet #friendship #an american tail #the great mouse detective #fievel mousekewitz #olivia flaversham #crossover #true love #long distance relationship #western #first date #first love #first time #soulmates

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scotianostra · 1 year ago

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16th August 1864 saw the birth in India of Elsie Maud Inglis.

Elsie's family originated from originated from Kingsmills, Inverness-shire, her father,John, was in the service of the East India Company, although he was opposed to the imperialist policies of the 1870s. John retired and moved his family to Tasmania for two years before moving to Edinburgh in 1878. From 1878 to 1882, Inglis attended the Edinburgh Institute for the Education of Young Ladies.

When she was eighteen, Inglis attended a finishing school in Paris. Inglis knew she wanted to pursue a career in medicine and fortunately in 1886 Sophie Jex-Blake opened the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women, where Inglis began her medical training. However, a student rebellion in 1889 led Inglis with the support of her father and his influential friends to establish a rival school, the Medical College for Women.

Inglis studied at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary for eighteen months before qualifying as a licentiate at the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Inglis’s first position was medical officer at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson’s New Hospital for Women in London. Inglis held a short post in Dublin before returning to Edinburgh in 1894 where she opened a general practice. In 1899, Inglis graduated MB CM from Edinburgh and was appointed lecturer of gynaecology at the Medical College for Women, in partnership with Jessie Macgregor, opened a small hospital for women and children in 1894.

In 1904, Inglis’s small hospital moved to the High Street and was renamed The Hospice. In 1905 Inglis was appointed senior consultant of the Bruntsfield Hospital, which merged with The Hospice in 1911.

Inglis was nearly fifty in 1914 when war was declared, but her zeal and patriotism led her to offer her services to the War Office, only to be denied. Not deterred, Inglis sought to form independent hospital units staffed by women. An appeal for funds and support soon attracted more than just suffrage supporters. Inglis gave an inspiring speech in October 1914 at Kingsway Hall on ‘what women can do to help the war.’ Funds poured in for the new organization, the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service (SWH) and both the French and Serbs accepted the offer of all female medical units. The first unit left for France in November 1914 and the second went to Serbia in January 1915. Inglis went to Serbia in 1915 as the chief medical officer.

In the autumn Serbia was invaded and Inglis’s hospital was taken over by Germans. She was interned until February 1916 when she was sent home. Upon her return home, Inglis advocated for aid in Serbia. On 3 April 1916, Inglis became the first woman to be decorated with the order of the white eagle. Attempts over the next couple of years to found hospitals and aid Serbia were tried and failed. Inglis remained with her unit in Romania until September 1917 when it re-joined the Serbian division.

Inglis knew she had cancer, and by the end of September was unable to work as a surgeon, although she continued to direct the unit. Although the political situation was deteriorating rapidly, Inglis refused to leave until the Serbs were transferred out of Russia. When the unit finally left, Inglis sent a telegraph home saying, ‘Everything satisfactory and all well except me.’ Inglis and her unit landed in Newcastle and the following day, 26nd November 1917, in the presence of her sisters, Inglis died. Before her body was interned in Dean Cemetery, Inglis’s body lay in state in St Giles’ Cathedral. The SWH continued its work for the duration of the war, sending out more units and raising money for the work. Remaining funds were used to establish the Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh in July 1925.

Elsie Inglis has been honoured many times since her death, most notably on a stamp in Serbia, on a Clydesdale Bank £50 note and most recently on the centenary of her death in November 2017, as seen in the fourth pic.

#scotland #scottish #history #medical history #womens rights #strong women #edinburgh

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systemtek · 9 months ago

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Rollout of electric vehicle chargepoints to be accelerated across the UK

New measures to support electric vehicle drivers from the government’s Plan for Drivers have launched today (5 February 2024), including grants for schools, cash for councils and new proposals to boost chargepoint numbers. Technology and Decarbonisation Minister, Anthony Browne, will launch support for greener schools in Nottinghamshire today, with a new grant providing up to 75% of the cost to buy and install chargepoints, up to £2,500 per socket, up from the previous £350. Paid for by the Department for Transport, the grant forms part of the Workplace Charging Scheme and is available for state-funded schools, colleges, nurseries and academies to boost the chargepoint facilities for staff and visitors. This could also help schools to generate revenue by making their chargepoints available to the public. The school’s grant is for state-funded schools and education institutions, which must have dedicated off-street parking facilities – applications can be made online. Independent schools may apply for funding through the Workplace Charging Scheme and the Electric vehicle infrastructure grant for SMEs. The government is also delivering the £381 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund to local authorities across the country. The first capital payments for charging projects have been approved to 3 local authorities from East Sussex to North Yorkshire, and 2 London boroughs, bringing the total funding for these areas to more than £ 14.2 million. The funding will support the installation of thousands of new chargers, ensuring the rollout continues at pace to support drivers in every area of the country. Through our LEVI capability funding, almost 100 dedicated EV officers have been newly recruited to support chargepoint procurement. To aid local authorities in building a skilled workforce and delivering their charging projects, the government is also launching the electric vehicle infrastructure (EVI) training course for their officers, which will open to all local authorities from mid-March following a successful trial. Technology and Decarbonisation Minister, Anthony Browne, said: We’re getting on with delivering our Plan for Drivers, and this latest set of measures will mean EV owners everywhere benefit from easier and more convenient access to chargepoints. This government has already spent over £ 2 billion to ensure a smooth switch to EVs, and we’re committed to supporting drivers as we transition towards net zero in a proportionate way that doesn’t burden working people. More and more drivers are making the switch to electric vehicles, with fully electric vehicles accounting for over 16% of the new UK car market in 2023, according to industry statistics. The number of plug-in vehicles in the UK has also risen to over 1.2 million, of which 770,000 are fully battery-electric, meaning more and more drivers are making the switch. As this number continues to grow, government is investing alongside industry in EV infrastructure to ensure we meet our climate change commitments, while charting the fairest path to net zero which does not unnecessarily burden families. New laws recently came into force to provide EV drivers with easier and more reliable public charging, mandating that prices across chargepoints are transparent, easy to compare and that a large proportion of new public chargepoints have contactless payment options. This comes as over 53,000 public chargepoints have been installed across the UK, demonstrating the progress that has been made in the switch to electric. Minister for the School System and Student Finance at the Department for Education, Baroness Barran, said: This is an exciting opportunity for schools across the UK to become part of an ongoing move towards a greener public sector. Schools engaging with this grant will be supporting the development of green infrastructure, helping to improve their local environments. Developing a greener education estate is a key element of our sustainability and climate change strategy. The expansion of this grant supports our ambition to improve the sustainability of our schools in the ongoing move towards net zero. In addition, the government is today launching a consultation to look at ways to speed up chargepoint installation across the country. The proposals would give EV chargepoint operators the right to carry out street works using a permit rather than a licence. Permits can be issued much faster, taking days instead of months, and are significantly cheaper to obtain than licences, reducing costs for operators and speeding up the chargepoint rollout for drivers. While the consultation runs, a new good practice guide has been published by the government to improve consistency in processing licence applications across different areas. These are the second package of measures delivered from the government’s Plan for Drivers and follow last month’s announcement of a crackdown on disruptive roadworks and better digital information to boost sat-nav accuracy. To further deliver on our Plan for Drivers’ commitments, we have published a list of common questions and answers on the transition to EVs, including battery range and chargepoint availability across the country. To provide further flexibility to individuals and organisations wishing to install EV charging outlets, we will shortly consult on removing the 2-metre limitation so that wall-mounted outlets and upstands can be installed anywhere within an area lawfully used for off-street parking. Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: Through initiatives like the Electric Vehicle Cable Channel Pilot Programme and improving local electric vehicle infrastructure, we’re working hard to help residents without off-street parking, along with road users in Nottinghamshire, to charge their electric vehicles. We are continuing with our ambition to make Nottinghamshire healthier, more prosperous, and greener. Initiatives like this are a step closer to achieving these ambitions. As a county, we must do all that we can to protect the environment, and that’s why we welcome this continued government support, which helps us to roll out electric vehicle infrastructure more widely across Nottinghamshire. These measures come following the UK’s world-leading path to reaching zero emission vehicles by 2035 coming into effect earlier this year. The zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate requires 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in Great Britain to be zero emission by 2030, providing certainty to consumers and industry – helping speed up the rollout of chargepoints. The government’s approach to EVs has already attracted record investment in gigafactories and EV manufacturing, including: - Nissan’s recent investment of over £3 billion to develop 2 new electric vehicles at their Sunderland plant - Tata’s investment of over £4 billion in a new 40 GWh gigafactory - BMW’s investment of £600 million to build next-generation MINI EVs in Oxford - Ford’s investment of £380 million in Halewood to make electric drive units - Stellantis’ £100 million investment in Ellesmere Port for EV van production Last year, the UK and EU agreed to extend trade rules on electric vehicles, saving manufacturers and consumers up to £4.3 billion in additional costs and providing long-term certainty for industry. In addition, the On-street residential chargepoint scheme (ORCS) is open to all UK local authorities. Grants are also available to help businesses make the transition through the government’s Workplace charging scheme (WCS), as well as people in flats and rented accommodation through the Electric vehicle chargepoint grant. Read the full article

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brookstonalmanac · 11 months ago

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Events 12.22 (after 1950)

1963 – The cruise ship Lakonia burns 290 kilometres (180 mi) north of Madeira, Portugal with the loss of 128 lives. 1964 – The first test flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird) takes place at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, United States. 1965 – In the United Kingdom, a 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time. 1968 – Cultural Revolution: People's Daily posted the instructions of Mao Zedong that "The intellectual youth must go to the country, and will be educated from living in rural poverty." 1971 – The international aid organization Doctors Without Borders is founded by Bernard Kouchner and a group of journalists in Paris, France. 1973 – A Royal Air Maroc Sud Aviation Caravelle crashes near Tangier-Boukhalef Airport in Tangier, Morocco, killing 106. 1974 – Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration. 1974 – The house of former British Prime Minister Edward Heath is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA. 1975 – U.S. President Gerald Ford creates the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to the 1970s energy crisis. 1978 – The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform. 1984 – "Subway vigilante" Bernhard Goetz shoots four would-be muggers on a 2 express train in Manhattan section of New York, United States. 1989 – Romanian Revolution: Communist President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu is overthrown by Ion Iliescu after days of bloody confrontations. The deposed dictator and his wife Elena flee Bucharest in a helicopter as protesters erupt in cheers. 1989 – German reunification: Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany. 1990 – Lech Wałęsa is elected President of Poland. 1990 – Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia after termination of trusteeship. 1992 – During approach to Tripoli International Airport, a Boeing 727 operating as Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 1103 collides in mid-air with a Libyan Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23, killing 157 people. 1996 – Airborne Express Flight 827 crashes in Narrows, Virginia, killing all six people on board. 1997 – Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces. 1997 – Somali Civil War: Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquishes the disputed title of President of Somalia by signing the Cairo Declaration, in Cairo, Egypt. It is the first major step towards reconciliation in Somalia since 1991. 1999 – Just after taking off from London Stansted Airport, Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509 crashes into Hatfield Forest near Great Hallingbury, killing all four people on board. 2001 – Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Northern Alliance, hands over power in Islamic State of Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai. 2001 – Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63. 2010 – The repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama. 2016 – A study finds the VSV-EBOV vaccine against the Ebola virus between 70 and 100% effective, thus making it the first proven vaccine against the disease. 2017 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 2397 against North Korea is unanimously approved. 2018 – A tsunami caused by an eruption of Anak Krakatau in Indonesia kills at least 430 people and injures almost a thousand more. 2018 – The 2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown, the longest shutdown of the U.S. federal government in history, begins.

#Events

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mmnutrition · 1 year ago

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Maximize Your Workout Performance with Proper Nutrition: Insights from Michelle Mina

Are you striving to achieve your fitness goals, but feel like something is missing from your routine? It's time to take a closer look at your nutrition. Proper nutrition is the key to unlocking your workout potential and achieving the results you desire. In this article, we'll explore the vital role of nutrition in your fitness journey and how consulting a nutritionist in East London can make all the difference. The Power of Nutrition in Fitness Success When you think of fitness, you likely envision challenging workouts and sweating it out at the gym. While exercise is undoubtedly crucial, it's only one piece of the puzzle. Nutrition is the other half. Your body requires the right balance of nutrients to perform at its best, whether you're lifting weights, running, or practicing yoga. Proper nutrition provides your muscles with the energy they need to perform optimally, aids in muscle recovery, and reduces the risk of injury. Without it, you may find yourself struggling to make progress, feeling fatigued, or experiencing setbacks in your fitness journey. Choosing a Nutritionist in East London To ensure you're on the right track with your nutrition, consulting a qualified nutritionist is a wise choice. If you're in East London, you're in luck. Michelle Mina, a leading nutrition and wellness expert based in London, offers her expertise to individuals in the area. A nutritionist can provide personalized guidance, creating a nutrition plan tailored to your unique goals, lifestyle, and dietary preferences. Michelle Mina, in particular, understands the specific needs of individuals in East London, making her an excellent choice for those seeking to optimize their fitness journey through nutrition. Fueling Your Workouts with the Right Nutrition To excel in your workouts, you need to fuel your body properly. A balanced diet that includes carbohydrates, lean proteins, and healthy fats is essential to provide your muscles with the energy they require during exercise. Additionally, staying well-hydrated is crucial for optimal performance. The Synergy of Nutritionist Expertise and Exercise Working with a nutritionist complements your exercise routine. They can fine-tune your nutrition plan to align with your workout goals, ensuring that you're getting the most out of your training sessions. This synergy between nutritionist expertise and exercise can lead to remarkable results. Expert Guidance from Michelle Mina Michelle Mina emphasizes the importance of combining nutrition and exercise for fitness success. "Achieving your fitness goals is about balance," she says. "The right nutrition plan, guided by a qualified nutritionist, can make all the difference." Michelle Mina Nutrition offers a range of personalized nutrition packages designed to cater to your specific needs. Here's a brief overview of what their packages include: - BRONZE (Essentials) – £130 per month: Includes essential dietary analysis, an essential nutrition plan, and 1x 30-minute video consultation per month. - SILVER (Personalized) – £180 per month: Offers personalized dietary analysis, a personalized nutrition plan, and 2x 30-minute video consultations per month. - GOLD (Comprehensive) – £230 + per month: Provides comprehensive dietary analysis, a comprehensive nutrition plan, and 4x 20-minute video consultations per month. These packages are designed to cater to various needs and budget levels, ensuring that you receive the guidance and support you require on your fitness journey. In conclusion, if you're eager to maximize your workout performance and achieve your fitness goals, don't overlook the role of nutrition. Michelle Mina Nutrition, with its expertise and personalized nutrition packages, can help you harness the power of proper nutrition for fitness success. Whether you're in East London or beyond, take the first step towards a healthier, fitter you by consulting with a qualified nutritionist. Your body will thank you, and your workouts will reach new heights. Read the full article

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hellothetutorshelp-blog · 2 years ago

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jfktechtraining · 1 year ago

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#Training centre in Barking #Training centre in East London #First aid training in London #First aid training in Barking #First aid training in East London #PTS Training centre in London

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hattusha · 2 years ago

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Nikolai

(text copied from my DA, becuz I am lazy)

Second portrait of my colored series. This time my character Nikolai Romanov, main character of an old story of mine called Eternal, that will never be finished :^) He's a trainee doctor and medic in his early 30s working for an organization called Epsilon, which is based in a futuristic alternative (universe) Britain, that deals with the control and punishment of rogue Espers. As part of the medical team his main job is mainly first aid and trauma care, as victims of psionic attacks can suffer nasty bodily damages. He spend most of his time since childhood in (alternative) London, the capitol of Britannia (which has slightly different borders and sea shores than in real life). His father Dmitri, who works as a talking therapist, has a mysterious past - he came from Russia post World War three with his then young kids - Nikolai and Mikhail. He barely speaks about that time and neither Nikolai nor his brother Mikhail can remember anything from before they came to Britannia - something that has made them both a bit suspicious about their own identity and past. Both brothers did however continue to live life without asking too many questions and everything was pretty ordinary, save for the few peculiar and odd things about Nikolai, such as his extremely fast wound healing, slow aging and excellent night vision. The family was eventually expanded by a marriage and a (half-) sister Natasha. Nikolai was raised well in a middle-class family that lived very comfortably despite the government being ruled by an authoritarian regime (and a world where automatization caused people to be classed mostly in unemployed fed-by-the-state mindless consumers and privileged working people). To become better than the large bulk of people who live on a fixed monthly salary tied to social credits by their gov he began to study medicine (he also possessed an actual interest and a want to help others after his stepmother died of an obscure illness). All was going well with becoming a medical doctor and leading a perfect, stable and normal life until he decided to join Epsilon to finish his training in the field of trauma surgery. His father was vehemently against it but couldn't do much to change his son's decision. Then his father suddenly vanishes and the authorities almost seem to deliberately hinder the search for him. Nikolai starts to severely question his world view, even more so when he finds his friend and fellow Epsilon colleague (and mentor) Dr. Simon Kruzcik dead in his home after a strange call - at the crime scene he meets two strangers: rogue Espers and scientists from Albion - a technocratic state in the North-East of England - Loui Device and Ethan Mayer. Through the former Nikolai learns that his father's identity was made up by the ruling party of Britannia and that the man behind the fake name used to be involved in a secret Russian research project in the Caspian steppe - a project to which Nikolai himself is heavily connected to and might explain his strange physical traits and abilities. It's after this event that Nikolai's normal life gets inadvertently ripped apart and he's dragged into a thousand year old war between two inhuman (and eldritch) entities…

#art #my art #portrait #OC #original character #Eternal #story #fiction #character development #painting #digital painting #digital art #Illustration #Nikolai

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theoriginalladya · 4 years ago

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Look at me. You’re gonna be okay (writing prompt)

Okay, so @jedirangerpenguin asked me two of the Protective Prompts found here last night, and I have one done but not the other. So, rather than make you wait, my dear, I’ll post this one separately and then respond to the ask with the second one when I get there.

Pairing: ABBOATS Abby Williams, Major (Ryan) Coats

Setting: London, England, 2186 during the Reaper War

On AO3 here

Look at me. You’re gonna be okay.

“Commander?” The voice – his voice – is soft, a hiss and barely audible, but she hears it. Just loud enough to catch her attention as he seeks her out, but not to give away their position.

Her eyes squeeze shut as Abby grimaces; not because he spoke and it was loud enough to hear, but because the rush of pain coursing through her body just then makes far too much of a challenge to focus on anything else right now. If she opens her mouth, instead of the whisper required in order to keep their location secret, the scream prying for freedom at the back of her throat will escape. She can’t… can’t give in to that right now. Not here. Not now.

Something brushes against her arm and her she inhales sharply through her nose as her eyes fly open. Everything is a blur at first, but there’s nothing to be done for it. Again, not here.

“Williams?”

She draws in a deeper, slower breath this time and nods. He might not see the movement, but he’s beside her. It’s enough to give her something steady to lean on. Just for a moment.

That is, until he bumps against her right hip, jarring it, and sending another wave of pain arcing through her with such intensity she literally buries her face in the chest of his armor to muffle the cry she cannot hold in. His hands tighten around her arms as he hisses, “Abby!” The warning in his tone is enough; her cry cuts short and her legs give out. She falls, dead weight, toward the ground.

Impact never comes. Coats’ hands tighten, preventing her from clattering to the ground. Denied a connection with asphalt and cement, her armor knocks against his and not quietly.

Sounds stir to life in the night beyond them, a reminder of the ever-present danger they are in when on a mission. Coats shifts to her side – her good one, thankfully – and slides one arm around her waist while looping hers around his neck and shoulders. “What’s with you?” he hisses as they move forward, seeking out safety.

Abby shakes her head, unable to respond. The agony is just too much. As they step off a curb, she stumbles and his hand tightens it’s hold, then everything around her goes dark…

Consciousness comes slowly. Abby is only slightly surprised that her eyes open again and with it, the darkness returns. Can’t have been too long, then. Though it takes longer than usual for her vision to focus, and the pain is still excruciating, she immediately starts listening. The only thing she hears are the soft whimpers of a child.

A child? She blinks twice more, and her eyes finally clear enough to notice the grey eyes staring back at her. She tries to speak, but his hand covers her mouth. She blinks again, eyes widening as she realizes the whimpers come from her.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’d been hit?” he hisses.

One of his eyebrows lift before his gaze darts to her hip and then back; she nods, pulling her lip between her teeth and biting down. She can keep silent while he tends to her injuries. Hopefully.

Abby knows exactly what he’s doing. Every soldier gets a course in basic battlefield first aid. At his rank, Coats may well have additional training; she doesn’t know. Not that it’ll do much good for her situation, though. Her best recourse is to get back to HQ ASAP and have the medical staff tend to it. But she’s lost quite a bit of blood and, if the soft grunts Coats can’t hide is an indication, the wound itself isn’t superficial.

That’s problematic. Face it, Williams, you may have hit the end of the line here…

She draws in a sharp breath as something cool is applied to her skin. She recognizes it, though she wants to chastise Coats for resorting to it; it’s a waste for injuries like hers. Medigel won’t be anywhere near effective as she needs it to be.

“C’mon, soldier,” he huffs, sliding her arm around his shoulders and neck again, pulling her up to her feet and closer to him. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

She tastes blood as she bites down on her lip. “Leave me,” she breathes, unable to put weight on the leg. “I’m just slowing you down.”

Without stopping, he half drags, half carries her along with him. Stubborn bastard, aren’t you? “If I leave you here, you’re as good as dead.”

“And if you don’t,” she counters, “we both are.”

They stumble through the shadows again, making up for lost time as they head east using the old Tube tunnels and train lines as a guide. Even if they could make it back tonight – and in her current condition, that’s not very likely – there’s no guarantee she isn’t too far gone as it is. Plus, it’s a hell of a long trip, and as slowed down as they will be, a far greater chance for the reapers to catch up to them.

Coats drags them into the shadows between two nearby buildings before he speaks again, and even then, it isn’t above a hoarse whisper near her ear. "I’m not leaving you here, Abbs.”

Abbs. Fuck, he’s not listening! “But –”

Even in the shadows, surrounded by night skies on all sides, she can’t miss the dogged determination that fills the steel grey of his eyes. “Not happening. Now, belt up and –”

In the distance, the familiar snarls and growls they’ve come to associate with husks and other reaper creatures drift ever closer. Abby places her hands on his chest and shoves him with all the strength she has in that moment which, granted, isn’t much. “Go! Save yourself!”

He captures her chin in his hand and forces her to look up at him. She would look away if she could, but the intensity there refuses to let go. “Look at me,” he insists as he uses his free hand to brush some of her hair back from her eyes. “You’re gonna be okay. I promise."

She has no reasonable explanation for it, but in that moment, she believes him…

#Protective prompts #ladya writes #Abboats #Abby Williams #Major (Ryan) Coats #tw: injury #mass effect #reaper war #london england #OTP: The Ties That Bind Us

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scotianostra · 3 years ago

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Happy 68th Birthday James “Midge” Ure born October 10th 1953 in Cambuslang.

Born to a working class family Ure attended Cambuslang Primary School and Rutherglen Academy in Glasgow until he was 15 years old. For the first 10 years of his life he lived in a one-bedroom tenement flat. After leaving school Ure attended Motherwell Technical College and then began to work as an engineer, training at the National Engineering Laboratory (NEL), in nearby East Kilbride.

Midge started playing music in a Glasgow band called Stumble in 1969, before joining Salvation, a Glasgow-based group that became the bubblegum band Slik in 1974. Upset in the change of direction, Ure left the band to join the Rich Kids, a punk-pop group led by former Sex Pistol bassist Glen Matlock. The Rich Kids only released one album, 1978’s Ghosts of Princes in Towers, before breaking up later that year. Ure spent a brief time with the Misfits (not the American band) before forming Visage with drummer Rusty Egan and vocalist Steve Strange; he left the group to replace Gary Moore in Thin Lizzy, who had left in the middle of an American tour. After the tour was finished, Ure fulfilled an agreement to join Ultravox as the replacement for John Foxx.

Once he joined the band in 1980, Ure helped make Ultravox a mainstream success; during this time he also worked as a producer, making records with Steve Harley and Modern Man. In 1982, Ure released a solo single, a cover of the Walker Brothers’ hit “No Regrets”; it climbed into the U.K. Top Ten. Ure and Bob Geldof formed Band Aid, a special project to aid famine relief efforts in Ethiopia, in 1984. The two wrote the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and assembled an all-star band of musicians to record the single; it sold millions of copies over the 1984 holiday season.

In 1985, Ultravox was put on hiatus and Ure began to pursue a full-time solo career. Recorded entirely by Ure, his 1985 solo debut, The Gift, launched the number one single “If I Was,” as well as the minor hits “That Certain Smile” and “Call of the Wild.” The following year, he recorded the final Ultravox album; in 1987, the band broke up and he began recording his second solo album. The resulting record, 1988’s Answers to Nothing, was less successful than The Gift in the U.K., yet it charted in the U.S., which is something Ure’s previous album failed to do. Three years later, Ure released his third album, Pure; while it didn’t do any business in America, the album featured the Top 20 British hit “Cold, Cold Heart.” He attempted a comeback in 1996 with Breathe, which went ignored by both the American and British markets. Four years later, his score for the Jon Cryer drama-comedy Went to Coney Island was issued by the Evenmore label.

Ure’s recording activity during the 2000s began with Move Me, which featured some surprisingly hard rocking material. A few years later, he published an autobiography, If I Was, and then, with Geldof, arranged the Live 8 concerts.

Following the release of the covers-oriented 10 IN 2008, Ure participated in an Ultravox reunion and continued to record as a solo artist. Fragile was issued in 2014, and featured the Moby collaboration “Dark, Dark Night.” In 2017, he collaborated with composer Ty Unwin on the album Orchestrated, which featured orchestral reworkings of Ultravox songs, as well as songs from his solo career.

Last year Midge released an album Soundtrack 1978-2019, he was one of the lucky artists to have just completed his tour promoting this in February this year.

Midge continues to work with The Band Aid Trust and several other charities, last year he and Bob Geldof angrily denied rumours that they take any money from Band Aid, saying every penny has gone to the charity.

The Cambuslang singer was in the news last month after he revealed a “mugger” tried to snatch his phone in London. Posting on Twitter, he explained: "Someone on a bike tried to snatch my phone from my hand in central London yesterday. In broad daylight! Came out of nowhere on the pavement, made the grab, missed and knocked it out my hand then disappeared into the traffic.

Midge was recently awarded the lifetime achievement award at the Scotland's Champions event run by the Daily Record.

The multi-talented singer-songwriter and producer announced tour dates for next spring including Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, he will also play some dates in North America in the next month or so.

#Scotland #scottish #singersongwriter #musician #ultravox

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daloy-politsey · 4 years ago

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Palestine was more prepared for the first coronavirus wave than many other governments because the PA’s security forces successfully lobbied the international community to provide them with a public health emergency simulation the previous year. “International donors gave them a workshop, and they modeled it on the basis of a potential MERS [Middle East respiratory syndrome] outbreak,” said Tahani Mustafa, a Jordanian-based research fellow at the London School of Economics.

The exercise proved beneficial, since the PA already suffered from limited logistical options and an obstructed health sector as a result of the Israeli military occupation, which has prevented the acquisition of supplies and equipment and greatly constrained the travel necessary to keep up-to-date with medical training and development, according to a report by al-Shabaka, an independent global Palestinian think tank.

Mustafa explained that the simulation was meant to include a workshop for representatives of the various branches of the security sector first, followed by a workshop for relevant political actors, such as representatives of the Health Ministry. The first workshop in 2019 addressed potential solutions to anticipated problems—which included a novel respiratory coronavirus.

Before the second workshop could take place, Covid-19 hit. With the first simulation fresh in memory, the PA moved fast, setting up a joint operations center where the Health Ministry, the prime minister’s office, and the security branches came up with procedures and rules and then delegated them to each governorate in the West Bank.

“With the first wave, what you had was an instantaneous response as soon as there was an outbreak in Bethlehem,” Mustafa said. “They basically shut down the area, and then a week or two later you ended up having the entire West Bank go into this severe lockdown. They did an OK job in the first couple of months. From what I was told, there was a lot of public consistency, where people were complying with the rules.” But unlike the simulation, the pandemic didn’t end.

Ten months have passed since those early days of relative success, and a different reality has emerged in the occupied territories. Makeshift checkpoints of dirt and stone now divide the towns. Travel and trade with Israel have been restricted even more than usual. And testing kits and supplies have run critically low. All 350 artificial respirators available in the territories had been put to use by July, according to the Health Ministry. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was pushing for annexation, a threat that preoccupied the Palestinian leadership. With the government overwhelmed, the PA saw no choice other than to look abroad for financial support. But it ran into a roadblock.

In the past, Palestinians relied heavily on US support, which amounted to around $400 million a year, according to a 2018 congressional report. But the bipartisan Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in 2018, slashed that funding to virtually nothing. According to that law, any foreign entity receiving US aid must consent to the jurisdiction of US courts regarding anti-terrorism claims, meaning the PA would be subject to terrorism-related lawsuits based on American law. Considering that it pays a stipend to the families of Palestinian citizens who are imprisoned in Israel, some of whom are being held on terrorism charges, the PA opted against accepting any US money. When the Palestinian economy shuttered after the first wave of the coronavirus, Washington pledged $5 million in aid—a paltry sum, roughly 1 percent of what had been the annual US aid budget to the PA.

According to data from the Palestinian Finance Ministry Service and an analysis by the London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, since March, the PA has received no aid from Arab countries, some of which signed US-backed normalization agreements with Israel during that period. These cuts arrived on top of a 50 percent decrease in foreign aid from outside the region, with total funding dropping from $500 million in 2019 to $255 million in 2020.

“When we ask how Palestinians are able to live under these conditions, we have to understand that it’s never been much better,” said Yara Asi, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Central Florida who is researching health and development in fragile and conflict-ravaged populations. “For Palestinians who can afford it, they will continue to access higher-quality private facilities or, travel conditions permitting, travel to Jordan, Egypt, or other states for advanced [health] care they are unable to get in the territories,” she said. “Low-income Palestinians will continue to rely on the public health sector, buoyed by inconsistent aid to the Palestinian Authority, as US funding has essentially ended.”

While donors in other parts of the world have filled some of the funding shortfalls, Asi added, many Palestinians will now be unable to access health care altogether while resources run dry and medical facilities and providers remain overworked and understaffed. For example, “thousands of Palestinians are missing needed vision care, as they have not been able to access ophthalmologists for months,” she said. “One report estimated that 1,200 surgical procedures to help restore vision have been canceled since April.”

#palestine #covid-19 #coronavirus

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cruger2984 · 4 years ago

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Haikyuu!! and its Saints

Fly to victory. In celebration of my birthday today, here's our black and orange boys of Karasuno and their corresponding saints!

December 31 - Daichi Sawamura

Pope St. Sylvester I: 33rd bishop of Rome who reigned from 314 to 335 A.D. He filled the see of Rome at an important era in the history of the Western Church, yet very little is known of him. The accounts of his pontificate preserved in the seventh or eighth-century Liber Pontificalis contain little more than a record of the gifts said to have been conferred on the church by Constantine the Great, although it does say that he was the son of a Roman named Rufinus. Large churches were founded and built during Sylvester I's pontificate, including Basilica of St. John Lateran, Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, Old St. Peter's Basilica and several churches built over the graves of martyrs. Legend has it that Sylvester is slaying a dragon, hence he is often depicted with the dying beast.

June 13 - Koshi Sugawara

St. Anthony of Padua: Franciscan Portuguese friar and priest who is noted by his contemporaries for his powerful preaching, expert knowledge of scripture, and undying love and devotion to the poor and the sick, he was one of the most quickly canonized saints in church history. Although he is known as the patron of lost items, his major shrine can be found in Padua, Italy. In January 1946, he is proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XII, and is given the title of Doctor Evangelicus (Evangelical Doctor).

January 1 - Asahi Azumane

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God: One of the most important Marian feasts days to start the New Year. It is to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary under the aspect of her motherhood of Jesus Christ, whom Christians see as the Lord, Son of God, and it is celebrated by the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church on 1 January, the Octave (8th) day of Christmastide.

October 10 - Yu Nishinoya

St. Cerbonius: Populonian bishop who lived in the time of the Barbarian invasion. Gregory the Great praises him in Book XI of his Dialogues. Another tradition states that Cerbonius was a native of North Africa who was the son of Christian parents. Ordained a priest by Regulus, though not the same one as in the Scottish Legend. One of the saint’s attributes was a bear licking his feet, because during Totila’s invasion of Tuscany, he was ordered to be killed by a wild bear, the bear remained petrified before him. It stood on two legs and opened its jaws wide. Then, it fell back on its paws and licked the feet of the saint.

March 3 - Ryunosuke Tanaka

St. Katharine Drexel: American philanthropist, religious sister, educator, heiress, and foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, as well as Xavier University of Louisiana, the only historically black Catholic college in the country. She might be the second canonized saint to have been born in the United States and the first to have been born a U.S. citizen, she is the patron of philanthropists and racial justice.

December 26 - Chikara Ennoshita

St. Stephen: Dubbed as the first Christian martyr, and his appearance can be found in the Acts of the Apostles. He is a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem who aroused the enmity of members of various synagogues by his teachings. Accused of blasphemy at his trial, he made a long speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him and was then stoned to death, in which Saul of Tarsus was a witness to see him died before his conversion in Damascus.

February 15 - Hisashi Kinoshita

St. Claude de La Colombière: 17th century French Jesuit priest who assisted St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in establishing the devotion to the Sacred Heart. He was her confessor, and his writings and testimony helped to validate her mystical visions and elevated the Sacred Heart as an important feature of Roman Catholic devotion. He was appointed court preacher to Mary of Modena, who had become duchess of York by marriage with the future King James II of England, and he took up his residence in St. James's Palace in London. Falsely accused by a former protégé of complicity in Titus Oates's 'popish plot,' he was imprisoned for five weeks and, when released, was obliged to return to France, where he died an invalid under the care of Margaret Mary. Canonized by Pope St. John Paul II on the Feast of the Visitation in 1992, his major shrine can be found in Paray-le-Monial.

August 17 - Kazuhito Narita

St. Hyacinth of Poland: 13th century Polish Dominican priest and missionary who worked to reform women's monasteries in his native Poland, and was a Doctor of Sacred Studies, educated in Paris and Bologna, and is known for the monicker, 'Apostle of the North.' One of the major miracles attributed to Hyacinth came about during a Mongol attack on Kiev. As the friars prepared to flee the invading forces, Hyacinth went to save the ciborium containing the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle in the monastery chapel, when he heard the voice of Mary, the mother of Jesus, asking him to take her, too. He lifted the large, stone statue of Mary, as well as the ciborium. He was easily able to carry both, despite the fact that the statue weighed far more than he could normally lift. Thus he saved them both. His tomb is in the Basilica of Holy Trinity in Krakow, Poland, in a chapel that bears his name. Hyacinth is the patron saint of those in danger of drowning.

December 22 - Tobio Kageyama

St. Ernan, Son of Eogan: He was a nephew of St. Columba. His monastery in Ireland was at Druim-Tomma in the district of Drumhome, County Donegal. He is venerated as the patron saint of Killernan, though he may not have visited Scotland and also as patron of the parish of Drumhome, where a school has been dedicated to him. His commemoration is assigned to the 21st and 22nd of December according to the Scottish Kalendars.

June 21 - Shoyo Hinata

St. Aloysius Gonzaga: Italian confessor from the Jesuit order. Born into the noble Gonzaga clan in 1568, and in order to satisfy his father's ambitions, he was trained in the art of war and was obliged to attend royal banquets and military parades. Not with standing his father's furious opposition, Aloysius renounced his inheritance and join the Jesuits in Rome. While still a student at the Roman College, he died as a result of caring for the victims of a serious epidemic. Canonized on New Year’s Eve in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII, he is the patron saint of the Christian youth, Jesuit scholastics, the blind, AIDS patients, AIDS care-givers.

September 27 - Kei Tsukishima

St. Vincent de Paul: 17th century French priest who is the founder of the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians) for preaching missions to the peasantry and for educating and training a pastoral clergy. The patron saint of charitable societies, he is primarily recognized for his charity and compassion for the poor, though he is also known for his reform of the clergy and for his early role in opposing Jansenism. With St. Louise de Marillac, he co-founded the Daughters of Charity (Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul) in 1633. The association was patterned after the Confraternities of Charity and was the first noncloistered religious institute of women devoted to active charitable works. Canonized as a saint by Pope Clement XII in 1737, his major shrine can be found in Rue de Sèvres in Paris.

November 10 - Tadashi Yamaguchi

St. Leo the Great (Pope St. Leo I): 45th bishop of Rome who reigned from 440 to 461 A.D. His pontificate - which saw the disintegration of the Roman Empire in the West and the formation in the East of theological differences that were to split Christendom—was devoted to safeguarding orthodoxy and to securing the unity of the Western church under papal supremacy. He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452 and allegedly persuaded him to turn back from his invasion of Italy. Leo is mostly remembered theologically for issuing the Tome of Leo, a document which was a major foundation to the debates of the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. Pope Benedict XIV proclaimed Leo I a Doctor of the Church in 1754, next to one other pope, St. Gregory the Great.

#random stuff #catholic #catholic saints #haikyuu!!#karasuno high school #daichi sawamura #koshi sugawara #asahi azumane #yu nishinoya #ryunosuke tanaka #chikara ennoshita #hisashi kinoshita #kazuhito narita #tobio kageyama #shoyo hinata #kei tsukishima #tadashi yamaguchi

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multiverseforger · 4 years ago

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Brock Rumlow led the Savage Crims gang on New York City's Lower East Side, during which time, he assaulted fifteen-year-old Rachel Leighton and fought Rachel's two brothers, killing the elder brother. Rumlow fled, entering Taskmaster's school for criminals, within three years becoming an instructor under the name Bingo Brock.[2]

As a mercenary, Rumlow enlisted with Albert Malik, the communist Red Skull, in Algeria, serving the Red Skull under the name Frag until he was sent to invade Arnim Zola's Switzerland chateau; Rumlow was ultimately the only team member to survive the assault. There, he also met and impressed, Johann Schmidt, the original Nazi Red Skull, who accepted Brock's services and code-named him as "Crossbones".[2]

The true Red Skull sent Crossbones to observe Baron Helmut Zemo's progress acquiring the Bloodstone fragments and to obtain them.[3][4] He stowed aboard Captain America's flagship, and entered Zemo's ship to steal the Bloodstone fragments. He overpowered Diamondback, and shot a crossbow bolt that coupled with Captain America's shield. Crossbones was forced to shatter the Bloodstone fragments when the alien entity known as the Hellfire Helix used it to take control of Baron Heinrich Zemo's body; the destruction of the Bloodstone discorporated the Hellfire Helix.[5] Knowing that his master would be infuriated by the Bloodstone's loss, Crossbones kidnapped Diamondback to Madripoor as bait for Captain America. He challenged Captain America to retrieve Diamondback, but the Captain defeated him, although Diamondback escaped, and the Red Skull ordered Crossbones to desist and return to headquarters.[6] The Red Skull then ordered him to retrieve the Controller after the Controller's breakout from the Vault.[7] With the Machinesmith, Crossbones investigated the Red Skull's disappearance.[8]

Crossbones assembled the Skeleton Crew from the Red Skull's henchmen and led them on a search for the Red Skull, who had been missing since Magneto imprisoned him in an underground bunker.[9] They battled the Black Queen and her Hellfire Club mercenaries.[10] Crossbones enlisted the aid of psychic Tristam Micawber to locate the Red Skull. Upon finding his master, Crossbones took the Red Skull to Skullhouse for convalescence.[11]

He next attended AIM's weapons exposition.[12] He battled Daredevil during a failed assassination attempt against the Kingpin.[13] He battled Bullseye during Bullseye's failed assassination attempt against the Red Skull.[14] He battled Captain America again and was defeated.[15] He later recounts how he met the Red Skull.[16] The Red Skull assigned him to discover who killed the Red Skull's spare clone bodies.[17] Alongside the Skeleton Crew, he battled the Schutzheilligruppe in an attempt to rescue the Red Skull but was captured.[18] He was rescued from the Schutzheilligruppe's custody by Arnim Zola's fake Avengers.[19] Crossbones was eventually fired for questioning the Red Skull's decision to ally himself with the Viper.[20]

Desperate to regain his position as leader of the Skeleton Crew, Crossbones kidnapped Diamondback, imprisoning in an abandoned subway station and forced into a brutal regime of combat training.[volume & issue needed] Crossbones believed that he had brainwashed Diamondback into betraying Captain America, but Diamondback was actually laying a trap for Crossbones.[volume & issue needed] Diamondback stole samples of Captain America's blood from the Avengers' mansion, then accompanied Crossbones to the Red Skull's mountain fortress.[volume & issue needed] The two were captured and imprisoned, and the Red Skull rehired Crossbones on a temporary basis.[volume & issue needed] He was later attacked by Cutthroat, the Skeleton Crew's new leader, who feared that Crossbones will try to take back his position as the Red Skull's right-hand man.[volume & issue needed] Crossbones killed Cutthroat, never realizing that Cutthroat was actually Diamondback's older brother.[volume & issue needed] Crossbones later stabbed Diamondback during Diamondback's escape attempt, only to later save with a blood transfusion in order to use as bait.[volume & issue needed] He was critically wounded by flying shrapnel during an assault on the fortress by Captain America and the Falcon, and imprisoned.[volume & issue needed]

Imprisoned in the Raft when Electro breaks the inmates out, Crossbones was seen fighting Captain America and Spider-Man. Spider-Man kicked Crossbones in the face, knocking him out.[21]

After he escaped from prison, Crossbones became a mercenary and assassin for a number of organizations, until he was rehired by the Red Skull who was later apparently assassinated by the Winter Soldier.[volume & issue needed] Crossbones and his new lover, Synthia Schmidt (the Red Skull's daughter), began hunting Aleksander Lukin, the Winter Soldier's commander.[volume & issue needed] They plotted to crash a stolen World War II era plane into the new Kronas Headquarters in London, only to have their plane destroyed by the Red Skull's Sleeper robot.[volume & issue needed] While they escape the destruction of the plane, they found Agent 13, and are about to kill Sharon Carter, only to be stopped by the Red Skull's appearance.[volume & issue needed] They begin working with Red Skull/Lukin whose minds both share Lukin's body.[volume & issue needed]

Following the Civil War storyline, Captain America's Anti-Registration heroes surrendered to Iron Man's Pro-Registration heroes.[volume & issue needed] While being led from Federal Courthouse, Captain America was shot in the shoulder by Crossbones taking the Red Skull's orders.[volume & issue needed] Crossbones tries to escape in a helicopter but was tracked by the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The Winter Soldier then beat Crossbones into unconsciousness, while Crossbones simply laughed. Falcon then turned Crossbones over to S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.[volume & issue needed]

In Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America, Wolverine, along with Daredevil and Doctor Strange, broke into S.H.I.E.L.D. to interrogate Crossbones and threatened to kill him. Crossbones revealed no knowledge of his hiring by the Red Skull. Wolverine left him a bloody mess on the floor after being convinced by Daredevil to spare his life.[22]

S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Tony Stark arranged for Professor X to scan Crossbones' mind for information, but Professor X found that someone had erased several parts of his memory in order to prevent such a scan.[volume & issue needed] Sin and a new incarnation of the Serpent Squad have broken Crossbones free of S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.[volume & issue needed] They then capture the Winter Soldier when confronting Lukin to find out a relationship with the Red Skull.[volume & issue needed]

When Sin and the Serpent Squad attacked the Senate Building, Bucky Barnes arrived as the new Captain America. After battling and injuring many of the Squad, Crossbones attacked Barnes. After a brutal fight in which Crossbones launched Barnes out of the building. Bucky was saved by the Natalia Romanova's intervention, and Bucky shot Crossbones several times in the chest. The gravely wounded Crossbones was then taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody once again.[volume & issue needed]

At the start of the Heroic Age event, Crossbones has become a member of the new Thunderbolts team formed in the aftermath of Siege.[23] Government agents, working with Luke Cage, add Crossbones to the team knowing that he cannot be reformed, hoping that his extreme methods will alienate the other Thunderbolt members and push them towards rehabilitation.[24] During the team's first mission, Crossbones was exposed to corrupted Terrigen Mists;[25] during the events of Shadowland, Crossbones manifested the ability to fire a powerful, piercing beam of energy from his face, theorizing that this ability originates from his exposure to the Terrigen mists. He uses this ability to murder a police officer.[26] Fearing that the Thunderbolts are close to being disbanded following Cage's decision to leave, Crossbones attempted to escape alongside Ghost and Juggernaut. During the attempt, Crossbones used his new ability to fight the unsuspecting Steve Rogers. Crossbones was defeated and discharged from the Thunderbolts, after Ghost revealed his murder of the police officer.[27] Crossbones is shown incarcerated in a padded cell wearing a straitjacket, apparently no longer able to use his energy beam.[28]

During the Fear Itself storyline, Crossbones was constantly harassed while he was behind bars, because he was both a former Thunderbolt member and a neo-nazi. Shortly after when he was being beaten up by more thugs, Juggernaut unintentionally causes a break out in the prison facility called the Raft. Man Mountain Mario (the cousin of Man Mountain Marko) helps defend Crossbones from the thugs. While the two of them were trying to escape, Mario told Crossbones about his grandma who helps criminals leave the border. Crossbones manages to escape and returns the favor by killing Mario to help with his escape.[29] He confronts some of the former Avengers Initiative members in New Jersey after he escapes the Raft. He fights Gravity, Frog-Man, Geiger, Scarlet Spiders, and Firestar. When he's surrounded, he tosses a grenade at Gravity but Geiger catches it and is seriously injured, creating an easy distraction for him to escape.[30]

During the Ends of the Earth storyline, Crossbones was seen in one of Doctor Octopus' facilities. Sabra fights past some Octobots until Crossbones shoots Sabra.[31]

Crossbones later appears as a member of HYDRA who are planning to spread poisonous blood extracted from an Inhuman boy named Lucas. He fights Sam Wilson as the new Captain America on Bagalia. Just as he was about to kill Wilson, he is defeated by Misty Knight who was undercover at that moment.[32] He is later defeated by Wilson when he attacks a HYDRA base located on Florida.[33]

During the Avengers: Standoff! storyline, Crossbones was an inmate of Pleasant Hill, a gated community established by S.H.I.E.L.D. When Steve Rogers was at the Pleasant Hill Bowling Alley trying to reason with Kobik, Crossbones attacks Rogers. Before Crossbones can kill Rogers, Kobik's powers de-age Rogers back to physical prime, which allows the Captain to defeat Crossbones.[34] In the aftermath of the events at Pleasant Hill, Crossbones founds a new version of HYDRA with the Red Skull and Sin.[35]

During the Secret Empire storyline, Crossbones appears as a member of the Army of Evil and took part in the attack on Manhattan in retaliation for what happened at Pleasant Hill.[36] Crossbones and Sin are shown to be in charge of a super-prison that was established by Hydra. Their super-prison was raided by the Underground in their mission to free their captive friends.[37]

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marvels-writings · 5 years ago

Note

A/N: ok sorry if I didn’t understand the request properly but I tried my best with this. I may have written a lot for this request.

Warnings: Getting stabbed, you live though don’t worry

Carol angrily sighed as she headed back into your shared room. You’d just told her you were skipping training with her to go out with friends instead. Apparently it was just a night out without boyfriends and girlfriends so she couldn’t come.

You were really excited to meet your friends, you hadn’t spoken much to them after you became an Avenger. It got even harder once you’d gotten in to a relationship with Carol Danvers. It had almost been 4 months since you last saw your friends.

Carol wanted to be happy for you, she really did, but she couldn’t help but feel angry. Training was when you were supposed to learn how not to get hurt during a mission, if you skipped it you would get hurt. Which was something Carol couldn’t handle.

Carol sat on the couch, deciding to watch something since you wouldn’t be training with her. About an hour later, she heard you enter the shared room, probably to get ready for your night out.

You picked out a cute shirt and pants to go out. You looked at yourself in the mirror, you’d definitely gained more muscle since joining the avengers. You walked into the living room where you knew Carol was watching TV.

“So what do you think?” You asked her. She glanced at you from her TV show.

Honestly, she thought you looked amazing but instead she just gave a nonchalant “looks good” and a half hearted thumbs up and went back to her show.

You frowned slightly at her nonchalant response but grabbed your bag and headed out.

“I’ll be back soon!” You yelled, exiting.

Carol sighed, pissed but also slightly sad. She decided to train by herself, probably with a punching bag as she waited for you to come home.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

It had been about a week after the first time you went out with your friends. Carol thought it would be a once in a month occurrence, but you ended up missing 3 more training sessions to meet with your friends.

Needless to say, Carol was pissed off and it was starting to show.

You were currently in a debriefing with her for another mission to take down an arms dealer in Glasgow, UK. Carol was sitting next to you, stiff as she listened to Maria break down what you had to do.

It was a basic arms dealer mission, not much could go wrong. You felt pretty confident, a bit too much considering you’d missed a lot of training.

After debriefing finished, you walked with Carol back to your room to pack a bit. Carol couldn’t help but be worried for you. As pissed as she was, her anger melted as she realized you could get injured.

“Hey you okay?” You asked carol as you entered your room.

“Yea just a bit worried.” Carol confessed lightly as she pulled out 2 suitcases from the closet.

“Worried about what?” You asked in naïveté. You started to pick out some things, a casual outfit, a fancy one and civilian clothing.

“Worried about you,” she stated, placing some first aid into her suitcase. “You’ve missed too many training sessions.” She stated. You raised an eyebrow.

“Carol I’ll be fine, I’m an avenger after all.” You joked, she raised an eyebrow. “Relax,” you approached her, softly putting your hands around her neck as you pecked her on the lips.

Carol almost melted into your touch as she wrapped her arms around your waist. She smiled softly down at you, her worry melting away slightly.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” You joked as you leaned in for a deeper kiss. You felt her smile into the kiss. What’s the worst that could happen when she’s with you? You thought.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

A lot of things went wrong. A lot more things than anyone expected. Firstly the weather, it was snowing way more than expected, slowing down your flight. Second the weather glitched out Starks tech so they knew you were coming. And third, there were a lot more people. Finally, all of you had been split up.

You went by yourself to the west side to slip in and mess up the systems. Clint and nat went in the east side. Carol and Steve went south to take our support. Tony and Thor took to the skies while everyone else attacked north.

It seemed to be working out so far, nothing seemed to be going wrong. You didn’t have powers so you you fought with (weapon of your choice) and an assault rifle. With a hunting knife in your waistband.

You’d taken down at least 29 of the agents that came at you so far. You snuck into the the main area with computers, oblivious to the person following you. You smirked slightly as you entered the control room.

“Finished in the south, coming over to you y/n” Carols voice said over the speaker. The base was huge so it would probably take her at least 2 minutes to get over here.

You plugged in the USB and spent a minute getting the info until you were punched in the side of the head, hard. You let out a small cry in surprise. You took the flash drive with whatever information it already had.

You whipped your head around to see a thin man standing, the last of them trying to protect the base. You put your fists up, ready for a fight.

For a couple of seconds, you danced around each other until he made the first move. It seemed to be going well for your side, you got a couple of punches in but because of the lag of training, he seemed to have the upper hand.

You went for a killer blow but he dodged it, went behind you and stabbed your side.

“AGH,” you shouted, hands trembling around the knife. You fell to the ground, the knife was all the way in.

The man stood above you, a wide grin on his face as he picked up a gun that was lying nearby and pointed it at you. He got blown into the nearby wall by a flash of gold.

You looked to the side to se Carol, furious with her arm raised. She saw you and her face instantly faded to worry. She hurried over to you, muttering to herself almost feverishly.

“Nonononono, y/n we have to get you to the quinjet.” She said, and started to pick you up bridal style.

“Everyone y/n got stabbed, I’m taking her back to the jet.” Carol said into the comms.

“I, I can walk.” You gasped, you got up, leaning your entire weight on Carol still as she lead you out in awkward silence.

You noticed her hand on your shoulder shaking slightly in fear. You took that hand with yours and looked at her.

“I’m gonna be fine.” You said, as comforting as possible even though the stab wound in your side screamed.

“You can’t say that with a goddamn KNIFE STICKING OUT OF YOUR SIDE.” Carol shouted, the blood started to deep into your shirt, much to her horror.

She ran out of patience and picked you up bridal style, starting to fly you back to the jet. You wrapped your arms around her neck in sheer panic as the wind whipped around your hair. Carol kept glancing down at you as she flew.

She landed down at the quinjet shortly after, setting you down lightly as you leaned your entire weight on her still. Your consciousness started fading and she could tell.

“Y/N, stay with me ok?” She said, tilting your face to look at her, the worry was evident in her eyes.

You nodded weakly as you walked into the quinjet as everyone returned.

“Holy shit what happened to you?” Clint asked worried as Carol set you down on the bench on the side.

“Just didn’t notice.” You gasped as Carol touched the knife. “Someone sneaking up.”

“They stabbed you?” Carol asked, still supporting your weight with one arm so you could sit.

“I just didn’t notice they had a knife during the fight and they got it in.” You whispered, not having the ability to speak loudly anymore. You were struggling to keep your eyes open as everyone came in and the jet finally took off.

“ ‘What’s the worst that could happen' my ass. Carol returned, setting you down on your back as you fell unconscious.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

You woke up groggy, with a small headache and wires attached to you. The pain in your side had diminished to a dull ache as you slowly sat up. Looking around, you realized you were in a hospital. Carol was sitting beside you in a chair, her head propped on one hand as she slept. You glanced at the clock above it was almost 3am, technically visiting hours were over for any hospital.

You didn’t want to wake Carol but you needed to know what happened. You unplugged yourself from all the wires attached to you and lifted your shirt to see the stab wound. It was neatly stitched up, you started to count the stitches out of curiosity.

“17 stitches.” Carol stated, her voice raspy, sleepily as she rubbed her almost bloodshot eyes. “How are you feeling?” She asked, hunching forwards as she leaned her elbows on her knees.’

“Better, what happened?” You asked, swinging your feet over the side of the bed to face her.

The pain was pretty bad but nothing you couldn’t deal with. You knew you were on morphine for the pain and it wouldn’t last long so you tried to make the best of it.

“You got most of the info, we all went out and we are currently in a hospital in London. Everyone checked into a hotel to sleep.” Carol said, looking at you intently to make sure you were alright.

“Well that’s good,” you said in relief, glancing away from carols stare slightly. “How are you though?” You asked, trying to change the topic a bit.

Carol’s breath caught in her throat slightly. What should she tell you? She could barely keep herself together as she saw you getting stitches up. She couldn’t tell you how she almost blew up the entire hospital when she saw you almost flatline. You’d never seen her cry or even breakdown the way she did beside your bedside when you slept. She couldn’t tell you how she almost broke at your absence.

“Fine.” She said, her voice cracking slightly. All her emotions were starting to catch up with her.

“What’s on your mind?” You asked, knowing she wasn’t ‘fine’.

“None of this would’ve happen if you’d just stuck to your training.” She stated, getting up and pacing as the anger and worry was getting to her again. “None of this would’ve happened if you’d just listened to me and trained instead of drinking with your friends!” She yelled angrily.

“Carol,” you began, trying to reason with her.

“NO! Do you have any idea what even HAPPENED? You almost DIED Y/N!! YOU ALMOST LEFT ME BECAUSE I WASN’T THERE TO PROTECT YOU.” She shouted, now tears were streaming down her face.

You got up and hugged her, despite the pain in your side starting to return, carols tears hurt even more. She was sobbing into your shoulder as her arms gently wrapped around your sides, cautious of your wound.

“I’m so sorry Car, I’m so so sorry,” you mumbled into your hair. “None of this is your fault.” You continued, seating the both of you down as you couldn’t stand.

You sat side by side, carols hand in yours as you looked at her. She was wiping her tears away with her free hand and was trying to avoid eye contact with you slightly. She never wanted you to see her break.

“It’s not your fault, what happened was my fault and I promise you,” you pulled her hand to your chest so she could feel your heartbeat. “I’m not leaving you.” You stated.

You had no plans to break that promise. You might regret saying this later but you mumbled “what’s the worst that could happen when I’m with you.”

She punched you lightly on the shoulder as you laughed. Even after getting stabbed, you knew life couldn’t be the worst if carol was with you.

A/N: Feedback and requests are greatly appreciated, feel free to message me or drop something in my ask box!

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