#accident lawyers in Vaughan

[shyvioletcat]

ROWAELIN MONTH: DAY TWO

~ Accidents Happen ~

Welcome to the new au spawned by Rowaelin month brought to you by @rowaelinscourt. This started as a completely harebrained idea and then I thought about it some more and then couldn't stop laughing and knew I had to write it. This fic will get a few other updates throughout the month and I really hope you enjoy it.

~~~~~

Rowan had been carrying a secret around, for weeks it had been weighing on him. It was the kind that he wanted to share, but he didn’t exactly know how to. It was awkward and embarrassing and he didn’t know how to explain himself. On the flip side of the coin it was also exciting, thrilling and mildly terrifying. Being in love usually was.

The beer in front of him was meant to give him courage, and maybe it would if he could bring himself to drink more than a sip. His friends had arrived a few minutes ago and were in the process of getting their own drinks. One by one they all purchased their beverage of choice and were making their way back to the table Rowan was able to secure by arriving 15 minutes early. Lorcan led the way through the warren of tables, his huge form nearly blocking out everyone who followed behind. With their impending approach Rowan bolsted his resolve, and downed half his beer in one go. 

Then he counted, one, two, three, four, as each of his friends took their seats, the methodical thinking keeping him focused on his own tasks. The four other men were chatting about something, but with the speech Rowan was trying to form in his head he didn’t hear a thing. It wasn’t until Connal said his name that Rowan broke out of his inward trance with a shake of his head. 

“What was that?”

“I was asking how you’ve been,” Connall clarified. 

“Oh… yeah, great,” Rowan replied without enthusiasm. 

Fenrys snorted. “And you were the one who was so insistent that we meet up.”

“Maybe he just missed us,” Vaughan said. “He’s apparently been so busy that he can never ever meet up when any of us ask to do anything.”

“With what, is the question,” Lorcan added into the rim of his glass.

They were ganging up on him, they knew something was up. Rowan was cornered. He might as well get it over and done with—put an end to his delightful misery. 

“I accidentally became a sugar daddy but I’m actually in love with her.”

Stunned silence was all that he was met with for a long while. 

Eventually it was Lorcan who spoke. “You what?”

Then Fenrys started laughing and he couldn’t stop. When Rowan could bring himself to look up from his glass the expressions that he saw ranged from open shock to thinly veiled amusement, except for Lorcan who was looking at Rowan like he had lost his mind. 

“Wait, wait,” Fenrys said through incessant giggles. “Are you being serious? How did you manage that?”

Rowan sighed, took another mouthful of beer and swallowed. “Let me explain.”

~~~~~

Being the last one in the office was not uncommon for Rowan. Most often than not he found himself alone on the dark and quiet floor of this office building, putting in more hours than he was paid for. He didn’t win his cases by slacking off or doing the bare minimum. He didn’t gain the reputation of the best and most ruthless corporate lawyer in the city by doing what was required of him. No, he got that by going above and beyond to make sure he, and his company by a necessary extension, flourished. 

It cost him though. Rowan had next to no social life except for his friends that seemed to hang on no matter what. Other than that the only people he saw were his colleagues in the office. His mother was always on his case about romantic involvements, citing that she wasn’t getting any younger and she would like to see at least one grandchild before she died. Rowan told her that reminding him of her mortality was a low blow, she reminded him he worked as a lawyer so he would know all about unethical ways to get what you wanted. He reminded her that he wasn’t one of those kinds of lawyers, her response was always so non-commital. 

Feeling a tightness between his shoulder blades had Rowan straightening from the hunch he’d been holding over his desk. His spine cracked, a timely reminder of his own that the number attached to his age was steadily rising too. Maybe his mother had a point.

Thirty two wasn’t exactly old, but he wasn’t getting any younger. An outstanding career wasn’t the only thing that he wanted from life. He wanted a family of his own and sitting in an office night after night certainly wasn’t the way to get what he desired.  

Rowan’s phone lit up on the desk, and he expected the notification to be some email or text with vital case information. It was neither. Instead it was a calendar alert. 

Charity Gala Saturday 7:30. BRING A DATE.

“Oh, shit,” Rowan said, rubbing a hand over his tired face. 

The gala has been sitting in the back of his mind for weeks, but there had been more pressing things keeping him occupied. Finding a date for that had been the furthest thing from his mind. His firm was trying to land Forest Fae Toys and Games and they wanted him to appear more family friendly. Apparently his icy notoriety needed thawing and having a certain kind of friend on his arm was the key to that. 

Rowan didn’t have any female friends worth asking, all his family members looked too much like him and that would raise some uncomfortable questions. With the gala less than 24 hours away he was out of time and options, he was screwed. 

He sat there for a long while considering the best way to go about this. The stipulation of a date had been non-negotiable, Rowan knew because he had tried negotiating his way out of it. All he had received was an ultimatum—bring a date or he was off the case. And he really, really wanted this case. 

But what else could he do? He couldn’t conjure a woman into existence, he didn’t have the energy or will to go and meet someone tonight and veritably beg a stranger to attend with him. It’s not like he could hire someone.

Rowan froze. Suddenly that idea didn’t sound so preposterous. Money wasn’t a problem so he could… no. Hiring a girlfriend was not something he would stoop to. Plus, it was embarrassing that his social interactions were so low that he had to stoop to that alternative. Then again, he had to ask himself whether or not losing his chance with this client was worth it.

With a sigh, Rowan came to a bleak realisation. It wasn’t worth it. His reputation would be tarnished and he’d lose a shit-tonne of money if he couldn’t do something as simple as bring a date to an event. Unlocking his phone he tapped on his web browser and opened an incognito window. His fingers hovered over the keyboard, considering what to type. Escort services were an obvious search choice, but that seemed a little risky. Yes, he just needed a one off evening hire but if it got out if he had resorted to an escort service, and gods only knew who he might end up with. Maybe he should just accept his fate and be doomed. 

Then a conversation came back to him. A long while ago on a random night out Fenrys had made a comment about hiring a sugar baby. A someone who Rowan could pay to spend time with him, no string of extenuating effort needed—just payment. His friend had kindly been pointing out Rowan’s perpetual spinster status, but maybe he was onto something. 

Rowan spent half an hour researching the best way to find a reputable sugar baby, if there was such a thing, and settled for an app that charged an exorbitant fee. Sweet As Sugar was the name of it, and it bragged to have the best and most vetted list of sugar babies. Rowan had to upload a photo and create a profile, and then he was able to start browsing. For someone who was desperate and under the clock he probably spent far too long considering who he might hire. He just needed to pick, pay them and explain the situation.

Rowan was about to go back to his favourited list when swiped to a profile of an absolutely stunning woman. Her hair was gold, and her eyes were a shade of blue he’d never seen before. She smiled at the camera and her beauty was damn near entrancing. Celeana was the name under her photo and without even thinking it through he’d clicked on her profile and started reading. 

She was in her mid twenties and studying, she was smart not to give specifics. Celaena liked dogs, music and chocolate with hazelnuts in it. Rowan couldn’t see any apparent red flags and she was beautiful. There honestly wasn’t much else to it.

“Why the hell not,” Rowan muttered to himself and tapped on the little heart stamped envelope that would request the chat between them be opened. It was in Celeana’s court now, she would have the final decision on whether or not she would accept his offer. 

He waited and waited, long enough that his phone locked on its own. Rowan started berating himself for such a stupid idea and began considering if Sellene truly looked too much like him to pass her off as unrelated. But then his phone lit up his dark office, a notification from his newest app.

Request accepted.

~~~~~

Tags: @fucking-winchester-trash // @literary-licorice // @tangledraysofsunshine // @highqueenofelfhame // @3am-reading // @soup-that-is-too-hawt // @nalgenewhore // @http-itsrebecca // @sleep-and-books // @alifletcher2012 // @westofmoon // @sleeping-and-books // @ttakeitbacknoww // @mariamuses // @chocolate-eating-bitch-queen // @velarian-trash // @queenofxhearts //

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[kwebtv]

TV Guide -  November 30 - December 6, 1963

George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an American actor, director, and producer who had a celebrated career on both stage and screen. With a gruff demeanor and commanding presence, Scott became known for his portrayal of stern, but complex, authority figures.

Scott was in much demand for guest shots on TV shows, appearing in episodes of Ben Casey and Naked City. In 1962, Scott appeared as school teacher Arthur Lilly on NBC's The Virginian, in the episode "The Brazen Bell", in which he recites Oscar Wilde's poem "The Ballad of Reading Gaol". That same year, he appeared in NBC's medical drama The Eleventh Hour, in the episode "I Don't Belong in a White-Painted House". He appeared opposite Laurence Olivier and Julie Harris in Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory in a 1961 television production.

In 1963 Scott starred in the hour-long television drama series East Side/West Side. He portrayed a New York City social worker, along with co-stars Cicely Tyson and Elizabeth Wilson. Scott was a major creative influence on the show, resulting in conflicts with James T. Aubrey, the head of CBS. The Emmy Award-winning program had a series of guest stars, including James Earl Jones. The portrayal of challenging urban issues made attracting advertisers difficult, not helped by the limited distribution. Not all CBS network affiliates broadcast the show, and it was canceled after one season.

During the early 1970s, Scott appeared in the made-for-television films Jane Eyre (1970) as Mr. Rochester and The Price (1971), a version of the Arthur Miller play. For the latter role, he won an Emmy Award, which he accepted. He also directed a TV version of The Andersonville Trial (1970).

Scott appeared in a television production of Beauty and the Beast (1976), with Trish Van Devere.   In 1981 was cast as Fagin in the CBS made-for-TV adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist (1982).  He starred in China Rose (1983) on television, and in 1984 portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in a television adaptation of A Christmas Carol. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for the role. Scott played the title role in the made-for-television-movie Mussolini: The Untold Story (1985).

Scott reprised his role as Patton in a made-for-television sequel, The Last Days of Patton (1986). Based on the final weeks of Patton's life after being mortally injured in a car accident, it contains flashbacks of Patton's life. 

On television, Scott did The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1986) and Pals (1987; with Don Ameche). He also played the lead role in the TV series Mr. President (1987–88), which ran for 24 turbulent episodes. He was also on the Johnny Carson Show in March 1987. Scott starred in the television film The Ryan White Story (1989) as Charles Vaughan, the lawyer defending Ryan White.  (Wikipedia)

[laresearchette]

This Video Not Available in Your Country: Friday Canadian Lineup (Times Eastern):

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: CURSES! (Apple TV+) THE ENFIELD POLTERGEIST (Apple TV+) SOUTH PARK: JOINING THE PANDERVERSE (Paramount +) CHRISTMAS BY DESIGN (W Network) 9:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT? MASTERS OF ILLUSION (CW Feed) PENN & TELLER: FOOL US (CW Feed) WORLD’S FUNNIEST ANIMALS (CW Feed)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA IOSI, EL ESPIA ARREPENTIDO (Season 2) THE YELLOW DUCK KAMSI MENINO, MENINA, CONFISSAO ASPIRANTS (Seasons: 1-2)

CBC GEM BLOODTHIRSTY GRAND PRIX OF FIGURE SKATING: SKATE CANADA INTERNATIONAL JAMIE: EASY MEALS FOR EVERY DAY

CRAVE TV GODFATHER OF HARLEM (Season 1-2) RUN THIS TOWN SCOOBY-DOO! AND THE LEGEND OF THE VAMPIRE SCOOBY-DOO! IN WHERE’S MY MUMMY

DISNEY + STAR LEGO MARVEL AVENGERS: CODE RED TRAP JAZZ

NETFLIX CANADA PAIN HUSTLERS SISTER DEATH TORE YELLOW DOOR: 90S LO-FI FILM CLUB

MEN’S RUGBY WORLD CUP (TSN4) 3:00pm: Bronze Final - Argentina vs. England

NHL HOCKEY (SN1) 7:00pm: Sabres vs. Devils (SN1) 10:00pm: Blues vs. Canucks

NBA BASKETBALL (SN Now) 7:30pm: Heat vs. Celtics (TSN4/TSN5) 8:00pm: Raptors vs. Bulls (SN Now) 10:00pm: Warriors vs. Kings

MIDNIGHT MASQUERADE (Super Channel Heart & Home) 7:30pm: Elyse, a rich heiress, meets Rob, a bullied lawyer, and the two fall in love during a costume ball. When he learns his firm's owner plans to steal Elyse's fortune, Rob has to find the courage to stand up to his intimidating boss.

MLB BASEBALL (SN) 8:00pm: World Series: Diamondbacks vs. Rangers - Game #1

MARKETPLACE (CBC) 8:00pm: Investigating the sustainability claims of some of fashion's biggest brands and revealing why some clothing is far from the "green" solution that has been sold.

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF JERSEY (Slice) 8:00pm: Fake Orgasm Addicts

PLANET WONDER (CBC) 8:30pm: Exploring how climate change is affecting the intensity of snow storms, flood risks and drinking water availability.

FRIDAY NIGHT THUNDER (APTN) 8:30pm: Derek Miller revisits his past in a tearful meeting with the mother of his childhood best friend, Ricky, who died tragically in a motocross accident when they were teenagers.

CFL FOOTBALL (TSN/TSN3) 9:00pm: Blue Bombers vs. Stamps

THE FIFTH ESTATE (CBC) 9:00pm: An icon's claims to Indigenous ancestry are being called into question by family members and an investigation that included genealogical documentation, historical research and personal accounts.

TRANSPLANT (CTV) 9:00pm: Decisions are made about the future of the emergency department.

HOOKING UP (Crave) 9:00pm: A cynical writer and a hopeless romantic hit the road for a cross-country trip.

W5 (CTV) 10:00pm: The War Heroes; The Sound of Learning: A would-be bank robber explodes and remains unidentified for decades.

CRIME BEAT (Global) 10:00pm: In an Instant: The Neville-Lake Tragedy: Neville-Lakes' three children were killed by a drunk driver, Marco Muzzo, in a crash in Vaughan back in 2015; the driver, the son of a wealthy family, was sentenced to ten years in jail but is now out on parole while the mother is left grieving.

SCAVENGERS REIGN (adult swim) 12:00am/12:30am (SERIES PREMIERE) Crash survivors Sam and Ursula use their technological know-how to attempt to locate their missing ship. In Episode Two, Levi and Azi scramble to find shelter; Kamen joins a pack of psychic creatures.

[sultanlawyerscanada]

Workplace Investigation Lawyers in Vaughan: When Should You Hire One?

Workplace investigations are critical for maintaining a safe and healthy work environment. However, conducting an investigation can be a complex process, and sometimes it requires legal expertise. This is where workplace investigation lawyers vaughan come in. They can help ensure that investigations are conducted properly and in compliance with the law.

Here are some situations where you should consider hiring a workplace investigation lawyer in Vaughan:

Allegations of Harassment or Discrimination: If an employee has made allegations of harassment or discrimination, it's important to conduct a thorough investigation. A workplace investigation lawyer in Vaughan can help ensure that the investigation is conducted fairly, impartially, and in compliance with the law.

Employee Misconduct: When an employee is accused of misconduct, such as theft or insubordination, a workplace investigation may be necessary. A lawyer can help investigate the allegations and provide guidance on the appropriate disciplinary action.

Workplace Accidents: When an accident occurs in the workplace, an investigation may be required to determine the cause and prevent future incidents. A workplace investigation lawyer in Vaughan can assist in conducting the investigation and ensuring that proper protocols are followed.

Whistleblower Claims: If an employee has reported wrongdoing within the company and has suffered retaliation, a workplace investigation lawyer can help protect their rights and ensure that the investigation is conducted fairly.

In summary, workplace investigation lawyers in Vaughan can provide valuable assistance in ensuring that investigations are conducted properly and in compliance with the law. If you find yourself in any of the situations mentioned above, it's worth considering hiring a workplace investigation lawyer to help protect your company's interests and ensure a safe and healthy work environment.

[aplawofficecanada]

Hiring the Best Accident Lawyer in Vaughan for Your Case

Why You Need an Accident Lawyer in Vaughan

Accidents can lead to physical, emotional, and financial challenges, and navigating the legal system on your own can be overwhelming. An accident lawyer in Vaughan has the expertise and experience to handle your case, providing legal advice, negotiating with insurance companies, and representing you in court if necessary.

Visit Here for Previous Article on slip and fall lawyer in Vaughan :- https://www.tumblr.com/aplawofficecanada/760153703153123328/why-you-need-a-slip-and-fall-lawyer-in-vaughan

Qualities of the Best Accident Lawyer Near You

When looking for the best accident lawyer near me in Vaughan, there are several key qualities to consider:

Experience and Expertise: The lawyer should specialize in personal injury and accident law, with a track record of successful outcomes.

Reputation: Check for positive reviews and testimonials from previous clients. A strong reputation is often a good indicator of the lawyer’s ability to win cases.

Communication Skills: Your lawyer should keep you informed and answer any questions you may have throughout the legal process.

Dedication: The best accident lawyers are committed to ensuring you receive fair compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and other damages.

How an Accident Lawyer in Vaughan Can Help

An accident lawyer in Vaughan will evaluate your case, gather evidence, and build a strong claim to ensure you are fully compensated for your injuries. They understand the complexities of accident laws in Ontario and will guide you through each step of the process, from filing your claim to negotiating with insurance companies.

Conclusion

If you are searching for the best accident lawyer near me in Vaughan, look for a professional who is experienced, reputable, and dedicated to fighting for your rights. Hiring the right lawyer can give you peace of mind and help you secure the compensation you need to recover from your accident.

[tomtenadia]

A Little Braver ch.6

Here we go with chapter 6. I edited but if you see any typos I am sorry I had a long day at work.

During the call they attend in the chapter they mention a substance called ANFO. Click here for more info. I did some research hopefully it makes sense. I am no an expert but I needed something for the scene.

Our two idiots... well, I hope you will be happy (for now) *evil laughter*

I hope you will enjoy the chapter

-------------

Three months later.

Rowan landed back at the airbase in the morning. The carrier had docked on the coast a few hours earlier on and then they had flown back to the base with their jets.

He got off his plane and smelled the air of home. Winter had given way to spring and he could smell flowers and wondered if the kingsflames were in bloom already.

“Damn it feels good to be back.” Shouted Gavriel getting off his jet and stretching his back “I am dying for a very long relaxing bath. And peace, without you idiots annoying me.”

“Oh yeah,” said Fenrys “Not having to hear Connall and Vaughan snore will be so good.” He turned to Rowan and Gavriel “Not everyone has the rank to get their own quarters.”

Rowan pretended not to hear the youngster and started walking around his aircraft to do his post-flight checks. He had enough of their bickering and of Fenrys moaning in general.

“Guys.” He bellowed “Less talking and do your post-flight checks.”

“Someone is grumpy.” Added Fenrys.

Connall slapped him on the back of his neck “don’t anger the man even further. Now shut up and do your job. I am so tired of your voice.”

Rowan silently thanked Connall for putting his twin in place.

Once he was done, Rowan grabbed his duffel bag and went to the changing room and took a shower. He would take a proper one at home, for now he just wanted to remove some dirt from him.  

The changing room was busy and he opened his locker with a sigh. He definitely needed peace and quiet and not to be in close quarters for a while.

“I am so looking forward to my month off.” Commented Gavriel “and decent food. I want to sit down for a meal for more than ten minutes.” Then he turned to Rowan “Any plans?”

“Not really.” He shrugged.

“Are you going to see your captain?”

“I don’t know.” He said quickly. He did his best to put her out of his mind during those months away. To ignore those pesky feeling that had been taking root in him even while far away from her. He had hated how he left her and throwing himself into work had been the best way to try and forget. But now he was back and he felt as if he was stuck.

He put his uniform back on and grabbed his stuff “Just stay out of trouble,” he told them before leaving the room.

While walking to his office he pulled his mobile out of the bag, switched it back on and a barrage of notifications hit him and two voicemails awaited him. The first one was from Aelin and she was mad at him. How could he blame her. He had disappeared without a word. How could he even begin to apologise? When he listened to the second and a glimmer of hope appeared in front of him. She wanted to talk. He grabbed his stuff and blitzed out of the airbase. The taxi he had called arrived ten minutes later and once at the station he paid the driver and got off, his duffel bag on his shoulder. An array of emotions passed through him while he moved the first step in the direction of the firehouse, panic being at the top of the list.

He lifted his sunglasses on his head and took in the scene in the distance. Two fire engines were parked in front of the yard. Aelin and the rest of the team were washing them, the day was sunny and mild so the perfect occasion. He chuckled and noticed that she was standing. She was walking normally and he sighed. Rowan found himself staring at her walking around the truck and shouting orders. She was just as stunning as he remembered her. He missed her. He realised in that instant looking at her from far away that somehow, although there was nothing but vitriol between the two, he just missed her. Was his heart actually racing?

Aelin lifted her gaze for one instant and in the distance on the pavement she noticed a tall figure with silver hair. She squeezed the sponge and threw it in the bucket, then stood and marched to him doing all her best to maintain her cool to try and pass as aloof and not minimally interested that he was back. A lie to herself she struggled to believe.

“I am back safely.” He said when she was close enough.

“Well, at least you can do your job well enough to stay alive.” Her tone was hard and unforgiving.

Of course she was still mad at him, what was he expecting?

“Follow me.” She turned around and began walking back inside the station and Rowan knew she was headed for her office. Better have some privacy, he had a feeling he was not going not enjoy the conversation.

“Sit,” she ordered, once inside her office and he complied like a good soldier.

She moved around the desk and plopped on her chair.

“Aelin I—“

“No, you don’t get to go first,” annoyance quite thick in her voice “You left.” She sat up straight “you left me at the hospital and left again three days later for your mission and neither time you bothered to tell me why. You left.” She searched for his gaze and looked at his pine green eyes “Do you have any idea how I felt when I fully woke up and found out you never got back?” She told him unleashing all the anger she had bottled up while he was away “I went to your airbase and I was told by one of the guards that you all had gone for a week already.” She was not shouting but her tone was full of annoyance toward him.

Rowan had thought over and over again how he could apologise to her, but doing so it would mean reveal his secret and he was not sure he could. He should expose his fears and come clean with her, she had lost, just like him, she would understand his struggle.

Eventually he stood and started pacing “I heard what you said in the hospital… about your feelings. And I panicked.” He stopped for a moment “I freaked out because…” he collapsed on the chair, his head in his hands and Aelin knew exactly why but she had to hear him say it.

He had to do it, be a little braver and tell her why he fled, it was his only chance if he even contemplated the idea of being with her or to have any kind of relationship.

“I am scared of getting involved again.” He sighed deeply and Aelin saw pain in his eyes “Over a year and a half ago I lost my wife.” He confessed and Aelin gripped her hands under the table to avoid crying. “She died in a car crash. It was winter and the roads were bad and she just… lost control of the car according to the police.” He looked away for a second “Lyria was also pregnant.” His voice trembled for a moment. “I was away. I was on the other side of the continent when it happened. I left my pregnant wife alone.”

Aelin’s eyes became wet all of a sudden.

“She was going to leave me.” He admitted painfully and Aelin almost gasped at the unexpected ammission “a few days before I left I was looking for something for her in her drawer and saw the papers. She had all the documents ready to file for divorce, my signature was the only thing missing. She had also a letter from her lawyer saying that she would win full custody of our child since, because of my job, I was not fit to look after a child. I would probably win to see my child from time to time.” He stood again “I never told her that I had found out. I left for my mission and she didn’t even come to the airbase with me as she used to do in the past.” He ran his hand through his hair “I loved her. But apparently not enough.” He stopped again as if to gather his thoughts “I got a short compassionate leave and when I got back I just threw myself into work. It kept my mind busy. Since then I haven’t been with anyone.”

“I know.” Aelin whispered and he look at her in a strange way”About the accident, I mean.” She said softly.

“One day I was curious and I looked you up.” She stood and went around the table and sat at the front, facing him. No barriers between them “I read about your wife. Then I read the article about her accident.” She hoped she was not to mess up this one “I recognised our engine in one of the photos from the article.

His gaze widened.

“My team and I attended the accident.” And stared at him but his expression was illegible “It was bad. Only one person survived that night. I had nightmares about it for a week. She… your wife… I think she did not suffer much. I know it’s not much consolation, but from the dynamics it was probably instantaneous.”

Rowan looked at her and she saw tears in his eyes.

“I still have the file.”

“No.” He said calmly “I don’t think I can.”

She took a step to him and took his hand in hers “I know the pain” it was time for her confession. It was only fair.

Rowan looked at her and remembered about the man she had lost.

“His name was Sam. He was a firefighter and a captain at west station. I lost him over a year ago. He attended a call. We could not assist straight away because we were busy on another one. Once we were done we ran in their help. I was too late.” She buried her face in her hands “when I got there they were just carrying his body outside the building.” She looked at him “he did not die a nice death. He suffered and I was not there. I was too late to help him.” She squeezed his hand “I know your pain and your fears because they are the same as mine.” She took another step toward him “losing Sam almost destroyed me. I can’t go through that a second time.”

“How do you get out of the abysm?” He asked tenderly, both with eyes moist.

“One step at a time.” She added and her body was now almost close to his.

Rowan hesitated for an instant then his arm reached out and pulled her closer “Together, then” he whispered, leaning his chin on her head “we can try together.”

“Yeah…” she whispered, her hands against his chest “I am sorry I was mad at you.”

“Shhh… I deserved it.”

She leaned closer and inhaled his scent of pine and snow. He always smelled of home.

“I am sorry I was always so mean to you. I think I was just trying to push you away and keep my distance.”

Aelin smiled and with her fingers brushed his name tag “I think we both did our best to show our unpleasant side.”

She felt him tighten his arms around her “Can we please not? I don’t mean not fighting because I have a feeling that we might get into a few fights from time to time. I mean stop being actually nasty to each other.” He admitted and she felt his thumb tracing circles on her back “whatever this is… I want to give it a go. If you are okay of course,”

She looked up at him and saw a faint smile that reached his eyes. Even with a small smile the man was stunning. She didn’t want to think about with a proper smile.

“Yeah. I want to. I am still terrified, though.”

“That makes two of us.”

“So, where do we start, captain?”

“You owe me two so what about we start with me taking you out for dinner and then we move from there?”

Aelin chuckled “Do you have your mortgage ready?”

He smiled. He gave her an actual real smile and Aelin had to restrain her instinct to slam him against the door and have her way with him.

“The bank apparently does not offer mortgages to pay for meals.” He pulled back a bit to look at her “are you free tomorrow night? I am on my month off so I am totally free.”

Aelin nodded “yes, we will be coming off night shift around 9am. I can go home, sleep and I will see you at night.”

“I still have your address. Can I pick you up at seven?”

“I think I will be alive again by that time.”

“What do we say to our friends if they ask?”

“None of their business.”

He looked down at her “I like it.”

They pulled apart and Aelin went back to sitting on the desk and him on the chair “So your knee is okay again?”

“Yes, physio was a bitch but it’s getting better. The guys, as a joke, gave me kneepads.”

She saw him smile and she realised she would say all sort of stupid things to see that reaction in him. The result left her breathless.

“And you performance review?”

She gave him the biggest grin ever “We crushed it. Absolutely nailed it and I am so proud of my team”

“I had no doubts.” He leaned back on the chair “and I see that you got another engine. That must be great news for you guys.”

She nodded “we got it two weeks ago. It was all thanks to the protest after the embankment fire. Dorian pushed and he got it.” She took a pen and tapped it on her knee “we still don’t have a full team, so at the moment we use it if  the situation requires it and we split our team and Aedion leads it. It’s not optimal but the team is coming,” she explained “west is giving us half of their experienced team in their second truck and they are taking half rookies so we’ll both have a truck of mixed crews. Again, not the best but we can’t have an engine with all newbies.”

“That is wonderful.”

“You interview helped as well. The one outside the hospital.”

He looked away for a moment “they made me so mad. Giving all the credit to us when we did very little. I had to.”

“Thank you.”

In that instant the dispatch alarm went off.

“Shit.” She jumped off the table “Don’t go anywhere. There’s a tv, a kitchen. Stay here.”

He nodded and grabbed her hand “Be safe, please.”

She nodded and ran outside.

“There you are. You are the last one here.” Joked Aedion while they were both getting ready.

“She was with her captain.” Added Ansel with a wicked smile.

“Uh, getting nasty in the office?” Added Brullo.

Aelin opened the door and jumped in the engine at her seat “stop behaving like children and jump in the bloody truck right now.”

“Aedion, you lead the second one. ”

Rowan noticed the two engines and the ambulance drive away and once they were away he wandered around the empty space.

He walked around the deserted station and tried to discover more about that interesting team. He walked back the same way as her office and found a corridor that lead to their beds. On a wall there were pictures of the whole team. He stared at Aelin’s picture. She had the most beautiful grin and it was so like her. He smiled at her and traced his step back to the resting area. He sat on the sofa and switched on the tv and on the news he saw a raging fire as breaking news and he guessed that’s where they were going. The headline quoted a fire in an explosive warehouse near a quarry. It looked terrifying.

“Aedion,” said Aelin over the radio “we are going to the warehouse near the quarry. Explosives. This is your kingdom.”

“I saw it.  Dispatch confirmed west is coming as well. It must be bad for four engines.”

They arrived at the site five minutes later.

Aelin jumped off the truck “Fuck.” Was her first reaction at the scene in front of them.

In the distance she heard the evacuation sirens for the quarry. West station arrived a moment later.

The fire was raging. Luckily the warehouse was near a quarry and away from inhabited areas, that at least was a start.

She saw a man with a high visibility jacket and ran to him.

“Captain Galathynius.” She introduced herself.

“Captain. I am the manager.” He explained “We evacuated the quarry in time as soon as we heard the first explosion. The warehouse team was loading a new load of explosives to be sent to the quarry. Something must have gone wrong. We lost contact with the team in the north wing where we store the explosives.”

Aedion arrived a moment later “what are we dealing with?”

“Mostly ANFO.” Replied the manager “it was meant to be moved.”

“Do you store any other agent or fuels?”

The manager nodded “but in a separate section. Something must have gone wrong while carrying it away. ANFO must have been in contact with any of the other fuels we use. ANFO is just an oxidiser” the manager explained and Aedion nodded aware of how ANFO worked.

“How many people do you have in the warehouse?’ Asked Aelin trying to assess the situation.

“About 60 and I have 40 accounted for.”

“We’ll get them out.” She said. Grabbed Aedion’s arm and walked away.

“Still twenty people inside. You are the expert. What are the chances I can send the team in and make it out alive?”

“Heat will cause ANFO to detonate. The fire is spreading qui—“

Another savage explosion ravaged the area. The blast so strong that the aftershock was felt quite a distance away. Aedion had pulled Aelin down on the ground and when they lifted their heads they noticed the rest of the team had done the same.

“Thomas,” she shouted while standing up “Connect to the water supply and get the water going and keep the temperature down as much as you can.”

He nodded and spurred his team into action.

“Aedion, you and I are going in.”

The man nodded.

“Luca, Brullo, keep the water going as well. We need to cool down the place as much as possible.” Then she walked to Thomas “Aedion and I are going in. There are still twenty people trapped. We’ll see if we can do something. Call dispatch and order all the units they can send in.”

“You can’t be serious.” The other captain protested “Dorian will not be happy.”

“I am.” she said finishing to don her gear fully “we’ll se you on the flip side. Keep the water coming.”

He stared at her and Aedion ran to the area less affected by the fire. It was a suicide mission and Dorian was not going to be happy.

Back at the station, Rowan was on the edge of his seat. He had felt the explosion, heard it mostly. He kept staring at the screen where he had seen Aelin and Aedion running into the building and his heart raced to the point of pain. There was no way there was anyone alive in that inferno. Why was she risking her life like that?

The four engines were woking hard channeling as much water as possible on the building but from his perspective it seemed like the fire was not yielding at all. He stood and started pacing.

In that moment Lorcan called him “Are you seeing the news about the fire?”

“Yeah.” Rowan replied not removing his eyes from the tv.

“They are there.”

“I know.” Rowan felt sick “Aelin just went in.”

“Are you at home?” The man on the line asked.

“No, at the station.”

“Let me know when they are back.”

Rowan hung up and resumed his pacing.

Dorian arrived on the scene and ran to Thomas as soon as he noticed the captain.

“Where are they?” He asked with panic in his voice.

Thomas inclined his head and indicated the building and Dorian swore savagely.

“How long? I got an update on my way here.”

“Five minutes.” Added the captain directing the water to another area of the building “I have called for more units. Two more are on their way.”

“That is not enough,” raged Dorian grabbing his phone. He walked away calling someone. When he came back he was slightly less furious “Being the chief has its perks. All the units available are coming in. This is not—“ another explosion.

Much stronger than the previous one. A mushroom of yellow fire went up in the sky and the blast rocked the ground all the way to Orynth.

“Chief to Captain. Aelin please come in.” No answer.

“Aelin, damn answer that bloody radio.” He started pacing nervously and a hand ran through his hair “Aedion, come in.”

“Fuck, fuck.”

In that instant the sound of sirens filled the air.

Dorian turned and saw a long line of engines filing down the main track.

He ran to the station captains and started shouting orders. The other engines deployed around the warehouse and started tackling the fire.

Thomas joined Dorian “I am going in. My men are manning the engine and the hoses. I am going to get them out.”

“No you are not.” The tone in Dorian’s word was harsh “I am not having another one of my captains in that building. They should not be inside in the first place.”

“We have still twenty civilians trapped inside.”

“Captain, you and I have done this job for a while. You know better than me that with three such explosions the chances someone inside is still alive are slim. We stop the fire and hope they are safe.”

“Do nothing?” Thomas shouted “How the fuck do you expect me to do nothing?”

“I am the chief, I am ordering.”

Thomas stormed away and resumed his position with the attack lines with the rest of his team.

“Aedion?” Aelin’s voice was faint. She removed the pile of debris from her body and tried to stand “Aedion?” She called again, panic rising. The smoke and fire were making visibility non existent “AEDION.” She shouted.

A moment later she heard a groan and noticed his bulking figure sprawled on the floor. She ran to him and saw he was awake “answer me for fuck’s sake.”

He removed his mask “my oxygen tank is bust.”

She removed hers and passed it to him “use mine, I still have some juice left.”

“We need to get out.”

“We haven’t found anyone.”

“Aelin,” he breathed removing the mask and giving it back to her “we need to get out. Another explosion like the last one and we are roast. And the fumes are bad. We don’t have long.”

“Fine.” She helped him stand. Slowly they tried to navigate their way through the fire and smoke.

The radio crackled static as they took a few steps deeper in the inferno.

“I heard something.” Aelin moved to the sound and Aedion followed. They found a heavy door and opened it slowly. Inside they found the twenty workers still missing.

“Is anyone injured?”

A woman nodded and showed her leg that clearly had a fracture and then pointed at at another man who lay unconscious.

“We’ll get you out of here.” She looked at their scared faces “pull up you clothes and cover mouth and noses” then she crouched down and offered the woman a piggyback. Aedion placed the unconscious man on his shoulder. She started to walk but one of the workers stopped her “This way.” They walked to a door that was locked.

“It’s a secondary route. It will take us to some tunnels underneath.”

Aelin looked at Aedion and the man nodded. It was their only option. They deposited their victims on the ground and with their axes they started knocking down the heavy door. Once through they recovered the people and walked on “stay behind us. Do not walk away form the big man behind me. Hold hands and form a line like at school.”

The civilians nodded and followed. The tunnels were full of smoke. They needed to be quick. The fumes from ANFO were toxic. Her oxygen tank started beeping and she knew she had ran out of juice as well.

“This way,” said the man who seemed to know about the tunnels “these were used in the olden days when we still used dynamite to blast the quarry. They would carry it under here. Apparently it was safer than outside were there were people everywhere. They never had any accident.”

Aelin followed the man with apprehension, everyone had started coughing quite badly.

“How far?”

“Not long. We are almost out. My dad was a worker here in the olden days. He told me everything about the tunnels.”

She heard Aedion cough behind her and she followed next.

Then she felt it. The breeze and a few minutes later the tunnel opened up right in front of the quarry. Everyone collapsed exhausted and took great gulps of air. Aelin looked up and saw the fire was diminishing and gasped when she noticed the crazy amount on fire engines.

“Captain, Thomas,” she croaked, while her chest spasmed in another fit of coughing.

“Chief, captain, where are you?”

Fuck, of course Dorian was there. Lovely, a dressing down from him was all she needed “In front of the quarry, we found some tunnels. We have all civilians with us.” And her coughing resumed savagely.

Dorian walked to the manager “my men saved your trapped civilians. They mentioned some tunnels.”

The manager nodded “follow me,” they reached some SUVs, Dorian jumped in and they started driving. Not long after they stopped in a car park and Dorian in the distance noticed two firefighters uniforms.

“You damn fools,” he shouted when he was in close range “that was definitely one of the most stupid thing you two have ever done.”

Aelin coughed “Glad to see you too, buddy.”

Aedion stood “ two of the civvies are injured, the other ones just need to be checked.”

“Load them in the SUVs,” said the manager “we’ll take you all back to the main area with the EMTs.”

“Civilians first, Aedion and I can wait.” The man helped carry the survivors and sat back beside Aelin waiting for their turn and breathing deeply.

Dorian stood in front of them glaring “The whole fire department in the region has been mobilised for this.” He looked away “how did you two survive the two explosions?”

“We have super power.” She joked but from Dorian’s reaction she realised she had gone too far. The man was pissed.

“I should be mad at both of you and suspend you for being reckless.” He growled “Instead I will just keep on venting my displeasure for a few days more and also thank you for saving the civilians. But I am still displeased with you two. You do your job, you do not play heroes. Do you both read me in this?”

The two nodded silently without adding any comments to avoid angering Dorian even more.

The SUVs came back and both Aelin and Aedion made their way to the vehicles after the chief ordered them to get their arses back to their teams.

When they got back to where their team was cheers erupted.

Thomas passed his hose to a team member and ran to hug Aelin “you idiot. You damn idiot.”

“Such sweet words.” She joked patting the man on the back.

Aedion was dragged away by Lysandra for some checks and now Elide was pulling her jacket “come on, you will smooch later. Now I need to check on you. It’s protocol and you inhaled enough shit for today.”

Rowan noticed the black SUVs bring back some civilians and his worry grew when neither Aelin nor Aedion appeared. The flames were now under control thanks to the effort of all the engines involved.

Then he spotted her, her dirty blonde hair popping out of one of the SUVs that had just come back, and Aedion followed.

He collapsed on the sofa and finally let out the breath he had no idea he had been holding. She looked a mess but she was walking. She was fine. He saw the west captain ran for her and hug her and for a very brief second a pang of jealousy hit him. The he realised it was just a colleague being relieved to see they were alive. 

Elide dragged Aelin away to the ambulance and he hoped Lorcan was following the news. Elide was petite but he had a feeling the woman had just as much fire as Aelin.

He relaxed and then he had an idea. He grabbed the phone and rang Gavriel “Hey man, listen I have an idea and I need your help.”

Aelin sat on a gurney in an ambulance, with an oxygen mask attached to her face.

“I am fine,” she complained, trying to remove it, but Elide slapped her hand.

“You are violent.”

“What were you two thinking? You and that idiot cousin of yours? Going inside that hell?” The woman complained checking again her blood pressure and oxygen levels.

“It’s our job.”

“Not when the bloody place is about to blow up. You scared the heck out of everyone.”

“How’s Aedion?”

“Probably getting beaten up by Lys.”

Aelin laughed and more coughing wrecked her body. When she reopened her eyes her entire team was in front of the ambulance “Don’t you two do that ever again. You crazy bastards.” Were the loving words coming from Ansel. Everyone nodded “Dorian had to call all the fire trucks in the area.” Explained Ress.

“I guess you two will soon receive another invite from the mayor.” Joked Nox and Aelin gasped.

Brullo looked at her with a grin “that’s what you get at playing damn heroes. Police has been stopping people coming any closer all night. There is a sea of reporters out there.”

“Don’t you have jobs to do?” Groaned Elide “let the woman recover.”

“I always forget how scary you can be Lochan.” Ren shouted back at her while walking away from them.

“How are you feeling? Can you breath better?”

Aelin nodded.

“Your oxygen levels are back to normal. Does it hurt when you breath?”

“No, I am fine.”

It was much, much later when they did manage to finally get back to the station. Aelin got off the truck and then a wall of muscles slammed into her and enveloped her in a fierce hug. She looked up and noticed a pair of green eyes staring at her. She leaned her head against his chest for a second and the smell of pine and snow hit her. His scent.

“Don’t do that ever again.” He whispered in her ear.

“Where you worried about me, captain?” Then she pulled back noticing her team staring at the two. Fuck, no one knew they had sort of reconciled.

“What is the arsehole doing here?” Shouted Aedion pulling Aelin away from Rowan.

“He was here before the call. I told him to wait for me. That’s why he is here. And his name is not arsehole.” She growled back at her cousin.

Then a few more people came out of the station and they recognised Rowan’s squadron.

“We made food. Gavriel is a great cook. We helped. I just thought that you might all be starving.”

“Damn he is good,” said Ansel looking at Rowan from top to bottom.

Lorcan looked at Elide and the woman smiled at him. He tried to smile back but he was nervous and instead walked back to the station with the rest of the group.

“They need domesticating,” commented Lysandra when she noticed her friend’s dejected expression “Let’s go, I hope the food is as good as last time.”

Rowan and Aelin were the only two left behind “Sorry I hugged you in public.”

She shook her head “It’s fine. It actually felt nice.” Then smiled “I just hope you are now ready for all the comments that are going to rain on us as soon as we get back in there.” She brushed his uniform “I covered you in soot.”

“I don’t care. I have never been more terrified in my life. And I had some hairy experiences in my job.”

“Sorry,” she looked down but she felt his fingers lift her chin.

“You were amazing. Totally insane, but I am in awe.”

He took her shoulder “come on, you need food and we got loads ready.”

Together they walked back and Aelin walked to the sink to wash her face. She wanted a shower but she wanted food more.

“Aedion you could have at least washed your face.” She sat beside Rowan and noticed her cousin’s state.

“I am hungry.”

“Lys, did you kiss him in that state?”

“Hell no,” said the woman taking a bite of her food “I gave him a pat on the back and told him to get his arse in the ambulance.”

“Uh, someone is not getting any tonight.” Chimed Ress and the group laughed.

“Probably more than you, boyo.”growled back Aedion without rising his gaze from his meal.

“Well, someone is definitely getting some,” added Fenrys and nodded to Aelin and Rowan who were just sitting normally eating their food, not even brushing against each other.

Rowan growled at the man and Aelin laughed.

“So what is it with you two?” Asked Elide curious.

Aelin and Rowan’s head popped up from their plates.

“You hugged, he did all of this, are you two dating and pretending to fight so we don’t annoy you?”

“We are just us for now.”explained Aelin “before the fire we talked.”

“We are figuring things out. No labels. No rush. One step at a time.” He grabbed Aelin’s hand under the table and turned to her “we will let things develop.”

“That’s boring.” Comment Aedion, mouth half full.

Aelin snorted out loud “You pined after Lysandra for two years. Two years of driving me crazy because you were head over heels for her but could not make up your mind.”

“Aelin.” Shouted the man.

“Two years?” Asked Lysandra “why you never told me?”

“You know him. He always tries to do the right thing. He kept telling himself that it was not proper since you worked together. I had to read him the regulations and tell him that EMTs are not under our chain of command so he was in the clear. Had it be Ansel, now that would have been an issue since he is her superior.” Explained Aelin who enjoyed the shift of the conversation moving away from her and Rowan.

“You are an idiot.”

She noticed Lorcan throwing glances at Elide and she elbowed Rowan but he had noticed as well.

Elide stared at Lorcan, then blushed savagely and went back to her food “this is amazing,” she said out loud.

“Lorcan made those.” Said Gavriel and Aelin was sure that the man had noticed the exchanges as well.

“So you are a good cook as well?”

Lorcan grunted but Connall elbowed him. A very brave manoeuvre considering that Lorcan was his boss.

“I live on my own. I need to know how to cook.” He managed, never looking at her.

Aelin texted Rowan is he always this bad at flirting?

She could hear Rowan silent laugh this is actually going well for his standards.

Aelin rolled her eyes “who has a house big enough with a garden that we can have a nice barbecue? All of us? Just to get to know each other?” Announced Aelin.

Gavriel raised his hand “I do. I have a big yard and I haven’t used my barbecue since last year.”

“Awesome. What about this Saturday?We are off and you guys are on your month off. So it’s perfect.”

“How do you know about our month off?” Asked Fenrys, staring at Rowan.

“Ro— Captain Whitethorn told me.”

“Oh, of course he did, didn’t he?”

She was going to slap Fenrys.

“Lieutenant, I don’t see why it might be any of your business what the captain and I talk about.” Rowan had put on his captain voice and Fenrys went back to his food.

“The barbecue sounds amazing, spring is in full swing.”

“Good,” said Aelin standing and going to the fridge “I think we all need it after tonight.” Then she brought a bottle of coke to the table “we  can’t have wine because we are still on shift.”

“It’s fine,” said Vaughan “we are used to stay dry.” And he pointed at Rowan and Lorcan “their no booze policy is outrageous. We can’t even drink when we are off shift.”

“Blame the twins,” replied Rowan “they are the ones who got drunk, brought two girls on a heavily secure aircraft carrier, got busted and are still on active duty just because Lorcan and I saved their arses.”

“Oh yeah, that was epic.”

“So after that, Rowan and I decided to tighten things and now they can only drink once their mission is over and their arses are back on Terrasen.” Explained Lorcan.

“That’s brutal,” commented Aedion.

The twins had gone silent all of a sudden.

“It must be hard keeping big kids in place,” Elide asked Lorcan and the man attempted a smile at the woman.

“That’s why Rowan is the one who deals with that. He is the babysitter. The perks of rank.”

Rowan gave Lorcan a rude gesture and Aelin burst out laughing.

“You are lucky we are off duty, Whitethorn.”

“Why? Are you going to spank me?”

The group burst into laughter. No one expected the stiff necked captain to come out with such a remark.

“No, because you might like it and it’s gross.”

Aelin was in stitches, her stomach in pain from too much laughing.

“Who is the kinkiest?” Asked Lysandra.

The fire station team pointed at Ansel and the woman stood and bowed happy to be the winner of such a title.

The pilots group pointed at Lorcan and Elide blushed savagely.

“I think he and Essar covered every place of their houses and tried every position known to the human race.” Commented Gavriel.

Elide stared at Aelin in disbelief and Aelin knew the woman’s fears. Elide was the opposite and had no experience and could see why Elide was now panicking.

After their meal, the fire station boys had been put on kitchen duty and were washing dishes and cleaning, while Ansel, Lys, Elide and Aelin were having their meeting in the ambulance.

“I can’t.” Said Elide.

“Why?” Asked Ansel.

“Did you hear Gavriel? Lorcan is basically a sex god and I am the opposite.”

“There is no need to freak out now. All you are doing is staring at each other. When the time comes you just have to talk to him.” Explained Lysandra calmly.

“And tell him what? Sorry Lorcan I do not know what to do with men?”

“Yes,” said Aelin “if he is a decent man he will understand.”

“If he is not, I‘ll deal with him.” Aelin liked Ansel a lot. The woman wan’t always easy to get along with but when it came to them four they had formed their tiny support group and Ansel would back them up at all times. She was loyal and quite an awesome firefighter.

“Yeah but he might want to do things I do not feel comfortable with.”

“Consent, Elide.” Said Ansel sternly “If you say no it’s no. If the bastard pushes, you dump his arse straight away because he is not worth it.”

“Ansel is right,” said Aelin, taking Elide’s hand “If you want to go slow, you tell him. If he says no, well he can fuck off.”

Rowan was helping in the kitchen when he noticed all the women had disappeared “where did they go?” He could not see them anywhere.

“Girls meeting in the ambulance.” Explained Aedion “Aelin, Lys, Elide and Ansel sit in the back of the ambulance and have their girls meetings. Probably to gossip or complain about us.”

“Oh.” Was Rowan’s only comment.

“But I think tonight you and I are in the clear.” He finished washing the dishes “I got a feeling they are talking about Elide and Lorcan.”

“So everyone noticed, eh?”

“They were definitely not being subtle.” Replied Aedion “you tell you CO to go easy on her. He breaks her heart, I break him.” Then he turned to Rowan “same goes to you. You break Aelin’s heart and you are a dead man. She has been through enough.”

Rowan leaned against the counter “I know about Sam.”

Aedion’s mouth fell open.

“She told me.” Rowan admitted quietly while drying some of the dishes “We are taking things slow.” Confessed Rowan. He felt like he could talk easily to the man, although he was positive Aedion was not his biggest fan “I lost my wife over a year and a half ago. I know how Aelin feels.”

“I am sorry, man.”

Rowan brushed him off “Aelin and I are trying. But I don’t want to hurt her anymore.”

“You’d better.”

In that instant the kitchen became populated again and the two stopped talking.

“We gave the guys the tour,” explained Ress, happily “are the girls still in their meeting?”

“Looks like,” said Aedion and patted Rowan on the shoulder “guys I am going for a shower.”

“Go and make yourself pretty for your woman.”

Eventually the women came back as well and Lysandra cheered when she was told Aedion had gone for a shower.

Aelin walked to Lorcan “can I talk to you?”

The man looked at her with a questioning look.

They walked outside in the yard “do you like Elide? Are you interested in her?”

The man looked away clearly not comfortable talking about his feelings.

“Elide likes you, for some obscure reason. She is wonderful and a dear friend of mine. She does not have the same… experience you have. You are free to try and date her if she is okay with it. But you break her heart, you hurt her and I swear you’ll be flying from Terrasen under false identity because Lys, Ansel and I will come after you.” The man was a giant but she was not scared “do you read me on that, sir?”

Lorcan nodded.

“Now you stop playing side glances and go ask her out for a coffee.”

“Are you planning on managing my relationship with her?” He asked annoyed.

“No, but I will be watching you.” And walked away.

With her eyes she followed the man going to talk to Elide and once he was done she saw her friend giving her the thumbs up.

Happy with her job she went to find Rowan and found him sitting hiding beside one of the engines.

“Hey,” she said sitting down beside him “what are you doing down here alone?”

He replied with a heavy sigh “Our two teams together get along a bit too much. I just needed peace and quiet. I landed only this morning. We haven’t slept in a while and jet lag and all. I am a bit wiped.”

“You should go home.”

He leaned his head against the vehicle ‘you should too… after the night you had.”

“Can’t, night shift remember? I will go and take a shower though, and collapse on my bunk. But I am stuck here until tomorrow and hope no more emergencies.”

“It’s not fair though. After that fire you should go home and have someone relieve you.”

“That’s not how it works, captain.” She stood “go home. Sleep, I believe you promised a lady to go out for a meal.”

“Yes, and hopefully this lady will find some time to relax as well.”

Rowan stood as well and stopped in front of her.

“Thank you for the meal. It was awesome.”

“You deserved it.”

She grabbed the tips of his fingers and held them gently “I will see you tonight at seven.”

“Hopefully with less dirt on you.”

She flipped him off and walked away. Rowan chuckled and in the end took his leave as well.

TAGS:

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The effects of trauma from car accidents can sometimes impact victims for a lifetime. It can be devastating and long lasting, not only for the injured party, but also for the entire family. The medical bills, lost wages during recovery, car repairs and other expenses affects the victim tremendously along with emotional stress and physical damage. It is important to get a trusted and experienced car accident lawyer Vaughan. The injury lawyers have years of experience in handling personal injury cases. When you hire north york accident lawyers, they will discuss your injuries and make sure you are receiving the proper medical treatment from the best possible doctors. These lawyers go through your no-fault insurance, and if a claim for medical coverage has not been made, they make claims process for the client and obtain justice and compensation after automobile accidents. After a car accident your financial stresses are already overwhelming and most of the time the insurance company settle your claim for less than your claim is actually worth. Many law firms work on contingency fee basis. It means you will pay them nothing unless they win your case. You may contact one or two law forms for free case evaluation before choosing the best north York accident lawyers. If you have injured in a car accident, car accident lawyer Vaughan can help you to get the compensation you deserve within shortest span of time.

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Province orders takeover of Vaughan long-term-care home

Are you looking for a Disability Attorney in Toronto?

Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers is a leading Toronto accident law practice. Our legal representatives feel it is their duty to help you to find the federal government and also health and wellness companies that can also help you in your roadway to recuperation. 

Neinstein Injury Lawyers has actually managed severe injury claims across Ontario for over Five decades. Its locations of competence include medical, legal, and insurance issues associated with healthcare carelessness, motor vehicle crashes, disability claims, slip and falls, product legal responsibility, insurance disagreements, plus much more.

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Bremont planning to build 3 model homes to kick-start 'Telfer Creek' project

Bremont Homes is continuing to move closer to starting development of its planned 337-unit Telfer Creek subdivision in Owen Sound despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ground some projects in Ontario to a halt, the company’s president says.

“One hundred per cent, absolutely. We have been working behind-the-scenes during these times making progress and getting us to the next steps,” Gary Breda said.

The Vaughan-based company is now working through the detailed design phase of the project, he said, with the hopes that the first homes will arrive on the site in spring 2021.

Those first houses will be three model homes, which will be used to help drive “pre-sales” and marketing of houses in the subdivision, proposed for the vacant 33.5-acre lot next to the Owen Sound hospital.

At their meeting Monday night, city council agreed to allow Bremont to submit either an application for a minor variance or further zoning bylaw amendment to permit the construction of three model homes on one lot on the property.

Pam Coulter, the city’s director of community services, explained to council that Ontario’s Planning Act does not allow a person to apply for a minor variance or rezoning within two years of council approving a zoning bylaw amendment for the property unless council permits that application.

Bremont’s proposed minor variance or zoning bylaw amendment application would request permission to construct more than one home on a lot – those three model homes – and would be subject to conditions. The current zoning for the property does not permit more than one single-detached dwelling per lot.

“This is not considered a pre-approval and any application will be considered on its own merits,” Coulter told council.

Bremont has been going through the planning stages of its Telfer Creek project for several years.

In February 2019, council approved official plan and zoning bylaw amendments for the property.

The OP amendment re-designated portions of the site from residential-low density and residential-medium density to a mix of designations – residential medium-density, residential high-density and open space.

The rezoning changed rural portions of the site to general residential, medium-density residential and open space. It also permits several uses – convenience store, laundromat, offices, restaurants, retail stores, commercial school and place of entertainment/amusement – under the general residential zoning.

Bremont’s council-approved draft plan of subdivision proposes building 43 single-family homes on the property, which is on the north side of 8th Street East, along with 20 semidetached homes, 38 street-facing townhouses and a potential 236-unit retirement or long-term care facility).

The company is also proposing to build medium/high-density residential buildings with 230 units on the property.

Do you need a Accident Lawyer in The Greater Toronto Area?

Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers is a leading Toronto injury law practice. Our attorneys feel it is their duty to help you to discover the federal government and also health companies who can also aid you in your road to healing. 

Neinstein Injury Lawyers has actually handled major personal injury claims across Toronto for over 50 years. Its locations of proficiency include medical, legal, and insurance coverage problems associated with medical carelessness, automobile collisions, disability claims, slip and falls, product liability, insurance disputes, and more.

Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers

1200 Bay St Suite 700, Toronto, ON M5R 2A5, Canada

MJ96+X3 Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Canada: Are You Prepared For A good Factor?

Osler Works - Transactional primarily makes use of Kira to assist with due diligence processes, figuring out and extracting content material from contracts and different authorized paperwork. A Kira display for figuring out and extracting contract provisions. Kira goes via all of the paperwork in a short time and extracts the required content material in every doc. “We decide the kind of content material we're excited by and set Kira up accordingly. Osler beforehand employed many legislation college students and entry-stage attorneys to do the sort of labor achieved within the Transactional enterprise. The mixture of employees, for instance, is completely different; as a substitute of attorneys and paralegals as at most legislation corporations, the work in Transactional is finished by a mixture of senior attorneys (together with Munroe occasionally), junior legal professionals, transaction specialists, and enterprise analysts. They're inspired, for instance, to do enterprise growth actions, and due to the environment friendly efficiency of the transactional work they've extra time to undertake them. The crew, she says, Canada has been making an attempt to concentrate on getting extra worth and efficiency out of the applied sciences they've. With Kira, for instance, human employees arrange the evaluation after which give attention to revisions to the output, which is extra fascinating than scanning many paperwork. Munroe says that though the expertise replaces some human duties, she can’t think about a completely automated course of within the foreseeable future. They may even take care that the method is simplified for you as a lot as doable. It may also establish many fundamental contractual phrases-expiration dates, termination phrases, consent necessities, and so forth.

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There are some fundamental elements which ought to keep in thoughts whereas selecting Family Immigration lawer In New York. Saskatchewan immigration publishes an inventory of excluded occupations that don't qualify for the Occupation In-Demand and Express Entry sub-classes. You really cannot perceive the capabilities of the immigration lawyer intimately. The Self Employed Immigrant Programme, Entrepreneur Programme and Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) are various enterprise visas for Canadian immigration which supply everlasting resident standing and the chance to attempt to get Canadian citizenship after just a few years. However, by gaining higher data on not solely your accident, however your accidents and monetary standing a greater estimation may be made if all of the components are thought-about than if just one is used as an alternative of all three of these components. Although Canada gives free medical insurance to residents and residents, you have to to buy personal medical health insurance to make sure protection for up to a few months after you first arrive in Canada. The Canadian Climate Governance Experts program provides free periods on efficient company governance to handle local weather-associated monetary dangers and alternatives to company boards of administrators and Canadian pension fund boards. An vital dimension to the Canadian literature on the wholesome immigrant impact is the notion that though the well being of immigrants could also be higher than that of the native-born inhabitants on the time of immigration, that benefit is misplaced over time. Phil Murphy is anticipated to signal laws handed within the State Assembly Thursday that may permit unlawful immigrants to acquire skilled and occupational licenses within the state.” In signing this invoice, Murphy spits within the faces of the state’s lawful residents and, as soon as once more, exhibits that he provides deference to these who're within the nation illegally over the nation’s residents and authorized immigrants.

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Acquired Caught? Attempt These Tips to Streamline Your New York Immigration

In impact, Kira does the primary go by the paperwork-it offers you one thing to work with, immigration after which our material consultants on the Transactional staff make it related for the shopper. The use of those applied sciences for a shopper transaction, Munroe argues, is far simpler and offers vital worth to purchasers. “You would present up at a consumer site, and they’d put you in a windowless room with huge packing containers of paperwork to learn. Closing the present with Lonnie Mack's "Wham!," Vaughan sends one final blast from his Stratocaster via the appreciative Canadian crowd. Instead of digging too deep into world politics, Canada I'll merely showcase essentially the most possible excessive stage threats than a fashionable Canadian fighter could must face. The mind connections and neural pathways which are formed earlier than the age of 5 set the foundations for a way the mind will develop all through life. Subject material specialists are nonetheless essential, immigration lawyers however they're made extra productive by the expertise. Sprey nonetheless finds time to talk out about present navy aviation. For the time being, then, it is going to be people working alongside good machines. Munroe says that the group is at all times trying on the marketplace for AI developments, and she expects extra capabilities will probably be added over time. The variety of entry-stage attorneys at Osler has not decreased, Munroe notes, as a result of the agency is busy and rising.

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Wrongful Convictions: The Grisham Effect

Best-selling novelist John Grisham, a long-time member of the board of the Innocence Project, has dedicated extraordinary efforts to the problem of wrongful convictions.

The media gives Grisham a hearing, and Grisham uses the opportunities.

In a recent Los Angeles Times op ed piece, for example, he set out eight of the reasons for miscarriages of justice that social science surveys of exonerations have uncovered.  He pointed to poor police work, jailhouse snitches, prosecutorial misconduct, ineffective defense lawyering, junk science, false confessions, eyewitness error, and sleeping judges.

But as he struggles to nourish public support for reforms with evidence-based lists, Grisham also accepts Princeton psychologist Daniel Kahneman’s observation that  “No one ever made a decision because of a number.  They need a story.”

And Grisham has provided the stories.

Grisham’s most recent novel, “The Guardians,” mobilizes a character loosely based on Centurion Ministries founder Jim McCloskey to spin the tale of an innocent man wrongly convicted.  It offers a hero, and it offers villains.  The hero, like McCloskey, is a clergyman who has turned to innocence work, and he is menaced by a corrupt sheriff and a malignant drug cartel.  Angels wrestle with demons:  the plot zips along.

But Grisham also understands the power of a different kind of narrative, and he has used his prominence in the world of courthouse thrillers to boost true-crime writers who follow the same approach.

His Los Angeles Times essay is in fact adapted from a foreword he contributed to “The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist,” by Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington.

The Safety Narrative

That book is a detailed non-fiction account of the cases of Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks, both Mississippi African-American men wrongly convicted in the murders of two three-year old girls.  The girls had been, in fact, killed by a a man who had a prior conviction for a sex offense.

There is no lack of drama in the Brewer and Brooks stories.  The writing is taut.  Balko is an experienced journalist.  Carrington is an innocence lawyer, but one with a literary background.

Balko and Carrington muster a colorful cast.  The two title characters—Dr. Steven Hayne (The Cadaver King), a Mississippi pathologist who conducted up to 1,500 autopsies a year, and Dr. Michael West (The Country Dentist), a self-proclaimed expert in the pseudo-science of bite-mark comparison—contributed to the disasters. Depicting either would have kept Dostoyevsky busy for a year.

The ensemble of supporting players in the roles of judges, politicians, lawyers, sex offenders, and cops employs just about the entire Gothic Dixie Repertory Company familiar from the works of Faulkner, Carson McCullers, Harper Lee, and Harry Crews.

But the distinctive feature of the book is embodied in the decision by Balko and Carrington to give the last word to Kennedy Brewer, one of the exonerated men.

Brewer isn’t mad at any of his tormenters.   As Brewer sees it, it was nothing personal:  “The system’s gonna do what the system’s gonna do.”

I could be wrong—Balko and Carrington are not explicit about this—but I think readers who luxuriate in their sense of moral superiority over the title characters are missing the authors’ point.  You don’t need the conscious plans of an evil drug cartel to achieve a wrongful conviction; you just need a “normal accident.”

The title seems to promise two cartoonish villains, but the book delivers a careful anatomy of events.

The depressing fact is that no one involved in these cases cared enough about their victims to wrongly target and harm either Brewer or Brooks.

Near the root of each tragedy was, as Diane Vaughan said of the fatal Challenger launch decision, “A mistake embedded in the banality of organizational life.”

Despite its vivid character sketches and exotic atmosphere “The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist” is not a morality play. It is essentially a subtle and many-layered analysis of a safety disaster in a complex socio-technical system.

Along the way, the narrative implicates virtually every one of the eight sources of wrongful conviction that Grisham listed in his Foreword.

The police are poster boys for premature commitment and tunnel vision.  The forensic science is faulty in substance (West’s bitemark assertions) and in execution (Hayne’s wholesale autopsy practices).

The defense in one case is incoherent.  The judges are spineless.

But the book’s most important contribution is its recognition that no one of these “causes,” and no one of the drama’s players, would have been independently sufficient to convict Brooks or Brewer and leave the actual murderer free.

You can’t see the danger in this system in any one of its components any more than you can see “wetness” in any single molecule of H2O.

The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist are opportunistic bad guys, but they didn’t do it on their own.

The system’s features had to combine with each other and with latent system weaknesses.  Then there was a tragedy.

Like experts in safety analysis, Balko and Carrington resist the temptation simply to go “down and in” to find the isolated “eureka part” or “bad apple” that explains the disaster, they also go “up and out.”  To the question “Who is responsible?” they answer: “Everyone involved, to one degree or another, if not by making a mistake, then by failing to intercept someone else’s.”

And in Balko’s and Carrington’s telling “everyone” includes many actors far from the scene of the convictions.

Not Dead, Not Past

William Faulkner famously said that the past isn’t dead; it isn’t even past.  One of the virtues of the Balko-Carrington narrative is that it accounts for the influence not only of actors who are distant in space, but also of those who are distant in time.

The characters in the story’s foreground are shown trying to make sense of the environment they confront.  That environment—not some fixed determination to do evil—is what tempts them to zig when we know in hindsight that they should have zagged.

The Mississippi criminal justice environment was radically warped by an aggressive Jim Crow system of racial oppression.

The death investigation capacity of the system, designed to insulate white perpetrators from prosecution for the murders of African-American victims, is so under-resourced that it amounts to a vacuum. That is the vacuum that the Cadaver King and the Country Dentist contrived to fill.

Starved of resources, the whole justice system (and everyone in it) is under constant pressure, and, reacting to that pressure, the system’s players devise short-cuts, workarounds, and informal work rules.

“Practical drift” sets in, and today’s  “good enough” autopsy or investigation becomes the new departure point for tomorrow’s further minor departure from “best practices.”

The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist are no paragons, but they are the heirs to this process as much as they are its creators.

The problem on display here is not the absence of “best practices” or even general ignorance of them; the book makes it clear that a vocal minority of scientists, police officials, and lawyers were screaming about them the whole time.

The problem the story illuminates is that too often no one involved feels that following the best practice is “locally rational.”

Paradoxically, the only thing permanent about best practices in a system under pressure is the drift away from them.

Accounting for Harms

Approaching wrongful convictions by a building a list of potential sources of error isn’t a bad thing.

Approaching wrongful convictions by sketching a poster that encourages us to smite the evildoers isn’t necessarily a bad thing either.  There really are individuals who intentionally perjure themselves or hide exculpatory material.  They have to be held accountable.

But neither of these responses gives us a good place to stop.

Safety writers remind us that an “account” is a debt to be paid, but it is also a story to be told.

That seems to be John Grisham’s opinion too, and the Balko and Carrington book that he championed vindicates his conclusion.

The stories of the Brooks and Brewer wrongful convictions disclose hundreds of moments when dozens of individuals who would now be horrified by the outcomes could have done something differently.

(Anyone who thinks the kind of ongoing forensic shambles that convicted Brooks and Brewer is purely a Mississippi phenomenon should take a look at the Massachusetts drug labs scandals and their aftermaths.)

Legislators (like Grisham himself, who served in the Mississippi Legislature and accepts this responsibility) could have funded the medical examiner and indigent defense systems; cops could have restrained their leap at the first suspect available; judges could have shed their see-no-evil reflex when presented with prosecution offers of bogus science.

The two stories show—as only stories could—that what we need is not more rules and harsher penalties for rule violations, but a cultural shift toward an environment in which each actor strongly feels his or her individual role in producing a just collective outcome.

Wrongful convictions can’t be depicted in mechanical drawings. They can’t be adequately captured by linear, sequential, analyses as if they were mechanical failures in an engine.  Wrongful convictions involve too many humans.

The factors that have to be identified are influences that bend the probabilities, not simple “causes” with inevitable “effects.”  The telling of wrongful conviction stories requires an understanding of science and technique, but also of character, contingency, history, and emotion.

Grisham’s approach shows one way to get the stakeholders to do something differently next time: involve all the stakeholders in telling the story—that is, in  telling their own stories and to each other.

That, at least, is the possibility now being explored through the Sentinel Events Initiative demonstration sites now being supported by the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

James Doyle

When your local system uncovers a mistake, don’t wait for Balko and Carrington to arrive and explain it to you. Bring everyone to the table and collaborate in carefully piecing together the story of how it happened and why.

Give everyone a chance to speak up—to do their best to put themselves in position to make a better choice when they are next forced to choose.

James M. Doyle is a Boston defense lawyer and author, and a frequent contributor to The Crime Report. He welcomes readers’ comments.

Wrongful Convictions: The Grisham Effect syndicated from https://immigrationattorneyto.wordpress.com/