#i love the coveralls on FRANK

[frnkiebby]

Needed some more coverall frnk~🎃

[footprintsinthesxnd]

Chapter 13: Forgive Me

Gale Cleven × Hope Armstrong (ofc)

Series Masterlist

This story is based on on the fictional portrayal of these men from the MOTA to series.

Summary: With a new arrival at the camp Hope finds herself falling further into the darkness of her mind and the only person who can help pull her out of it has the man she loves to occupy her time.

Collab: A Pair of Silver Wings by @major-mads

Wednesday, October 27, 1943: Stalag Luft III: Sagan, Germany: 18:00

Hope found a sigh of relief escaping from her lips as the sight of their hut came into view. Frank had arrived to collect her from the infirmary and walk her back to their hut. He’d become even more protective since Gale had arrived a few days ago and she enjoyed his company, even if he was a little overbearing.

She felt bad that he’d been hovering outside for the best part of an hour but he didn’t seem to mind. She couldn’t bring herself to head back to the hut too earlier, hating the concerned eyes that seemed to watch her every movement. There was only so many times she could force a smile and repeat, “I’m fine,” until she too didn’t believe it.

She hopped up the steps, pushing open the large wooden door and following the short corridor down to their room. Frank’s heavy footfalls followed her, announcing their prescenes before they’d even arrived.

Their small group of friends were huddled around in the corner, a familiar dark-haired figure had his back to them and although he wasn’t sporting his normal sheepskin jacket, Hope recognised in an instant. John Egan.

Their presence must have been noticed because the group's hushed voices suddenly stopped and a few chairs scraped back, as they turned to see who had entered.

Ruth’s wide smile and shining eyes met her and she hated the way her heart clenched painfully at her friend's happiness. John, on the other hand, although looking worse for wear with his face littered in cuts and bruises, grinned widely at the pair.

“Hope! Frank! You’re back. Ruth’s been telling me all about you both since the crash.” John cracked a wide smile and his eyes seemed to soften as they met Hope’s. She couldn’t think of anything to say. What could you say to a man that had come back from the dead?

Frank, noticing Hope’s apparent discomfort, stepping forward, his hand outstretched. “It’s good to see you, Major, sorry it’s not under better circumstances.”

John shrugged, his arm coming back around to rest on Ruth’s shoulders, “We’re at war Captain, worse things could have happened. To think that of all the camps I could have gone to I ended up back with my girl. It could have been worse, I could have been stuck in a different camp like Gale and…”

The room fell silent, all eyes falling onto Hope. She bit her lip nervously, eyes falling to the floor.

“Hope, I didn’t mean…”John began, his face etched with concern as he realised the weight of his words.

“It’s fine, John, really, it’s good to have you back. It’s nice to see Ruth so happy again.” She sent her friend a sincere smile and the blonde returned it, her shoulders relaxing a little. She hadn’t realised how on edge Ruth must have been about the situation. Everyone treated Hope with kit gloves, like she was an unexplored bomb that needed to be handled with such delicacy that she might go off at any moment.

Hope sat herself down on her bunk, pulling up the sleeves of her coveralls. She missed her old flight suit, but the Herringbone Twill men’s coveralls that Edmund had found her severed their purpose, even if they were a little large on her. She straightened the silver wings pinned to her chest. Despite everything she still wore her flight nurse wings proudly, it was one of the few things she could cling to in these trying times.

She watched as Frank joined in with the group’s conversation, enjoying the jovial atmosphere that filled the room. It was nice to know that despite everything some of them could still smile.

She was pleased that John was here, really, for Ruth’s sake most of all. To see her friend so happy, wrapped up in the arms of the man she loved and had longed for. Ruth deserved to be happy, after everything.

Hope didn’t noticed Ruth approaching her until the bed dipped beside her and she glanced sideways at her best friend. Ruth bit her lip anxiously, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear.

“How are you doing?” Ruth asked, slipping her hand into Hope’s and squeezing it gently. “You’ve been really quiet since Gale arrived, I’m worried about you.”

Hope hated that Ruth had noticed. She knew that Ruth would have been worrying herself sick about it all.

“I’m fine, Rue, really. Works just been busy and I’ve not been sleeping well, but I promise I’m fine,” she forced a smile that stretched across her pale cheeks. The dark, purple skin that encircled her eyes only made her skin look paler. The flesh felt tight, gaunt across her cheek bones. She hadn’t noticed how much weight she’d lost since the crash but her clothes hung loosely on her tired frame.

Ruth didn’t look convinced, her once bright eyes looked tiredly at Hope breaking her heart even more. What had become of them?

————————————————————————

Wednesday, October 28, 1943: Stalag Luft III: Sagan, Germany: 12:00

Hope rubbed her eyes wearily, eyelids heavy and drooping due to the early hour. She’d barely slept a wink before the dreams began again. Every time she closed her eyes Gale’s distraught face haunted her, his voice shaking as he called out to her.

She sighed, stretching out on her small cramped cot and burying her cold feet beneath the thin, rough blanket. She sniffed, wiping away the stray tear that slipped down her cold cheek.

Hope’s eyes glanced across the room at Ruth’s peaceful form. She slept soundly, a faint smile on her lips. Hope couldn’t help resenting her a little, although she was pleased for her despite everything. At least she had John now, he wouldn’t disappoint her like she had.

A small whimper alerted her to the movement above Ruth’s bed and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness she saw John’s stiff figure climbing swiftly down from his bunk. He held his ribs during his descent and Hope wondered how badly he’d been treated in Dulag Luft.

John must have sensed her gaze on him because he turned, dark eyes wide when he caught sight of her. She knew that look, the wide-eyed, frightened gaze that haunted her far too often.

She watched as he slipped down onto the floor beside Ruth’s cot, visibly relaxing as he watched the rise and fall of her chest. He reached out hesitantly and lightly brushed a strand of hair from her face. His touch was so tender and gentle that Hope finally saw a truly different side to Bucky. He wasn’t a troublesome womaniser anymore. He was a man in love, besotted with his girl.

Hope smiled a little, ignoring the growing pain that filled her chest like a knife in her heart. Her eyes found their way to the window once more, staring into the brightly lit compound. How many more hours would pass until sleep finally took hold? She did not know.

————————————————————————

October 29th 1943, Stalag Luft III Sagan, Germany: 04:00

The cold wind bit at Hope’s cheeks, raising the raw, pink flesh as she hurried across the camp to the infirmary.

It was early in the morning, maybe 04:00 or 05:00, Hope wasn’t sure. Her watch had been damaged in the crash and now it was stuck with the hour hand on the 3 and the minutes on exactly 26. Frank always joked that it was right twice a day, but since then she’d been relying on others for the time, not that it really mattered the guards dictated their routines.

Throwing open the door she shuffled inside, kicking the snow off of her brown, leather field boots in the doorway. To her surprise, Edmund was already there packing up supplies of dressings into crates.

He glanced up as Hope strolled in.

“Good morning, Hope. You’re here early.” It sounded more like a question than a statement, but Hope just smiled.

“You know me, I can’t sleep so I might as well make myself useful.” She picked up her own crate and started to unpack some of the supplies into the cupboards. “More to the point, why are you here so early?”

Edmund shrugged, “There’s supposed to be some prisoners being moved around today, some are coming to our camp. I thought it would be better if I got ahead of schedule.”

Hope froze. It couldn’t be. She couldn’t have heard him right. “Did you say prisoners from other parts of the camp will be moved here?”

“Yes,” Edmund replied nonchalantly before he realised what he’d said, “I mean, yes. I’ve heard that there will be men brought in from other sections of the camp but I don’t know if they are transferring anyone from Gale’s camp I’m afraid.”

Hope nodded slowly, she didn’t want to get her hopes up, not when she’d come so far. It had been a week since Gale had arrived and she’d desperately fought against the memory of him being dragged away. She had been glad of Frank’s support, he’d barley left her side since that day, Ruth too, although she’d begun to keep Ruth at arms length since John arrived a few days ago. She couldn’t help the jealousy that ate away at her when she discovered he’d been placed in their camp. Why did Ruth get her man while hers was still so far away from her? Why didn’t she deserve to be happy? She hated herself for being jealous of her friend, Ruth deserved to be happy more than anyone but the growing feeling that Hope didn’t deserve happiness haunted her.

Edmund seemed to sense her apprehension and placed a hand on her shoulder, “If I hear anything else you’ll be the first to know.”

Hope trusted Edmund, he was a good man and an even better friend. He’d helped her more than he’d ever realised and it all began because of his ability to travel to other parts of the camp. There was a shortage of doctors in the camp and Edmund had to split his time between several compounds, including Gale’s.

He’d mentioned it while helping Hope place a cast on a pilot's leg, it had been a fleeting comment but one that Hope hadn’t missed.

“You mean you get to go into the other camps?”

“Yes, just to give medical assistance. I come back to my own camp each night,” he’d replied, wrapping the bandage quickly before it began to set. “Why are you so interested in it?”

Hope wasn’t sure what she had intended but the thought came to her and she knew she had to try. “Would you be able to take a letter with you?”

Edmund thought for a moment before nodding, “I can’t see why not, they don’t check my bag of medical supplies so I could just slip it in there. Why? Who’s it for?”

“It’s for my fiance.” That was the first time she had discussed Gale with anyone other than Ruth and Frank. It felt strange to tell a complete stranger all about him but Edmund listened happily.

“Of course, Hope. You write that letter and I’ll take it over for you the next time I go.” True to his promise he did.

Hope found herself struggling to write. For night after night she poured over a crumpled piece of paper, writing and scribbling out sentences. She’d never struggled to write to Gale before, but now it felt like she was back in Nursing School writing essays on patient care. She had debated asking Ruth to help her, she was a teacher after all, but something between the girls had changed. Hope felt it once they had been reunited after Dulag Luft. She couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment but she’d withdrawn from her friend, pulling from Ruth’s familiar comfort. She didn’t desire her friendship, she was a burden on them all and they would be better off without her. The more she told herself that, the more she believed it. Something had changed for her in Dulag Luft. Haussmann had taken something from her somehow, her fighting spirit maybe? She wasn’t really sure, but she had driven everyone away because of it.

Hope decided she couldn’t ask Ruth to help her and instead continued to try and write the letter herself, but how could a simple letter convey everything she had ever wanted to tell Gale? Would she ever see him again? He was so close but so far, and knowing the Germans they could move either one of the to another camp at a moment's notice.

On the night she finished the letter, she found herself unable to sleep once more so she walked over to the infirmary. She’d told Edmund she would leave the letter in his medical bag to take to Gale’s compound on his next visit. She wanted the letter out of her hands before she could change it again.

She walked carefully over the uneven floorboards, trying to avoid the ones that creaked. She’d spent so many nights away that she knew exactly how to sneak out without the others knowing, even with the new arrivals who seemed to sleep less deeply than Frank and Ruth.

Stepping out of the hut, the early morning air whipped against her skin, wracking its icy fingers across the exposed flesh of her cheeks. She huffed, pulling her jacket up around her neck, burying her nose into her scarf. She walked quickly, darting between the huts. She knew that if the guards spotted her she’d be in trouble, but as a nurse she may get away with being permitted to check on patients and as she was heading towards the infirmary she stood a good chance of getting away with it.

Her legs carried her swiftly and she was at the infirmary door in record time. She slipped inside, trying to avoid disturbing the sleeping men recuperating inside. She moved silently towards Edmund’s bag, slipping the letter inside before…

“Well aren’t you a pretty little thing.”

Hope spun around, the heels of her boots squeaking against the wooden floor. She met eyes with the speaker, staring into the dark abyss where the man’s eyes seemed to have disappeared into his gaunt face. His teeth lay crooked in his mouth and formed a menacing smile that made Hope’s flesh crawl. She gulped, eyes wide as she watched the man take a step forward.

“Don’t be scared, Pretty. You’re a lovely little thing aren’t you.”

“What do you want?” Hope snapped, she recognised the man now. He’d arrived at the infirmary the night before, unconscious and unlikely to recover. He’d taken a blow to the head from one of the guards and the doctors had decided he was as good as dead. The bandage hung loosely around his skull now and dried blood was evident around his hairline.

“Sir, I think you should take a seat, you suffered from a traumatic injury to the head, I don’t think you should be trying to move around too much.”

The man scoffed, “You can tell me to do whatever you want to, Pretty Lady, so long as you give me something in return.” He lurched forward, grasping Hope’s wrist tightly. She let out a yelp, jumping backwards and trying desperately to remove his grip from her wrist.

“Get off me!” She cried, slamming her attacker into the side of the examination table with little success. He continued his advances, pinning her against the wall, his stale breath causing Hope’s stomach to churn.

He ran a single finger down her cheek before his pressed his chapped lips to hers in a sloppy kiss. Hope did the only thing she knew how, bringing his knee up and wracking the man firmly in the crotch. He cried out, falling to the ground with a shout where she kicked him once more, drawing her boot back and kicking him another three times. She’d never felt such anger within herself, never felt such a drive to hurt another human being. Why would she, she was a nurse after all?

The man crawled his way towards the door and she let him go, she’d have rather him be out of her sight than hanging around, rolling around the floor like a child. As the door slammed shut behind him, she released a breath she didn’t realise she been holding. It was only now that she noticed how sore her neck felt and she raised a shaking hand to feel where his fingers must have dug into her throat. Her cheek stung and she suddenly realised that he’d hit her, several times. In her struggle to hurt him she hasn’t realised he’d tried to fit back.

A soft whimper fell from her lips and she slipped to the floor, a strangled sob soon following as she lay against the rough wooden slats. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have let this happen. Her mind raced with the same dark thoughts that had followed her around like a rain cloud for weeks. You deserved it. It’s your fault this happened. What would Ruth think of you now? Frank too, the would be ashamed of you. As she lay sobbing herself to exhaustion on the floor, Hope found a small glimmer of hope finding her from within Edmund’s bag, her letter. The sooner her letter was delivered the sooner she would have a reply from her beloved Gale. She didn’t dare think of anything else as she rocked herself back and forth. It would be okay, she had Gale, everything would be okay.

By the time she arrived back at the hut, Hope just slipped back into her cot when the loud thump of the Luftwaffe guard knocking on the door rallied them.

Bang. Bang.

“Aufstehen! Get up!”

Hope pushed herself off the cot, throwing off the rough sacking and pushing her hair away from her eyes.

She pulled her olive-drab scarf tightly around her neck, hoping to hide the evident bruises around her neck, the last thing she needed was people asking questions.

Room 4 began to slowly come to life, shuffling around the block as they began funneling out the door, pulling on coats and boots as they went. She tried to ignore John greeting Ruth with a sweet kiss.

She rubbed her eyes, hoping they didn’t look too red from crying. She pulled on her A2 jacket, pulling the zip tightly up to her neck before marching out the door. Keeping her head down was the best way to get through it.

Frank sent her a soft smile, placing a hand on her lower back as he guided her out of the hut after Ruth. Ever since he’d carried her back to the hut the day Gale arrived he’d been more attentive, placing an arm around her shoulder, and soft kisses to her forehead. The closeness reminded her of Hugh’s comforting embraces but she tried to push it from her mind. It was better to know he was safe in England rather than stuck in a camp. Hope wondered if Hugh was planning his trip back to the States, Münster was his 25th mission after all. She liked the thought that he was safely back on home turf.

Hope fell into the line beside Crank who sent her a soft smile. She returned the gesture before forcing herself to look forward, eyes trained on the muddy floor. It was almost always the same every morning and afternoon. The goons went down the line checking everyone was accounted for until they were satisfied. On special occasions when they felt extra cruel, the kreigies were forced to stand in their lines for hours. Luckily, that had only happened once since the girls arrived. As the chilly air turned colder with the passing days, Ruth wondered how long anyone would be able to stand exposed to the elements. It would snow soon, no doubt.

After the morning roll call, the others headed to the mess hall for breakfast. Hope found herself hanging back, standing in the courtyard as she stared at the floor in front of her.

She ignored the way John threw his arm around Ruth’s shoulder, tucking her closely to his side as he spoke.

Hope felt cold, her lips stiff and her neck ached. It was as though her body had finally caught up with what had happened to her that morning, it was as though the shock and realisation of what could have happened to her set in.

“Hope?” Her eyes snapped up and she saw through watery eyes her friend looking back at her. Ruth’s forehead creased with concern, her bright eyes watching her sympathetically. Hope felt her cheeks burned as she realised the small group of friends that surrounded her. She could see John’s dark eyes watching her from behind Frank, who was reaching out to her.

“You okay, Hope?” Frank asked, brushing his hand against hers but she withdrew her hand, avoiding the other's watchful eyes.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me. I’m just tired, lots of patients to see today so I’ll head over to the infirmary.” She pushed past Ruth, moving through the group and towards the infirmary. She hated the way they looked at her, with such sympathy that Hope felt like she was something broken and unwanted.

“Hope! Hope, wait!” Ruth called after her, clutching onto her friend's arm as she reached her. “Hope, you have to talk to me. Please don’t shut me out.” Ruth’s bright eyes started pleasingly at her, begging for her to just reach out.

“I’m not shutting you out, Rue. I’m busy, alright? I have things I need to do.”

Ruth’s grip remained firm on her arm and Hope pushed her arm away, the jealousy she had suppressed bubbling up in her chest once more. “Just go back to John, why don’t you? He’s waiting for you so you should just go.”

Hope instantly regretted her harsh words, seeing the hurt appear in Ruth’s eyes but she just couldn’t bring herself to talk to her friend. She needed to keep busy and discussing her feelings wasn’t going to help her. She was a burden to her friends as it was without breaking down in front of them.

“Please Hope, please just talk to me,” Ruth bit her lip to keep it from wobbling as she spoke, her voice strained as the tears began to build in her eyes.

Hope cowered away, stepping further from her friend as she tried to suppress her grief. Why was she being so weak? She couldn’t look at Ruth, she couldn’t bare let me down. She was supposed to be the strong one and yet between the nightmares and Gale being just out of her reach, she couldn’t hold it together any longer.

“I can’t talk to you about it. You won’t understand,” she replied plainly, pushing her dark locks away from her eyes. Hope took a deep breath, ignoring the feeling of silent tears slipping down her cheeks. “I should check on the men in the infirmary.”

Hope hated the way Ruth’s eyes followed her as she followed the muddy path towards the infirmary block, keeping her eyes trained on her feet, stepping one in front. She knew they were only worried about her and yet that made her feel even more ashamed because she was letting them down, too. To think that the airmen that Gale had worked so closely with saw her as such a weak and feeble creature only caused her to hate herself even more.

She swung open the door to the infirmary, choking back a sob, she was glad the ward was empty, the only patient having been the man from that morning and thankfully he was long gone. Sliding down the wall beside the sink Hope bit her bottom lip, tasting the bitter, iron blood as her teeth sank deeper. The images of Ruth’s happy smile as she sat in John’s arms the night before flash in front of her eyes, seeing her smiling friends catching happily together in their hut, Gale being dragged away from her, the injured man pinning her against the wall, Haussmann. Everything was too much, it hurt too much. Hope’s eyes slid shut as she collapsed against the wooden floor and the darkness consumed her.

————————————————————————

October 29th 1943, Stalag Luft III Sagan, Germany: 17:30

Frank tried to ignore the way the rain trickled down the collar of his jacket and onto his skin, slipping down his spine and wetting the band of his trousers. This was when he missed flying most, when the foul weather would have had him grounded so he’d have stayed nestled in the dispersal hut beside the fire with a good book.

Sighing, his long legs carried him towards the infirmary. His mind had been preoccupied with thoughts of Hope’s tearful face as she’d disappeared that morning, skipping breakfast. The dry chunk of bread wrapped in a handkerchief in his pocket wasn’t much but it was better than nothing.

He wrapped his knuckles against the wooden door, waiting for the familiar call to ‘Enter’. When nothing came he pushed open the door slowly, slipping inside. The ward was unusually quiet but he was thankful that Hope was having a peaceful day.

The doctor suddenly appeared in the doorway, causing Frank to jump.

“Christ Doc, you scared me,” he chuckled, his smile falling at the serious look on Edmund’s face. “What’s wrong, Doc.”

Frank waited patiently as Edmund explained that he’d found Hope collapsed that morning, her small, cold form lay in one of the infirmary cots, wrapped beneath a mountain of blankets.

“I gave her something to help her sleep but there isn’t much else I can do. Clinically I can’t find anything wrong with her but I know she hasn’t been sleeping well, and since Gale’s arrival, we’ll…” Edmund trailed off as both men’s eyes fell upon Hope’s sleeping form. “I don’t know what happened to her but she had bruises around her neck, I fear they may have been inflicted by another prisoner but she won’t tell me what happened. She made me promise not to tell anyone what happened,” Edmund admitted, his grey eyes meeting Frank’s. “She made me swear not to tell Ruth.”

Frank’s heart broke. Why would she want to keep this from her friends, they could help her, support her? He’d never known Hope to become so closed off from her friends before. Who would want to hurt Hope like that?

“She just needs some rest and physically she should be fine in a few days,” Edmund paused, contemplating his words carefully. “But mentally, I fear she has a long road ahead of her.”

Frank watched the doctor go before he took a seat beside Hope’s bed. It wasn’t until now that he noticed how pale her skin was, how the dark rings beneath her eyes caused her face to look gaunt. How had he not realised quite how much she was suffering?

“Oh Hope,” he brushed his fingers gently across her forehead, pushing away her dark hair that fell loosely across the pillow. “I’m so sorry, Hope. I was meant to protect you and I failed.” Alone in the infirmary, Frank let his own tears fall. They had been through so much together and yet he felt as though she was slipping through his fingers every day. He vowed to himself that he would do better, for Hope, for Ruth, for all of them.

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November 1st 1943, Stalag Luft III Infirmary: 10:00

Sitting on the rickety, wooden chair by the bed, Frank chuckled, “Guess who got mail?”

Hope’s eyes lit up as she spied the crumbled piece of paper in the pilot's hand. She was feeling much better after a few days of decent sleep, and after a pep talk from Frank, she was beginning to see that maybe things weren’t as dark and lonely as she thought they were.

“Is it for me?” She asked with the childlike earnestness that reminded Frank that she was only a young woman of twenty four, or was it twenty five. It struck Frank that in all the chaos of the plane crash and finding themselves in a POW camp that they missed Hope’s birthday entirely. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, but made a mental note to try and do something nice for her to show they hadn’t entirely forgotten.

“It sure is,” Frank placed the letter into her hands, “And I think you know who it’s from.”

Hope nodded, a faint smile pulling at her lips as she ran her thumb over her name written on the front. “Could you read it to me?”

Frank nodded, if not a little surprised, and took the letter back from her, shoving his thumb under the envelope and whipping it open.

To my dearest Hope,

You have no idea how much your letter meant to me. I never truly realised how much I missed your sweet words until you were gone and I realised I took you for granted. I promise that for as long as I live I will never take you for granted, Hope. Each and every day with you I will treasure for the rest of my life.

I’m sure you can understand the pain more than anyone else that our separation causes, believe me I have never known suffering like it. Please do not worry about me, I am not alone over here. Benny Demarco is here with me.

Just know that seeing you when I arrived has given me the strength I need to keep going, too keep fighting until we can be reunited once more. You give me hope that we still have a future together. I know this is not how we planned the month after our wedding to go but just now that I would live through it all again if it meant I get to spend the rest of eternity by your side.

You're my everything, Hope. I’ll keep fighting for you and I’ll be back by your side as soon as I am able.

Your ever loving husband

Gale

Frank brushed a hand over his cheek, trying to hide the stray tears he’d shed while reading Gale's letter. His heart swelled to know that someone loved Hope as deeply as he loved his girl Grace. Love like that is rare and to find it in war is even rarer. He glanced up at Hope to see her dark eyes misty too as she shed her own tears but the faint smile remained on her lips.

“Thank you, Frank,” she choked, reaching out and taking the letter from her friend. She pressed the page against her lips, inhaling deeply for the faintest scent of Gale on it. Sadly, the paper just smelt like the damp, stale air of the huts they occupied. Smiling sadly, she pressed the letter to her chest. It may not have been much but it was enough for now to reassure her that her Gale was still here and he was alright. For now that was all she needed.

————————————————————————

November 4th 1943, Stalag Luft III Infirmary: 15:00

Hope was released from the infirmary a few days later with strict instructions not to over exert herself and to return if she felt faint again. Frank had been waiting for her at the infirmary door, a bright smile of his lips when he saw her.

“Now there’s the Hope I know,” he wrapped her in his large arms. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better,” she assured him, linking her arm through his as he led her back to their Nissen hut. She knew Frank meant well but she was looking forward to seeing some other people, he was very good at small talk.

She missed Ruth, despite telling Dr Edmund that she didn’t want Ruth to see her in such a state; it was more that she was ashamed of herself for being so weak. Not just now but how weak she’d been since the crash. She needed to apologise for everything.

Stopping suddenly, Frank turned his worried eyes finding hers.

“I need to go and see Ruth,” Hope spoke firmly, she needed to see her now before she lost her nerve. She wouldn’t be able to have the courage to talk so openly in front of everyone else in the hut, especially not John.

“Ruth is teaching now, she’ll be back later,” Frank assured her, his arm landing on her back and guiding her toward the huts.

“No Frank, I need to talk to her now. There’s so much I need to say, I…,” she blinked away the tears. “I’ve been a terrible friend.”

Frank’s features softened, he knew that Hope hadn’t meant to shut Ruth out, but he also knew how hurt Ruth had been, it would be good for them to talk things out.

“Alright, be careful.”

Hope nodded, giving Frank a quick hug before turning in the direction of Ruth’s classroom. While she had a been in the infirmary she’d prepared a speech but as her legs carried her closer to the building she couldn’t recall a word of it. ‘Always speak from the heart’, her mother had told her and it was advice that Hope had taken on many occasions.

Hope lifted her hand, wrapping her knuckles against the classroom door. Her heart pounded furiously and her head spun as she fought the urge to turn and walk away. She wasn’t even really sure what she would even say to Ruth, so much time had passed since they’d last spoken that she wasn’t sure how well she knew her best friend anymore.

Ruth's sweet, singsong voice answered and Hope pushed back the door, peering her head around and coming face to face with the group of men all sat at desks. She knew most of them and hated the feeling of their eyes upon her, ever since the incident last week she’d had a job to let any man near her other than Frank and Edmund.

Ruth turned away from the chalkboard, her mouth morphing into a surprised ‘o’ before she forced a smile. After glancing at her watch, she placed down the chalk.

“I think that’ll be all for today. Make sure to read up to Act 3, scene 2, and we’ll go from there in the next lesson.”

The men packed up quickly, sensing the unspoken tension between the women and Hope hated that she’d interrupted Ruth’s class, but if she didn’t keep her nerve she wasn’t sure if they would speak again.

She watched from the doorway, nervously shuffling from foot to foot as she watched the men hurriedly pack up their books and scuttle past her.

Ruth leaned against her desk, arms crossed across her chest as she waited expectantly. To say she was surprised to see her friend in her class was an understatement. In all the time she’d been teaching in the camp Hope had never once visited.

Ruth didn’t quite look annoyed but Hope knew her well enough to know that she wasn’t exactly pleased that she hadn’t allowed her to visit the infirmary.

“I’m glad to see you’re up and about again,” Ruth replied plainly, a faint smile on her lips. “You had me worried, Hope…had me worried for a while now. Since the crash, you’ve not been yourself, and I understand that, but…” she cut herself off, pushing herself away from her desk and moving to a table a few feet away from Hope.

Hope kept her eyes trained on the floor, unable to meet Ruth’s eyes, embarrassment clear on her reddening cheeks as the tears building in her eyes threatened to fall.

“I’m sorry, Rue…” she mumbled softly. She didn’t know what to say. She truly was sorry but didn’t know if that was going to cut it.

Ruth sighed, moving closer and standing before her. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I know things haven’t been easy for you, but things haven’t been easy for me, either. We need each other, and you pushed me away…pushed us all away.”

Tears welled in Ruth’s eyes, too, and Hope felt a choked sob slipping from her lips, “I failed you, Ruth. I just keep failing and disappointing you.” Sympathy easily overpowered Ruth’s frustration, and she tugged Hope into an embrace. Hope’s head fell against the blonde's shoulder and she felt Ruth’s arms encasing her as she cried.

It was the most relief she’d felt in months: to truly cry…to release all the emotions that had been bottled up for the past month. “I’m so sorry, Ruth.”

The two women remained fixed, each clinging to the other as they cried over the events of the last few months. Neither of them had truly faced what had become of them but it was good to finally share in their grief. To face reality together.

Ruth pulled back, rubbing away the stray tears that streaked down her pale cheeks. “Hope please tell me what happened. Frank said you collapsed from exhaustion and didn’t want anyone to visit. I tried to anyways but Dr. Edmund said you weren’t up for visitors.”

Hope bit her lip. She didn’t want to talk about what happened, she’d tried to push away the images of that fateful morning, tried to scrub her skin to rid herself of his touch. Ruth’s eyes remained trained on her, pleading for answers.

“Well, I’ve not been sleeping too well for a while now but I’d finally finished the letter to Gale that Edmund promised to pass onto him,” she began, inhaling sharply between each sentence. “I went to the infirmary earlier, I couldn’t sleep and I wanted Edmund to have it as soon as possible. I went to the infirmary to drop it off and there was this man there…”

She gulped.

“He was a patient and was as good as dead, but…”

Ruth couldn’t help the emotion that clawed at her throat as Hope spoke. Her friend’s voice sounded so broken and painful as she relived the events that Ruth didn’t know what to say. What could she say?

“He grabbed me and he tried too… Well, he didn’t manage it. Edmund said it was all the shock of that and the sleep deprivation that my body finally just gave up. He put me on bed rest. Frank only found out because I was unconscious when he arrived and Edmund let him in.”

Hope let out a long sigh, reaching to take Ruth’s shaking hands in her own, “I didn’t want you to see me so broken, Rue. I’ve always promised that I’d look after you but all I do is keep failing and letting you down.”

Ruth shook her head, fighting to keep her lip from trembling, “You haven’t failed me, alright? You’re the strongest, most talented, hardest working person I know, and you’re the most incredible nurse. I wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you for taking care of me, but it’s my turn to take care of you. You just have to let me.”

A painful wail slipped from Hope as she sobbed once more, surrendering to her own grief. How had she been so blind to the pain she’d caused her friend?

“I love you, Rue, I love you so much and I can’t lose you.”

Ruth’s hand smoothed down Hope’s back, “I love you too, Hope. And don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

Tags: @georgieluz @docroesmorphine @major-mads @violetdaze25 @bcofl0ve @precious-little-scoundrel @blurredcolour @artlover8992 @b00ks1ut @xxluckystrike @hockeyboysarehot @groovin2beats @kmc1989 @ginabaker1666 @hesbuckcompton-baby @beebeechaos @forsythiagalt @prettyinlimegreenboots @blueberry-ovaries

[transvampireboyfriend]

The obnoxious ringing of their phone fills the trailer and snaps Eddie out of his repetitive strumming.

He's been trying to learn one of his newest favorite songs for, (he looks at the clock; damn, eleven already,) like three hours now.

Eddie gets up from the couch, grumbling about who the fuck is calling them, Wayne left for work some hours ago, but he almost never calls during his shift.

He reaches the phone stuck to one of their kitchen walls and brings the receiver to his ear.

"Hello?" he greets.

"Eddie!" Steve's voice says on the other end of the line, his tone surprised like he didn't expect him to pick up.

Eddie feels a smile tug at his lips.

"Heeeey Steve-o!" Eddie greets him "what can I do for ya this time a' night?"

"Shoot! Right, sorry. Did I wake you?" Steve asks. Eddie snickers.

"Nah, man. It's cool." Eddie tells him, grabbing a forgotten bag of twizzlers off the counter to start chewing on one of the treats.

"I know you have a lot of teenage friends," Eddie adds around the twizzler now in his mouth, "but most young adults go to bed at like- midnight. Even later on a Friday night." he finishes.

Steve scoffs at "young adults" and Eddie can practically hear him rolling his eyes.

He's still a little surprised he can tease Steve Harrington. It took many many movie nights for Eddie to fully join in on that. Though he still hesitates sometimes, he thinks the kids can take it a bit too far.

"Whatever," Steve dismisses, his smile shining even through the phone lines "I just called to tell you Rob's not working tomorrow, so she won't be able to meet for breakfast" Steve's smile sounds like it fades a little in that sentence.

Eddie stops chewing.

They've been having breakfast together every Tuesday and Saturday, the days Steve and Robin work the morning shift together at Family Video.

Sometimes a couple of the kids will join, sometimes Robin's friends will join, or Nancy, even Garrett or Jeff or Freak; they all know they can find Eddie, Robin and Steve on those days at the diner so it's become their unofficial hangout spot, at least before 9am.

And Eddie's had breakfast with just Robbie before, or Nance, or one of his friends, but never with just Steve.

Steve is a bit of an enigma to Eddie.

Over a really short period of time Eddie had found out Steve's a local hero extraordinaire, that he's totally metal and also that he is a little bit dorky and has an absolutely terrible love life.

And if that wasn't surprising enough, it turns out Steve also isn't totally averse to Eddie, and that sure was surprising.

But Steve is a little awkward around Eddie sometimes. Like he's afraid Eddie will judge him or something; which, is preposterous, Eddie's the queer nerd, what would he have to judge Steve for? Especially now that he's technically no longer a jock. Plus, he had a huge role in saving Eddie's life, it's not like Eddie would forget that.

But he still finds Steve staring at him in the middle of movie nights only to avert his eyes when Eddie turns to him, or Steve'll laugh a little too hard at Eddie's observation like he's overcompensating, or Eddie will feel a little self conscious of his greasy tank and coveralls when Steve's eyes widen at the sight (it's not his fault his job's so messy).

So, he never really hangs with just Steve, not because he's made it so, but rather, it's just never happened and Eddie hasn't actively tried to make it happen because, well, it's a little weird.

In fact, Eddie's fairly certain Steve also works Thursday mornings because he's seen him having breakfast at the diner with Dustin or on his own when Eddie goes by on his way to the auto shop.

Eddie does work mornings most days except for Sunday and Monday since those are his free days. It's very rare that Frank calls to tell him he'll need Eddie in the afternoon shift instead, so technically, Eddie could be having breakfast at the diner any day.

Eddie could be having breakfast at the diner with Steve on Thursdays.

Except?

He's not gonna invite himself is he?

It also doesn't help that Eddie has an embarrassingly huge crush on the guy, so he can never tell if Steve's actually being weird or if Eddie's just paying too much attention to him.

He really can't help himself, the guy's everything Eddie finds attractive in a person and on top of that he's fucking gorgeous. It's frankly unfair, if you ask him.

All those years in high school, hating Steve in the worst of cases or ignoring him in the best, had been pretty easy. Partly because of his good looks, mostly because of the company he kept. But now that Steve surrounds himself with his found family? Now that he laughs freely and fails fearlessly and gives so easily? Eddie does not stand a chance.

So really, it's probably for the best that they don't hang out on their own.

Eddie puts down his twizzler, mentally readying himself to start doing meal prep because Steve for sure called to cancel.

"...ssso if you wanna cancel–" Steve says, there's a muffled thump on the other end of the line, but Eddie pays it no mind, tries to play it cool.

"I mean that's–. Whatever you want." he stammers.

God, Eddie thinks, rolling his eyes at himself, he really could not be cooler.

"I um," Steve inhales sharply then "I'm probably still gonna have breakfast there," he says, "I'm not– I'm no good in the kitchen" he laughs casually.

Eddie huffs, reluctantly charmed.

"So if you wanna join" Steve adds hesitantly, "well, you're always welcome"

"ialsohateeatingalone" Steve adds, almost as an afterthought.

See? He's a little weird.

Not that that makes him any less attractive; on the contrary, it's endearing,

"Alright, cool." Eddie chuckles now, "Sounds good. I honestly don't wanna cook myself anything so you're practically doing me a favor." he says, then waits for a bit, in case Steve really needs an out; he picks his twizzler back up to start chewing on it again.

When Steve doesn't take the out, Eddie teases him again,

"Tell ya what, I'll teach you how to cook breakfast sometime" Eddie says around his treat, just to get on Steve's nerves a bit, but also pitifully hoping his offer would ever be accepted.

"I know how to cook breakfast, Eddie," Steve protests.

"You just said you're no good in the kitchen!" Eddie shoots back, enjoying the sound of Steve's answering laugh from the other end of the line.

"Ok fine!" Steve says, his smile back in his voice, "You'll teach me some day, whatever." he concedes.

Eddie's fairly certain his eyes could not get bigger and his cheeks could not get redder.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Steve asks.

Heart hammering in his chest, Eddie nods.

Steve can't see him.

"Mmhm." Eddie hurries to amend, "See you tomorrow, Stevie," he says.

Eddie feels butterflies fluttering in his stomach with Steve's parting 'see you' before the line goes dead.

[instructionsnotincluded]

True North

Lovely banner by @lady-cheeky

Chapter XIX

Excerpt:

Frank followed Bucky up the stairs like a giddy school girl, shaking her head as he glanced over his shoulder at her, wiggling his eyebrows. She let him pull her under his arm, a spot that was quickly growing to be one of her favorites, and he pressed his finger to his lips when she let out a louder giggle after he squeezed her waist. He unlocked the room, the same one Anne had placed her in twice now, and closed the door behind them once they were fully inside. Frank slipped her shoes off pretty quickly, her feet sore from the stiffness of her boots and she just started to unbutton her coveralls when she felt Bucky slide up behind her, fingers gliding along her arms and over her shoulders, lips dragging across her ear as he took over the buttons, the tall pilot all but purring her name into her ear. 

“I’m covered in powder,” Frank leaned fully into his arms, neck extending to give him some room to play, his mustache brushing along the side of her throat as he reached the last button on her jumpsuit. 

“Would you look at that,” he held out his arm for dramatic effect despite there being nothing there, “looks like I am too.”

Frank laughed and she stepped forward to let him drag the jumpsuit off her frame before he tossed it off to the side, making a mental note to clean that later before he turned his attention to her uniform. She felt her stomach flip when Bucky’s arms wrapped fully around her, squeezing her into his chest as they stood like that for several long seconds, gently swaying back and forth in the quiet hotel room. “Missed you,” Frank found herself admitting, despite having seen him the morning before. 

[prettylittlepsycho03]

Baby Harrington// Billy hargrove Prologue

So I’ve been reading @billysbabyy Mama!Hargrove One-shots, and it gave ma an idea, so here it is. Also I’m not trying to steal someone idea.

Note: Roxana is 15 going on 16, where Billy is 17 going 18, if this makes you upset then don’t read this. there is a mention of Panic attack and nightmares but nothing is really said. Also sorry to those who like Nancy.

Prologue:

The library was quiet that wednesday evening, Roxana found herself in the back of the building holding a copy of Alice in wonderland. Her red hair pulled back in a low ponytail, big round glasses sat on the tip of her nose, coveralls with disney's tiger were placed on the top front pocket, her sweater a rainbow of green, blue, red, and white in stripes. Dirty leather doc’s covered her feet, with striped socks bunched to them. Her walkman sat next to her, with a mixtape laid inside, playing ‘Roxanne’ by the police played in her ears. She tapped her foot along to the beat of the drums. She was so into her own world that she didn’t even hear her brother calling her name from the end of the books. “Roxana.” Steve spoke his sister’s name fist softly before using the nickname given to her by him. “Ana.” He said as he finally moved her headphone away from her ear. Looking up to find her brother smiling down at her, she smiled back at him, until her eyes caught Nancy with her arms crossed waiting. Roxana didn’t mind Nancy but something just didn’t sit right with her about the older teen. She sees the way her brother looks at her, Steve’s in love with her, but the way Nancy looks to him it’s missing from her eyes, she doesn't shine like her brothers. “Come on, bookworm. We got to go.” Steve broke Roxana out of her thoughts, moving her eyes back to her brother. She grabbed her bag, placing her notebook away, along with the Lisa Frank pencil pouch, grabbing the messenger bag that sat on the floor. Roxana followed Steve and Nancy out of the school to Steve’s BMW. Her hair that was pulled out of her ponytail or fall out from the day blew in the wind, the hair getting into her mouth, making her spit it back out. The track had switched to ‘Runaway’ by Bon Jovi, sitting in the back of the BMW, Roxana got back to her book, as Nancy and Steve talked. “Hey, Steve. I have a question.” NAncy spoke to Steve after seeing if his sister was listening, noticing she had her headphones over her ears. Steve took his eyes off the road for a second looking at Nancy, seeing her face of frowned eyebrows, and lips. “Ok, what's it.” Steve asked her, going back to the road. “Well, why do you have to drive Roxana around?” Nancy spoke with annecy, Steve looked into the mirror at his sister, seeing her twitch. “Well, ever since what went down last year, I’ve kept her close, and she doesn’t drive yet, Nanc. She’s only 15.” Steve said to her, as they pulled up to the Harrington house, Roxana smiling at her brother, she grabbed her stuff getting out of the car. Steve watched his sister walk up the stairs to the house. “But I mean does she have any friends, Steve. I want to spend time with my boyfriend alone.” Nancy whined as she looked at Steve with a pout on her face. Steve felt guilty towards Nancy for not being around as much. He looked to his house, ‘she’ll be fine.’, he thought. “Ok.” he said to Nancy, as he pulled back out of the driveaway, he didn’t notice Nancy’s face had a smile of ‘I win’. Roxanna watched her brother driveaway from the house, with a small frown. She knew that Nancy had guilt tripped him, for she had done it every once in a while. Once standing for a few seconds by the window, Roxana moved towards the kitchen. Her walkman still covered her ears as she moved about the kitchen, her music playing, and she began to dance a bit to the beat. Moving around the kitchen, she sang out in a loud voice, unaware of the little middle school kid standing at her kitchen doorway. As she turned around on a high note, she screamed as she came face to face with the curly headed boy. “Dustin, what the actual fucking hell.” she said as she placed a hand over her heart. Dustin looked at her with wide eyes, then smiled. “I came to see if Steve was home.” He said, Roxana looked at him then smiled small, she knew how Dustin looked up to Steve, as her older brother helped the young boy with getting a girl at the snowball. “Well, he is not home, he just left a bit ago with Nancy.” Dustin’s smile softened at the words from Roxana, he knew how she had been lately with her Panic attacks, nightmare. Her eyes looked haunted but she smiled everyday since last year. The rest of the day was spent with Dustin sitting doing their homework, and arguing about the best star wars character. For Roxana it is, of course, Princess Leia, where Dustin said it was Chewbacca. At about 6pm, Dustin had to head home, waving bye to the boy. Roxana found herself falling asleep on the couch in the living room. Steve came home to find his sister asleep, he placed a blanket over her body. Then making his way to bed himself.

[the-firebird69]

Just as a note stitch boats came about back in the day when our people are thinking we have to stitch each other together nowadays they use bone glue and body glue to glue people together or to glue your bones. So it's probably going to be a massive massive massive success and to have plans that are specific to the material would be more helpful right now I hear that are probably using wood and it's true it's not it's not really necessary and the panels go together with flexible channel and you run a member to the flexible channel and it solidifies it but we are starting to get ready for a lot of military activity now but all of these projects are one arms if necessary to hire people. There is one massive project I'm going to have them announce. Or we are she says. Yeah we it was me

Yeah we it was me

Hera Zues

We did mention it before but this is a major major project. Is to collect old hardware and there's a ton of it and in caverns too and it's unclaimed there's a whole bunch of it that trump abandoned and there's a few big ones he's going to abandon as everything is rotten and he doesn't have time to fix it and we're going to take it all and nobody else wants it it's new hardware too and it's halfway decent and we're going to upgrade things in retrofit this is a massive project we need people for right now if you have any mechanical training of any kind even such that our son has working on bicycles you are qualified and if you have any office experience you don't need to have factory experience any factory experience is very welcome any work with metal steel rubber electrical systems and things like that we need to as a priority and we need to sign on immediately we have a ton of the stuff we need an army of people immediately to come out of nowhere to do this work we are strapped. Sometimes we use robots but we need people to run them. Anyway if we do it automated it's only small place we need this stuff now. So we're urging people to sign on we have a lot of hardware we're collecting and these things are fun oshkosh is a terrific vehicle it's a design by our son and daughter and it leads towards our son and yeah he named it after the coveralls which are a staple for Americans and people now globally and it's a fun project because of that. And a lot of children will probably get into it and he wants to make a toy and he wants us to have the toy and have the coveralls and it means you're an engineer so really engineers wore those too and not just to train engineers and that's why they wore them is people like Thor and Freya and Frank Castle and Hardcastle Duke Duke and blockbuster would wear the coveralls working on the machines and doing designs and then they move the trains around eventually the people moving the trains wore them because they were handy. It's out of love when he says this and he likes the vehicles too but he wants us to have a lot of fun and our kids too and he says watch out for us kids we're going to get you working. True too I mean once kids to get up now and to start helping and they said We want the toy he says whatever you've got now and then we'll try and get that out there you might have Jeep or Humvee. Something like it and we're going to go ahead and do it and they're saying we're going to go ahead and get that Oscar's going. And we want to cover all the osh gosh

Olympus

I'm on this project right now I can't stand anymore it's it's too awesome. And me too and I'm fair this is way way over in Freya is the name.

Thor Freya

We're going ahead and doing this this sounds so cool here's one that looks like it and we're gonna take a look see if we can't see if it'll work or maybe make it work.

Lobo and proximal midnight

[renee-writer]

Arranged Chapter 8 The Pub

AO3

She enters and immediately sees him. He towers above the others when he stands at her entry. He meets her halfway across the crowded pub.

“Hi.” She softly says.

“Hey.” He is just as lovely as she remembers, lovelier with blue jeans and a button down shirt to replace his coveralls. “Would you like to sit at the bar or a table?”

“Table please.” He leads her to one a bit away from the others. After checking that it was clean, he pulls a chair out for her. “Thank you Jamie. You’ve better manners then Frank.”

He sits across from her shaking his head. “You’re welcome and your ex is a waste of testosterone.”

She laughs long and hard and he feels something break free deep in his heart. Oh! He grins and rests his head on his hands watching her. He realizes that he could watch her laugh everyday of his life. Christ is he in trouble. “Oh Jamie, that is wonderful!”

“I am glad I can amuse you.” He is still smiling like a fool.

The barmaid comes up to take their orders. Jamie looks to Claire. She frowns and looks to Jamie. “We always had wine. I don’t know.”

“Do you trust me?” She nods. She does. It is something instinctual, this trust. It is a bit scary. “Two whiskies cut. Thank you.” She nods and slips off.

“Thank you. This is all new to me.” Her hands twist nervously in front of her. His hands come out and land softly over hers.

“Relax Sassanach. I mean,” he blushes not meaning to call her that, aloud, “Claire. I will be happy to be your guide. I found an old man here that offered me the same when I first came.”

“That is good. I was kinda expecting this but..”

“There is no way to fully prepare for this.” He is still holding her hands and feels her twist hers up so they are palm to palm. He feels his pulse jumps as he takes what she is offering, linking them together.

“I am glad to be free of him. Of his indifference, his horrible attempt at sex, all that. But to know I will never be a mother.” She bites her lip just as the barmaid returns. She places the glasses down and walks away without a word. Jamie is to focused on her to notice.

“You need to mourn that loss. Then, start to slowly rebuild your life.”

“Is that what you did?”

“That is what I am doing.” She nods and frees one hand to reach for the drink. “Slowly.” He advises. She takes a sip and makes the funniest face. He giggles as he picks up his own glass. “you will get used to it.” She takes a slightly larger sip and shudders as it hits her wame.

“It helps, eh?” He nods.

“In the forgetting. For awhile.”

“Is that why it is so crowded?”

“Aye. Most people come here or somewhere else like it after work each day.” He frowns at her face gets white. “Claire, what is it?”

“Work. I need to find.. I’ve only been a daughter then wife. Never..”

“Dinna fash.” At her blank look, he adds, “sorry. It means don’t worry. I will help you. They are hiring where I work.” He looks her up and down. *Your strong?”

“Physically? Yes.”

“In all ways, I would bet. Where did they assign you housing at?”

“Off High street.” He hisses. “What?”

“Not to scare you but it isn’t a safe place.”

“Oh God!”

“I will see about getting you hired where I am and then, when you are working, see if I can get you moved to my book of flats. In the meantime, I will keep you safe, I promise.”

“Thank you again. I am not sure what I would have done without you.”

“You would have been fine. You are stronger then you know.” She smiles and squeezes his hand “Shall we get some food to cut the alcohol?”

“Yes.”

[thetyborg]

Family Portrait by fuckinggallagher

Ian Gallagher is the eldest of the six siblings residing at 2119 South Wallace street and he’s been trying his hardest to care for and protect his younger siblings for as long as he can remember. But, when the state tries to take his kids away (after Frank’s latest scam lands them in trouble) Ian must fight to bring them home with the unexpected help of a gorgeous brunet in blue coveralls

For the bigbang I worked with @seblainersboners and did this piece of fanart for her very lovely fic Family Portrait.

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales Reviews: The Trickening!

Halloween Havoc continues! Louie’s greed and lack of concern for his brother’s feelings or well thought out schedule leads them to a real life haunted house with vampire clowns, dummies, a scary well lady and a gelatinous cube. Because there’s’es always room for gelatinous cube. Meanwhile Della wants to use Launchpad’s dangerous misconceptions about halloween to traumatize children for funzies and Donald had a problem with that for some reason. Also Scrooge is kind of an asshole on Halloween it turns out. No one is suprised. Ghosts, goblins, and full review with spoilers under the cut. 

Happy halloween month everybody! Halloween Havoc, aka my spate of halloween reviews continues as I roll into my first actual halloween episode review of the season! Yeah weird but so far we’ve covered demons getting exorcisims, little girls thinking they can raise the dead, and a horrifying plauge guided by the human incarnation of all that is evil, but not the actual holliday itself. Weird ain’t it? Well that changes with this so as always pitter patter. 

It’s HALLOWEEN here in duckberg, and the mansion kids are planning Trick or Treating. Natural given Huey’s OCD, he has everything planned out a and naturally the kids all have unique and adorable costumes. Huey is gizmoduck, though with a GK instead of  GD, a nice nod to “New Gizmokids on the BLock’ From the original series, an episode I haven’t seen but have heard of so theres that. It’s also because he likely wants to be Fenton’s kid sidekick which.. yeah please do that show. It’d be so fucking adorable. Plus Huey needs to be happy for once without having to go through a gauntlet of misery first. Let my boy be happy. +

Anyways Dewey’s is rather disapointing as it’s a “pirate on vacation” which while hilarious and very dewey, is kind of an anti-climax after months of speculation. Webby is some kind of ancient demon king as apparently in the duckverse the origins of halloween are based on appeasing various monsters, and this is so she can hide from them effectively. And Louie.. is Huey. Which means putting on Huey’s hat and a terribly insulting impression of him. 

Meanwhile Donald and Della are an angel and a devil, with, which I didn’t realize until a tumblr post, Della’s costume being the one one of the boys wore in the classic disney trick or treat short. So that’s a nice nod. Donald wants to nicely give out candy while Della wants to terrify the children. Both end up disapointed as Scrooge instead boots everyone from the house and locks the mansion gates, as he doesn’t like giving out handouts which.. yeah that tracks. 

As it turns out Scrooge also has his own plans.. which are gloriously ludicrous, sounding like something Glomgold would do: He’s going to go trick or treating himself, as when he was a boy, this was the one time of year a poor lad like him could get treats and he worked his tail off to do so and wants to prove he’s still got it. And as we see later SOMEHOW he still gets candy. It’s like if THIS was actually sucessful. 

I would genuinely not be suprised if Scrooge too hadn’t tried to get an oil well from an elementary school this way. As for leaving candy out he leaves out an empty take one bowl which is as clever as it is douchey. So in other words Scrooge in a nutshell. So with handing out treats and scares at the house a non-option, Della and Donald go to see what Launchpad’s doing since Beakly.. is.. I have no fucking idea. NO I really don’t, she shows up for the ending, but before that? If they mentioned where she was I clearly missed it because she’s just.. missing for most of the episode and given every other member of the main cast is accounted for this episode, it’s VERY noticable. Give her more to do dangit!

So yeah we get our two plots, which i’ll cover seperately, then cover the ending where they dovetail together. Kay? Kay. 

The Kid’s Plot centers around Huey and Louie.. specifically Louie wanting to go to a real life haunted house while Huey, as mentinoed has heavily established plans for their night. As for why Louie would go into danger, well as usual for when he does that theirs something in it for him: Rumor has it no kid has ever made it out with their candy.. thus leaving decades worth of candy just waiting to be nabbed and thus never having to trick or treat again. One big score for a payoff.. which didn’t make a lot of sense on first thought and my best guest is whatever preservative Gyro used for Oxy Chew, since it was still edible decades later, was probably spread to other candies since there’s no way in hell Scrooge would pass up a zillion dollar invention like that. Either way works.  Huey is outvoted as Dewey naturally wants the excitment and Webby wants to see if her demon costume works on actual demons. However things quicklky go wrong as they ecoounter a dewey dummy and a killer dummy, as well as a monster clown and a gelatonous cube, which yes. I may not play DnD but I love these things. 

The kids escape the house by accident while tryign to escape and Louie, still being a dick about things, finds out Huey DID know abotu the stash btu avoided it and Louie lays into Huey.. a bit much honestly, feeling he was agaisnt it purely because it wasn’t on schedule.. when you know, Louie could’ve asked to put it on schedule or actually given a damn about this, especially since Huey’s planned their trick or treats EVERY YEAR, so he’s had a full year to ask for this insane idea, or even the short time he’s known about it if shorter. Sure huey might of sputtered a bit, but Louie knows his other siblings, Webby and Dewey could convince him to loosen up and include the house. Louie’s just being kind fo a selfish dick here.. however i’ts not so overwhelming as to overpower the episode, as he has been before and while he should know better about risking his family’s lives after “Timephoon!” it is in character for him to protiize a big score like this over other people’s feelings and it’s not even the first time this season he’s done that. So fair enough. 

But we soon get the second best reveal of the episode: As the kids are backed into a corner by monsters.. they grumble theres no candy and it turns out the monsters.. ARE REAL.. but their traditional monsters like frankenstein, dracula, and the bride of frankenstein, just dressed up like this to scare kids. As it turns out the WHOLE THING is an elaborate yearly scooby doo hoax to get kids candy, with the brilliant twist it’s done by actual monsters> As the vampire points out they can’t exactly shop during the day.. or he can’t at least, so this is how they get candy for the year.. at tribute if you will. Also the Gelationous Cube gets a nice hat as you see above. It’s a REALLY clever twist and I absolutely love it. I DID NOT see it coming and even with some spoiler screenshots I thankfully did not have it spoiled for me. REALLY good stuff. 

As for why Huey’s been so obessed with his planning.. it’s actually really clever and really good character stuff: Huey simply got really into it because back when they were with donald this WAS their adventure for the year: the one time he let them cut loose and have fun, and he got a real kick out of it.. and Louie getting candy for life kind of destroys that. And that’s why Louie still works here.. because he instnatly realizes from this that was the problem and apologizes in his own way. It’s a nice bit of character from both: We’ve rarely had their pre-mansion lives factor in and it’s nice to see it for a change, and it’s nice to see Louie isn’t all dick, just like 20% dick. Unforutnately having no candy dosen’t appease the monsters who are pissed and descend on the kids.. until.. well for the until we have to back up a bit.  So onto the adult plot we go! Della and Donald go to Launchpad whose dressed in a jason mask and ash williams/jason coveralls, weilding a power sander and having barricaded his place. After he scares some children, a bit too much, and Della and Donald are reallyd amn confused, he explains.. and we get the best reveal of the episode.. which given the above is saying something but it’s clear like the “blath” gag in “Astro BOYD” and the non-anthro ducks gag last week, this is one of those things Frank has been keeping under his hat all series.  So as a boy Launchpad crashed his tryke into the mansion, ran into the monsters after reading off a candy wrapper.. and now assumes he unleashed a horde of monsters onto the world every halloween.. and tha’ts what he assumes the trick or treaters are. I just .. dont’ have a lto of words. This is pure comedy gold and easily the best gag of the episode and oen fo the best of the series. It’s clever, fresh, and really fits the character. Naturally Della wants to exploit this to terrify children ebcause she has underlying issues to adress while Donald tries to stop her. Thankfully before Della can get launchpad to scar children for life, Scrooge shows up and fights launchpad.. it’s part of why I also find scrooge’s dickery acceptable as launchpad beats the shit out of him.. it’s still an even fight, as not to suspend disbelief, but Scrooge still looses. I mean he gets out of being trapped in his candy bag easily because scrooge btu still, props to launchpad. So Launchpad decides to go face his fears and Donald and Della decide to stop him before he doesd a muder on a child.  Which leads to an AMAZING climax as Launchpad scooby doo chases the scared monsters around as they have no idea what the fuck’s going on and hte monsters end up really enjoying his scar eof htem and bowing to the master. It’s a good way to end it. After Della explains what’s going on, Louie and Huey decide to explain halloween to Launchpad by taking him to the once house he hasn’t been: the Manor. Scrogoe has finally opened it up, with a line of kids no less, the monsters bond with some kids in line. As for why.. as Webby sadly figures out Scrooge is charging admission, thakns to dewey who thought an all night candy store was a good idea which.. yeah it is. So everyone gets a happye ending and the monsters hang a photo of hte night up in the mansion. A really sweet ending, pun uintended but eh it’s welcome. 

Final Thoughts.  Easily one fo the series best. While the characters are a bit exagerated in places, i.e. della, launchpad , scrooge and louie, it works for the plot well enough and the jokes well enough to make it okay. My only real complaint is a lack of even a cameo from Lena and Violet, as it feels weird to not even have htem in the ending, much less trick or treating with their friends. It just feels odd and could’ve used a throaway line. I get WHY not , as Lena even pre-blue would’ve destoryed the tension with the monsters, but it still feeels really weird to not have them. But it’s a minor quibble in an otherwise REALLY funny and creative episode and a fun halloween treat to revist every year from now on. Really good work.  That does it for this week. For more halloween treats, follow this blog throughout october. So far i’ve done reviews of Demonicsim from Star Vs The Forces of Evil for Tomtober, Croaked, the Casagrandes day of the dead Special and the first of Marvel’s mini-series adapting Stephen’ King’s epic novel The Stand. And until next monday, or sooner if you decide to check any of that out, happy halloween!

[ao3feed-gallavich]

Family Portrait

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2Bihd3Y

by fuckinggallagher

Ian Gallagher is the eldest of the six siblings residing at 2119 South Wallace street and he's been trying his hardest to care for and protect his younger siblings for as long as he can remember. But, when the state tries to take his kids away -after Frank’s latest scam lands them in trouble- Ian must fight to bring them home with the unexpected help of a gorgeous brunet in blue coveralls. (This is my entry for Round 9 of the Shameless Big Bang! With art by @thetborch on Tumblr)

Words: 28631, Chapters: 24/24, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother.

Fandoms: Shameless (US)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Mickey Milkovich, Ian Gallagher, Lip Gallagher, Fiona Gallagher, Carl Gallagher, Debbie Gallagher, Liam Gallagher (Shameless US), Frank Gallagher, Linda Karib, Brittany Sturgess, Mandy Milkovich (Mentioned), Terry Milkovich (Mentioned), Milkovich Siblings (Mentioned) - Character, Aunt Rande (Mentioned)

Relationships: Ian Gallagher & Mickey Milkovich, Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich

Additional Tags: Fluff, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boys In Love, Gallavich, Shameless Big Bang, shameless big bang round 9, oldest sibling ian, ian is the oldest gallagher, ian and fiona switch places, Smut, Canon Typical Violence, Mutual Pining, Ian Gallagher Loves Mickey Milkovich, Mickey Milkovich Loves Ian Gallagher, Domestic Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Mechanic Mickey Milkovich, Stripper Ian Gallagher, Fabricator Mickey Milkovich, Cascading Failures rewrite, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, The Sins of My Caretaker rewrite, i dont know what im doing with tags, Past Rape/Non-con, mentions of canon rape/non-con, Canon-typical language, aka they swear a lot, POV Ian Gallagher, Bipolar Ian Gallagher, Panic Attacks

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2Bihd3Y

[frnkiebby]

coverall frnkie for the coverall whores~🎃

[papermoonloveslucy]

THE BIG GAME

S6;E2 ~ September 17, 1973

Directed by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Robert O'Brien

Synopsis

Football great O.J. Simpson speaks at Harry's Chamber of Commerce luncheon and passes on a couple of free passes to a sold out game.  At first, Harry sells the tickets for a nifty profit, but then has to buy them back when he discovers that Simpson's wife will be there. When she cancels, Simpson gives Harry her tickets, which he tries to scalp outside the stadium.  

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carter), Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter)

Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter) does not appear in this episode, nor does she receive screen credit. The character will not return to the series until the fourth episode of season six. Despite her absence, the final credits do state “Lucie Arnaz Wardrobe by Alroe.”

Guest Cast

O.J. Simpson (Himself) was born Orenthal James Simpson in 1947.  An alumni of the University of Southern California and winner of the Heisman Trophy, he is is former NFL running back for the Buffalo Bills (1969-77) and the San Francisco 49'ers (1977-78). Simpson parlayed his success on the gridiron into a career as an announcer and actor. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. Once a popular figure with the  public, he is most well known today for his trial and acquittal for the murders of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. In 2007, Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, and charged with the felonies of armed robbery and kidnapping.  He was convicted and sentenced to 33 years imprisonment, but granted parole on July 20, 2017. 

Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane) played Betty Ramsey during season six of “I Love Lucy. ” She also played Cynthia Harcourt in “Lucy is Envious” (ILL S3;E23) and Evelyn Bigsby in “Return Home from Europe” (ILL S5;E26). She played Audrey Simmons on “The Lucy Show” but when Lucy Carmichael moved to California, she played Mary Jane Lewis, the actor’s married name and the same one she uses on all 31 of her episodes of “Here’s Lucy. Her final acting credit was playing Midge Bowser on “Lucy Calls the President” (1977). She died in 1999 at the age of 83.

James E. Brodhead (Tilford) makes his third screen appearance in a career that lasted until 1995.  He will appear on one more episode of “Here's Lucy.”

Tilford and Harry are friends and neighbors who play golf together. 

Sid Gould (Man at Luncheon) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show” and nearly as many on “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton.  

Gould is in the audience of the Chamber Luncheon but has his back to the camera and has no lines. 

Tom Kelly (Himself, Sportscaster) first called play-by-play of college football and men's basketball games in 1961. He did so on radio from 1961 to 1988, then on TV from 1989 until 2003. He described the action of five USC national championship football teams, five Heisman Trophy winners, and 92 first team All-American footballers. Kelly will do one more episode of “Here's Lucy.”

Cliff Norton (Billy Ray, left) played Sam the Plumber in “Lucy Meets the Burtons” (S3;E1) whose coveralls were later worn by an incognito Richard Burton and turn up when Lucy is packing up the office in “Lucy and Harry's Memoirs” (S5;E24). This is the second of his three appearances on the series. Al Checco (Bobby Joe, above right) was previously the comedy partner of Don Knotts entertaining US troops stationed overseas. This is the first of his two appearances on the series.

Billy Ray and Bobby Joe are undercover detectives pretending to be Sooner fans from Oklahoma.

Frank Coghlin (Fan #1) has only one other screen credit (according to IMDB) – a 1984 episode of “Newhart.”  

Robert Foulk (Fan #2) played the policeman on the Brooklyn subway platform in “Lucy and the Loving Cup” (ILL S6;E12) and a Los Angeles Detective in “Lucy Goes To A Hollywood Premiere” (TLS S4;E20).  This is last of his six characters on “Here’s Lucy.”

Jerry Jones (Policeman) founded the Chicago-based theatre company Actors of America until the summer of 1968 when he abruptly moved to Hollywood. Prior to this he played a policeman on “The Doris Day Show” and “The Brady Bunch.” This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.  

Eugene Molnar (Student Usher) makes the last of his four appearances on “Here's Lucy.” The series was his only screen credit.

Sig Frohlich (Vendor, uncredited) makes this final (of six) background appearance on the series. Eddie Garrett (Fan, uncredited) is probably best remembered for playing Ed, the crime photographer on “Quincy M.E.” from 1976 to 1983.  He will do one more episode of “Here's Lucy.”

Robert Hitchcock (Fan, uncredited) was seen in in one episode of “The Lucy Show.” This is the fifth of his six appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

Walter Smith (Fan, uncredited)  made 14 mostly uncredited appearances on the series. He also did one episode of “The Lucy Show.”  

Other attendees at the luncheon and other fans at the stadium are played by uncredited background performers.

This script was submitted on July 3, 1973.  The day before Betty Grable, one of Hollywood's biggest stars, died. Grable and Lucille Ball appeared in three films together.  Grable also appeared with husband Harry James in “Lucy Wins a Racehorse” in 1958.  

The script was revised on July 10, 16 and 17, 1973.  

Ironically, “Here's Lucy” was aired opposite “Monday Night Football” on ABC. Fortunately for Simpson and his fans, the evening of September 17, 1973 the game was between the Green Bay Packers and the New York Jets. The day before, Simpson and the Buffalo Bills won against the New England Patriots. Simpson rushed for 250 yards on 29 carries, setting a new NFL single-game rushing record.  The 1973-74 season would be a banner year for Simpson.  

In 1973 a film titled The Big Game was released starring Stephen Boyd and Ray Milland.  It had nothing to do with football or any other ball game.  

In the DVD introduction to the episode, James E. Brodhead (Tilford) recalls that O.J. Simpson was very deferential and in awe of the other actors.  

To get into the spirit of the occasion, Mary Jane brags she is wearing her Tommy Trojan pendant. The University of Southern California (USC) was known as 'The Trojans' and was represented by the profile of a Trojan warrior wearing a helmet. It was emblazoned on a variety of items, from apparel to jewelry to show school spirit. Unfortunately, the reference might be lost on those not from Southern California as well as those who do not follow sports.

Mary Jane and Lucy ponder who will win the big game between the USC 'Trojans' and the University of Oklahoma 'Sooners', the #1 and #2 college teams in the country. USC did indeed play a home game against the OU on September 29, 1973. On the luncheon dais, Harry says that O.J. will be in the booth with sportscaster Tom Kelly on Saturday.  This likely means the episode (filmed in the summer) was probably targeted to air on Monday, September 24 but was moved up a week.  Mary Jane thinks that USC will prevail, but in actuality, it turned out to be a rare tie score!

Mary Jane says she learned a lot about football because of her crush on Howard Cosell. Howard Cosell (1918-95) was one of television's most famous and enigmatic sportscasters. He was nominated for an Emmy in 1974. Cosell appeared with Lucille Ball on two “Bob Hope Birthday” specials in 1978 and 1983.  

When Harry notices Lucy has spelled 'Commerce' with only one 'M' she says they ran out of 'M's' because her girlfriend needed them for the Marymount Mother of the Month membership meeting.  

It is usually Gale Gordon who ends up all wet on “Here's Lucy” but here, O.J. Simpson gets the honors when a decorative football falls into the punch bowl in front of him.

Simpson mentions his wife Marguerite. Marguerite L. Whitley and Simpson divorced in 1979. Simpson shows Lucy a photo of his 5 year-old daughter, who he says is in a dance recital.  Although she is not mentioned by name, he is referring to their firstborn, Arnelle.  

The face value of the tickets that Simpson gives Harry and Lucy (on the 50 yard line, Row 22) are $6.50 each.  But Tilford says they are worth more than that and buys them from Harry for $50. When Harry finds out that Simpson's wife will be seated next to them, he buys them back for $100.  

When Mrs. Simpson must cancel, O.J. gives Harry her pair of tickets as well.  To recoup his losses, Harry tries to sell them outside the stadium and is arrested for scalping!  The exterior scene of the ticket gates and the refreshment stand is supposed to represent Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but the venue's name is never mentioned.

Outside the stadium, Billy Ray and Bobby Joe enter singing “Oklahoma!” the title song from the 1943 musical and 1954 film by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. They are apparently out-of-towners there to route for the away team, the Oklahoma Sooners.  In “Lucy Tells the Truth” (ILL S3;E6) Lucy Ricardo claimed to have been in Oklahoma, but it turns out she meant Tulsa, not the Broadway musical!  

In his holding cell, Harry hears O.J. mention his name on the radio and breaks into a spirited rendition of “Fight On!” the USC fight song. It was composed in 1922 by USC dental student Milo Sweet with lyrics by Sweet and Glen Grant.  

Another professional football player turned celebrity actor guest starred on “Here's Lucy” in “Lucy and Joe Namath” (S5;E5) in 1972.  

Lucy, Harry and Mary Jane also staged an event for the Chamber of Commerce in “Lucy and Jim Bailey” (S5;E9). Harry is president of the Chamber in both episodes.  

Brand X! The brand name of Lucy's manual typewriter has been covered with blue tape. At the stadium snack bar, the menu board features the red Coca-Cola logo (the dynamic ribbon) but the actual product name is covered in red tape.  

Props! Although Lucy is clever to turn a 'W' upside down to be an extra 'M' to spell 'Commerce', there is no reason why the hanging letters would have hooks on the bottom of the 'W'.  The close-up reveals that it is the only letter to have hooks on both ends.  

“The Big Game” Rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5

Yes, it is O.J.  It’s hard to watch this episode without thinking of the horrific murders in 1994 and all that followed.  The plot of this episode is actually quite clever - and is unusually styled around a real-life, much-anticipated event.  I’m sure no one at the time thought the game would end in a tie!   

[janeykath318]

Farm girl: Kirk/Reader

“Darn it!” You hissed, narrowly resisting the urge to kick the tire of the stubborn tractor that had broken down again in the middle of planting. With the forecast, you had a narrow window of time to get the corn in before the rain made it too wet. The old Oliver had been a reliable machine for decades, but it was clearly nearing the end of the line. You should probably have scrapped it by now, but you knew it inside and out and it was a family heirloom.

Your brother had the other tractor out putting in the soybeans, so you’d have to stop until the Oliver could be fixed. Pulling out your cell phone, you dialed Scotty, who owned the local farm implement repair business. He was a genius.

“Hey, Scotty, can you come out and take a look at Ollie? I’m afraid he’s messed up his fuel line again.”

“Oh, dear. And you’re right in the middle of planting, too,” Scotty replied. “I’m afraid I’m rather swamped right now, but I can send one of my employees out.”

“As long as it isn’t Cupcake,” you put in. “He’s annoying.”

“Right. Will do. Did you get it back to the shed?”

“Had to tow it with the pickup,” you said. “Wasn’t going to risk an explosion.”

“Good. Well, I’ll have one of the lads out there in an hour or so.”

“Thanks, Scotty,” you sighed and hung up. It was going to be a long hour, so you texted your brother, Mike, about the break down and went inside to get a drink.

Sure enough, fifty minutes later, a truck pulled up your lane, bearing the logo of Scotty’s shop. You went outside to meet the mechanic when he emerged, stopping when you recognized the face under the red baseball cap.

“I don’t believe it,” you muttered.

It was your nemesis, James T. Kirk wearing the grey coveralls and holding out a grease-stained hand. He’d stolen your crown as champion of the county tractor pull and then had the gall to ask you out!!

“So we meet again, Ms. Y/L/N,” the man purred. You gritted your teeth. Jim Kirk was a thorn in your side, the bane of your existence, the fly in the ointment, the irritating lady-killer, the far too handsome scoundrel.

“Unfortunately,” you remarked. “Tractor’s this way.”

You led him to the shop and he seemed impressed.

“Nice place,” he said. “You and Mike keep a tidy shop.”

“Have to. Otherwise it’s a nightmare to find anything in this place.”

You waved him over to the tractor brusquely, annoyed that he’d complimented you for some reason. He was firmly marked in the total douche category and nothing could change that.

“So you’re still mad at me, I get it. But I don’t get why.” He shrugged and grabbed his tools and began tinkering.

“You outright humiliate me, swagger obnoxiously about it, then have the gall to ask me out, that’s why!!” You burst forth, months of pent-up frustration boiling over.

Jim’s head popped up for a second and he looked at you with a confused expression. Why was the man so clueless?

“Humiliate you? I only won by eight inches! I really wasn’t trying to embarrass you at all. Perhaps the asking out was rather poorly timed, but I was pretty dazzled by you. I celebrated because I never really thought I’d win in the first place. If it was too much, I’m sorry, Y/N.”

Your mouth opened and shut several times as you struggled to process what he’d just said. Jim had been dazzled by you? Was he telling the truth? All your preconceived notions about him screamed at you it couldn’t be true.

For awhile, there was only silence except for the clanking of tools and Jim’s occasional grunts as he worked.

Then you reluctantly questioned him, “What do you mean you’re dazzled by me?”

“Just what I said. I’ve crushed on you for years.”

“So that was why you’ve been so annoying?” You pressed him, but not with any real rancor.

Jim gave a sheepish smile from underneath Ollie.

“Yeah. I’m really awkward with women–especially the ones I like.”

You put your hands on your hips, an amused grin playing on your face and confusion swirling in your head. Why did you feel a touch of happiness at Jim’s admittance? You hated him, after all! In addition to the irritating behavior, He’d inherited a huge farm and had plenty of money to keep up with the latest and greatest technology, while you and your brother scratched and clawed and worked your tails off to stay in the black. Winning the tractor pulls with older, less souped up equipment had been a source of pride for you and losing to Jim had stung for many reasons.

“Your reputation with the ladies begs to differ. I heard from so many people about how smooth you are, it kinda turned me off.”

“Oh,” Jim said in a small voice. “I admit I got around a bit in my younger days, but with the farm and working part-time for Scotty, I don’t have the time or desire. Besides, I was scared of your dad.”

You grinned affectionately, thinking of your late father, who’d taught you the ways of the farm and given you the love of the land as well as Ollie. He was known to joke around about methods of scaring off young men and apparently Jim had taken it too seriously.

“You, scared?” You said in a shocked tone.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I had a lot of respect for that man, too. I knew You were too good for me, so I kept my distance.”

“That’s interesting, given that you’re the one that comes from money,” you commented, softening a bit. He wasn’t nearly as arrogant as you’d thought from afar.

“Maybe, but I’d much prefer a family. It’s just been Sam and I for a long time. Believe it or not, I envied you.”

Jim’s frankness made your former resentment seem absurd and you blushed at yourself. So, having money made some things easier, but didn’t make everything holly-jolly.

“I was really lucky in the parent department,” you admitted, then changed the topic away from personal things. “So, is Ollie going to be okay? I’m really counting on him.”

Jim wiped his hand off with a rag and nodded. “Yep, he’ll be as good as new when I’m done with him.”

“That’s good to hear. I’d hate to have to borrow from Pete Jorgensen. He has only John Deeres and it’s like blasphemy to let one of those on our property.”

Jim burst out laughing. Brand loyalty and tractor snobbery were common in the area farms, and you were no exception. Not that you had problems with Pete for owning that brand, but you wouldn’t use one yourself unless it was the last tractor on earth.

“Understood. How much you planting this year?”

“Fifty acres of corn, twenty acres of beans,” you replied. “I can only imagine how much you’re doing.”

“It’s a lot,” Jim admitted. “But we’ve got a couple of hired hands that help out in the busy season. I only work here part time, otherwise it would be impossible to juggle the planting schedule.”

“Hard worker. I like that.”

“If it’s one reputation I don’t want, it’s the privileged rich kid who doesn’t do anything,” Jim said earnestly, blue eyes meeting yours.

“Even I know that last part’s never been true. Mike said you and Sam brought that farm back from the brink of bankruptcy. I refused to believe him back then, of course, but evidence since suggests otherwise. Ugh, I’d better stop complementing you before my brain shuts down from the strain.”

You sighed and rubbed your forehead, feigning mental pain. Jim chuckled again.

“No need to do that, Y/N. It was good to clear the air. Ollie’s patched up now and ready to get back to work. You’ve done amazing things with this ole machine. I was really impressed with your pulls. Takes serious skill to coax it to yank that weighted sled 290 feet.”

“Thank you, Jim,” you said, animosity completely gone. Most of the resentment had come from hurt pride and stubbornness, you realized. The other was because he was way too handsome to be a farm boy.

“What do I owe you?” You asked as he packed up. “Be honest.”

Jim scrunched his eyes up as he straightened to his full height and thought for a bit. (What a nicely shaped jaw he had.) Finally he named a very reasonable price for the labor and you dashed inside to get the cash. When you came out, Jim’s hat was gone and he had a business card in his hand.

“Thanks, Y/N. Scotty will be glad to know it was a quick fix. By the way,” he said, sliding his card into your hand, “if you ever change your mind about that date, let me know. I still think you’re the prettiest farm girl in all Iowa.”

With a wink, he said goodbye and was off down the drive, leaving you staring after him and clutching the card, upon which was written his personal phone number.

“The Boy’s persistent, I’ll give him that much.” You muttered, smiling to yourself. “Maybe I’ll take him up on that.”

[kapitanwingter]

Chapter 4 - Rustbucket

"Whaaat now...." I said still half asleep "Just five more minutes...stop with the ringing already...."

In the end I did punched the clock so it would stop ringing.

Then I looked at it. And shouted.

"ÉDES FASZOM I'M LATE"

I still can't describe the situation better than I did back then. Having said screw you to breakfast I jumped into my uniform grabbed a pen and the notebook closest to me and rushed towards the school building.

I saw nobody walking towards it so I panicked and started running even faster. In the end I arrived at the gate by seven-fifty-four.

"My my what brings you here miss I-will-almost-skip-school-today" said the morale committee girl at the gate "Guess this is your lucky day already, carry on Hungary-san"

"Thanks a lot" I said "Annoyance-san.."

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" she shouted after me.

"I SAID KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK" I replied

"That's not what you..."

"SORRYCANTHEARCHA" I said as I slammed the main door behind me.

I swore to myself I would never be late again. That brunette half-pint midget was really creepy.

First lesson was math for which I had enough energy first time in my life since I literally ran a kilometer fourty seconds after I had woken up. Math is the subject I love and hate the same time equally. It's interesting....most of the times....when I understand it. Not to mention I'll need it if I ever want to be an engineer just like Dad. Of course I can e-mail him and he always helps me but honestly this is the case when you either figure the things out for yourself or you will never understand it.

After math it was history.

Then Japanese, which is currently the most troublesome for me. Why you might ask? I'm not a native though I must learn literature and culture during these lessons. Interesting but rather hard though not necessarily useless for me.

As for fourth period I sat through an English lesson the very same way I did it back home. I know everything there is to me, not to mention the level I studied before was higher. They focus on foreign languages in this country but they are not really good at them. I guess it's only natural so understandable.

Nothing really happened during this time. I talked to some classmates between lessons and the teachers didn't tease me much and it's not hard to figure out why.

Lunchtime.

I didn't take my time today, I went to the dining hall and on the way I ran into Saki. They were writing some kind of welcome-back test because their math teacher is like that. She finished early while the others are still struggling with it.

"I mean I know that woman but still...it is getting closer to the last drop" she said.

"Sounds like you didn't do very well" I replied.

"Nah, I wouldn't say it was easy but as my Mom always says I shouldn't try to deal with things I can't so I left some things unanswered. Like two out of ten. Anyways let's eat something"

"Yeah"

I just pushed a random button on the vendor however Saki took her time to figure out what she wanted to eat. You could naturally bring a bento but we are not in the situation where any of our moms could make us lunch. We sat down at a table in front of each other with two seats to spare. I was looking out the huge windows of which we sat next to while reacting and answering to Saki's monolgue about waterpolo. I don't dislike the sport I just don't like it very much though my Dad does it when he has time and my country is strong in it.

Some time later two of Saki's classmates came by.

"Good day Tamara"

"Good day Kaga" I replied "Please, do sit if you want.

"Much obliged" she said "This is Nashikawa Kanae, our classmate"

She was a bit shorter than me, had a ton of bracelet on her arms and a necklace. She also had middle sized black hair and a very overconfident look on her face.

"Howdy" said Kanae "Finally met you, nice to meat'cha! Call me Kan"

"Likewise" I said "You can call me Tam or Tami"

"Sooooouh..." said Kan "Heard you might consider taking up sensha-dou, huh?"

"News sure spread fast"

"Or Saki over here just approoves of you a lot"

 Saki blushed a bit.

"Don't you worry a bit!" she continued "I will teach you everything I know...if you can keep up that is"

"You're going overboard again, Kanae" said Kaga.

"Oh right like you can teach her everything miss I-shot-through-the-garage-on-my-first-day-chan"

"Which never happened again because I read the manuals after and had no problems ever since" said Kaga calmly

"Waitasec" I said "You are doing sensha-dou as well?"

"Your deduction capabilities are sparkling today" she said.

"At least you know what a tank is, right?" asked Kan

I grined with half of my face while cracking my fists under the table and explained to her how well I "know what a tank is, right".

Kaga and Saki were eating their food calmly as Kan there next to me went a bit pale.

"I hope I didn't say anything bad" I said

"Not to us" said Kaga.

"I had no idea you are already such a pro miss Tami" said Saki.

"I guess Kan-chan here can't play the big-bad senpai role with you" said Kaga.

"You actually shot an 88....?" said in the end Kan.

"Yes" I replied

"That. Is. AWESOME" she bursted out in the end "I've always wanted to shoot the big guns but goddamn I'm-the-boss-here Captain said 'Only after you had released all the energy inside of you'...."

"This Captain you are speaking of sounds rather bossy..."

"I would rather put it like" said Kaga "She doesn't approove of hasty decisions near a tank. Otherwise she is very confident and energetic...well...not as much as Kan-chan here"

"Oh don't you start it again..." said Kan.

"Starting what?"

"Nevermind..."

After talking to Kan for a little while I thought she really was good in heart. Just a bittle over-enthusiastic.

Lunch time was over. I headed back for another Japanese, biology and domestic-appliances class.

I was told to meet with with the sensha-dou team at their club-house, next to the big buildings I saw the other day. I looked in the dusty window and I could see a few people there as if they were waiting. I was ten minutes early of the de-briefing. I stepped in.

"Hi there" said the girl up front who came to greet me.

"Good day" I replied "Is this the..sensha-dou clubhouse?"

"If you want to call it that" replied the previous tall girl with long brown hair "But we prefer calling it HQ. I'm Eguchi Emese by the way but the others call me Cap for Százados"

She was wearing what seemed to me the tank uniform of this school. A dark olive colured coverall with a belt but she didn't wear the top half so her undershirt was visible. There was also an M39 Hungarian tanker hat on the table up from which I assumed it was hers.

"Ötvös Tamara, nice to meet you"

"Whoa whoa whoa wait you're the Hungarian girl? Seriously? Awesome. My ancestors are from there"

"Well you do have a Hungarian name"

"So. Ya into sensha-dou huh? So six new poeple gathered here this year so far - less than expected - but I hope more will come. We need to resupply our personnels after the ones finished here went away. I guess we can start the de-briefing, nobody else seems to be coming"

We took seats in that little treehouse. It really was a de-briefing hall. A projector on the roof, blackboard and whiteboard on the wall, maps, manuals and other kinds of information documents were everywhere with some desks where you could work and do some paperwork. There even was a long-range communications table with a morse-emitter.

"So" started Cap "Six of you are here now. This couldn't be more perfect! Welcome all to Árpád Girls' School's sensha-dou team. If you wish to go the door is there and nobody will ever hold you back but if you wish to stay...you will contribute to the thing this school is best at in rivalry with waterpolo. Sadly from year to year our numbers are decreasing but we are about to change that. All we have to do is show some progress which; We; Will"

She said this while walking left and right up in front.

"Right now with you guys we are able to man twenty-nine tanks, but for the upcoming battles we need thirty. With your addition to the batallion we grew stronger. From now on it's all up to you to show us how stronger. I think it's only fair to let you know what you need to deal with so here are our numbers: we have fifty tanks total - 2 Tigers, 2 Panthers, 5 Panzer 4s, 8 38M Told Is, 8 43M Toldi IIs, 4 Zrínyi with 105mm guns and 4 with 75mm guns, 8 40M Turán I, 8 41m Turán II and a 44M Tas"

"Waitasec" I said suddenly "I mean excuse me. We seriously have a Tas?"

"Yeah, any notice on that?" asked Cap.

"No...just...cool...only one was built" I said.

"And you can feast your eyes upon her later" said Cap with a grin on her face which seemingly she couldn't surpress "All right girls I'm gonna be frank with you, that is all the information you need, the rest you have to learn so here comes the top point of the day. Wanna ride a tank?"

"Hell yeah!" we all shouted at once.

"All right girls, I'll be back in a few minutes I have something to gather for you"

She left us there alone in an awkward silence.

"Well" I said "If we're going to be sardines in a tin can we might as well get to know each other first...perhaps...?"

"Sure why not, I guess I'll start then" said a girl with long silver hair " My name is Royama Reiko. I came from up north and been this school for a while. My hobby is sports shooting"

"Katsura Fusako. I came from the north as well and I don't really have any hobbies other than riding and gaming" said the girl next to Reiko who was quite tall, had middle long brown hair in a sideways ponytail but seemed a year younger than the rest of us.

"I am Ban Jitsuko" said the other tall girl with long blonde hair "I came from the seashore on the west and I don't have any hobbies at all but I like the navy and I want to join it eventually"

"I guess I have to introduce myself as well" start the girl next to Jitsuko with short black hair "I'm Toyota Eimi. I came from the northernmost island of Japan and I don't have a driving license yet but I want to drive cars to my heart's content"

"Watabe Aoi is my name and I was and am still classmates with Jitsuko" said she who had long black hair.

It was my turn next.

"I am Ötvös Tamara, I came here from Hungary or rather...was sent here. I have a lot to do with tanks and I want to ride a tank like I could never before at home. Nice to meet you all"

They nodded and said likewise.

"Crazy huh" said Eimi "We have not one, but two bloody Tigers"

"Well if our theme is Hungary" replied Jitsuko "It stands for reason"

"True that" said Eimi.

"I'm more fascinated about the Tas" I said "We only made one and it was lost..."

"What do you mean by 'we'?" asked Fusako.

"Well I am from the theme country" I replied.

"Oh right" she said.

"We might as well get along with each other if we'll be closed together" said Aoi.

"I didn't mean to offend I was just curious" said Fusako.

"Aren't only five supposed to operate the tank?" asked Reiko "It's not like we'll have two loaders, not to mention the space"

"You're right...what's gonna happen to one of us?" said Jitsuko.

"I doubt any of us needs to worry" I said "We need a commander, a driver, a shooter, a loader, a radio operator AND we could also have a maintenance personnel who can be a stand in to any of us"

"Great idea" said Fusako.

"She'll need to travel outside then" said Aoi.

"I'll laugh if you'll be that one, Ao!" said Jitsuko "Oh right her nickname is Ao, you can just call me Ji"

"A nickname to a name with three letters?..." asked Reiko.

"Got a problem with that?" said Ji.

"No just sounds rather interesting, anyways I guess call me Rei.

"Fusako's good for me" she said.

"You can call me Ei then, and you Tamara?"

"Tami's fine. I think this is the start of a wonderful friendship...or a horrible one"

Everyone laughed.

"Okay chaps, come with me" shouted Cap from outside.

We followed her and led us in the last hangar.

"My apologies, the OP tanks are already reserved. You're our 29th tank so what we have left are...four Turán I, four Turán II, seven Toldi I and six Toldi II..."

The girls started arguing what to choose, one of them even tried to sweettalk Cap into letting us drive at least a Panzer IV.

"Sorry, though we swap around the tanks according to the battles but we must respect the commanders' decisions"

I wandered into the hangar. It was the one for the medium and light tanks....then I suddenly spotted something covered in some clothing. I unraveled it and I forgot to breathe for a few seconds.

"Oy Cap!" I shouted "Is this one reserved?"

"That piece of junk? Hasn't turned on for decades"

I griend and opened up the engine compartment.

They were still discussing the matter of the tank but after five minutes they heard an engine roaring. I stopped in front of them and jumped out.

"Pan-paka-paaaan~" I said "You were saying Cap?"

"How on earth did you make that rustbucket ignite?" she asked with a surprised looking on her face"

"She has a rather...delicate engine" I replied "Weiss Manfréd Works made ones require the fine touch of a rough girl hehe. So whatchy'all think?"

After that I told them thoroughly my story with tanks.

"I think you already are our commander" said Ji.

They agreed and started throwing me in the air.

"Ta-mi! Ta-mi! Ta-mi!" they chanted.

"Well then, I guess it's settled" said Cap as she wrote the next to our names: 44M Tas.

[arenatechgq-blog]

Electric ladyland: when battery-controlled autos were worked for ladies A century prior, specialists concurred ladies would drive the electric auto. Did they?

In 1907, innovation futurist Carl H. Claudy held forward on the electric auto in the pages of Motor magazine. The vehicle, Claudy enthused, does "more work, in specific lines, than steeds at any point did." There was a solid premise to his positive thinking. In 1900, over a fourth of all autos being made kept running on power. Electric automobiles meant around 33% of the carriages utilizing the streets around Chicago, Boston, and New York City.

However, Claudy didn't think the electric auto was for just anyone. Has there "ever been an innovation of more strong solace to the female portion of mankind than the electric carriage?" he inquired. Without a doubt, the transportation gadget, with its "surrounded span," couldn't go the extent that the gas-fueled rendition. Yet, how far did ladies need to go, in any case?

"What an enjoyment it is to have a machine which she can run herself with no loss of respect, for making calls, for shopping, for a pleasurable ride, for the paying back of some little social obligation," Claudy noted.

Electric autos were likewise incredible for children. "Not the slightest bit can a tyke get such a great amount of air in so little time as by the utilization of the car," Claudy composed, including that it "would not be awry to call the electric the cutting edge stroller" or a veritable "logical perambulator."

After a century, we awkwardly coincide with sexual orientation division in advertising. Reviewing cell phones like the pink-shaded BlackBerry Pearl and the HTC Rhyme, Ars Technica's Casey Johnston stresses over "an odious sort of woman contraption" being pushed today by the purchaser hardware industry. "These are devices for ladies," she noted. "On the off chance that you presume they are more belittling than the pink renditions of existing items would ever be, you would be right."

In any case, the Progressive Era's vehicle industry grasped this "contraptions for ladies" procedure with an energy that would make 21st-century advertisers become flushed. "At initially, makers, affected by Victorian thoughts of manliness and gentility, concocted a sort of 'separate circles' belief system about cars," composes the history specialist Virginia Scharff in her book Taking the Wheel: Women and the Coming of the Motor Age. As it were, "Gas autos were for men, electric autos were for ladies."

In any case, this sexual orientation isolation conspire bombed even before Henry Ford's Model T overpowered the business with moderate gas-controlled vehicles. Why? Since ladies would not participate. They needed to drive long separations, and quick—simply like men.

Strong virtuoso

In the United States, the car business and the phone business developed nearly in parallel to each other—the last part propelling a couple of years in front of the previous. By the late 1880s, Bell Telephone establishments and autonomous organizations were advertising telephone trade systems to real urban communities the nation over. The US automobile industry took somewhat longer to get its legs; having perused about the advancements of German motor architect Karl Benz, Frank and Charles Duryea made and sold gas-fueled vehicles by the late 1890s, with Henry Ford hot on their heels.

From the begin, both enterprises sold to agents and to the wealthy. "Phone clients are men whose business is so augmented and whose time is so important as to request fast and all inclusive correspondence," proclaimed Charles M. Fay, general administrator of the Chicago Telephone Exchange, in 1887. "A worker who goes to work with his supper crate has no event to phone home that he will be late to supper."

Examine any magazine ad for telephone utility around 1900, and there you will see illustrations of square-jawed business fellows in immaculate suits, unhesitatingly vanquishing the Gilded Age with their work area telephones. While today's "ladyphone" advertisers mark their items as perfect for messaging and talk, in those days Bell System viewed sit still prattle as an utter detestation to the broadcast communications scene. They even demoralized the utilization of "Hi" as a welcome.

"Would you race into an office or up to the entryway of a habitation and exclaim 'Hi! Hi! Who am I conversing with'?" advised one master. The guidelines of a California Bell System client manual talked universes about who the organization expected would do the talking. "Talk straightforwardly into the mouthpiece," it clarified, "keeping mustache out of the opening."

In a comparative vein, the car business developed a seriously manly creation story—brimming with amazing, self-beginning tinkerers like Johnathan D. Maxwell and Ransom T. Olds. They despised customary business techniques and book taking in, the legend went.

"Wrapped in coveralls, splashed in oil, swearing at the same headstrong rigging or device, or at each other, agents' children and poor homestead young men grew harsh fellowship," composes antiquarian Scharff. "Looking in reverse, other automobile industry pioneers would be seized with sentimentality for the period of the horseless carriage, of strong virtuoso, mechanical incidents, individual hatreds and crew in overalls."

Yet, once the "muscular biceps" period of both businesses go, in came advertisers who were less centered around oil monkey manly relationships and more intrigued by pitching items to buyers. In the phone part, they needed to manage the way that not exclusively were ladies purchasing telephone utility, they additionally staffed phone trades as administrators, shamelessly utilizing "hi" (AT&T inevitably abandoned its hostile to hi campaign, naming its administrators "hi young ladies").

In the car business, it soon turned out to be evident that ladies needed to drive autos. A large portion of these early car pioneers were extremely fortunate. The sticker price for your ordinary engine surrey around 1900 was $1,000, Scharff watches, so when the inescapable sexual orientation freeze over "driving while female" first set in, it concentrated on wealthy ladies and another sort of representative: the vehicle chauffeur.In 1905, Motor magazine distributed an anecdotal arrangement titled "The Wonderful Monster." The serial related the sultry car undertakings of Lady Dorothy Beeston, portrayed as a lady "eagerly attached to motoring." How enthusiastic?To think about "The Monster," as she called it, was to yearn for it. That awesome living, great thing with its energy for movement appeared to call and claim her as a related soul. She needed to feel the throb of its reviving heartbeats: to lay her hand on lever and handle and excite with the feeling of dominance; to claim its energy as her own—and feel its dreary yielded compliance answer her will.

The plot thickens as Lady Beeston's escort escapes line. "Pierre Cassagnac" is a figure whom Morticia Addams would love—a French hunchback and car virtuoso who shares the Lady's enthusiasm for autos. In a condition of disturbed euphoria, he drives them both into a snowdrift. Pierre bites the dust. Beeston's significant other hurries to the safeguard, and Lady Beeston guarantees never to engine again. Be that as it may, "regardless I excite in the memory," she admits, "of feeling the Monster complying with the scarcest jerk of my hand..."

Unmistakably a general public that presently couldn't seem to choose whether ladies could vote, enter callings, or even utilize the telephone to welcome companions to supper gatherings was encountering only a tad bit of uneasiness about females driving autos. As the quantity of enlisted automobiles bounced from 8,000 in 1900 to 77,000 five years after the fact, the anticipated level headed discussion resulted. Is it true that it was fitting or safe for ladies to drive? Engine magazine went so far as to dispatch a paper challenge on the level headed discussion, and gave the prize to an essayist who demanded that all the more driving knowledge would resolve the issue.

"As it seems to be," the triumphant writer finished up, "give her the street." The question was what amount of street? What's more, how quick and how far? The conditional answer was the extent that an electric auto could drive.Absolutely quiet

Colonel Albert A. Pope of the Pope Manufacturing Company immediately risen as an unmistakable purveyor of ladylike electric autos. His Hartford, Connecticut operation had created around five hundred such vehicles by 1897. A 1903 commercial for one of them praised the vehicle as a "totally silent, unscented, spotless and sleek apparatus" that was prepared to go at the snap of one's fingers.

"Keeping in mind that this message get away from those it was planned to draw in," notes Scharff, "the content went with a photo of a pleased lady driver guiding a grinning female traveler."

The Anderson Electric Car Company took after Pope's lead, asking men to purchase its machine "for your lady of the hour to-be—or your lady of numerous Junes back."

To the very much reproduced lady—the Detroit Electric has a specific interest. In it she can safeguard her latrine perfect, her style in place.

She can drive it with all coveted security, yet securely—in steady touch with activity conditions about her.

A few ladies seem to have taken to this promoting welcome. In 1900, for instance, Horseless Age magazine whined that in Chicago "just eight ladies have secured licenses to work electric vehicles," while there were "twenty-five to fifty ladies frequently running the machines through the city."

Be that as it may, electric autos were second rate compared to gas-fueled vehicles in a few ways. They cost more to make and hence sold at higher costs. They should have been energized after as meager as 20 miles of utilization. They frequently couldn't climb slopes or oversee unpleasant landscape (and most mid twentieth century auto territory was harsh). What's more, they were moderate.

Advertisers consequently could tout the natural womanliness of the electric machine all they preferred, talking up its assumed propriety for the "homemaker." They could, as one expert proclaimed, that the "best possible circle of the electric vehicle is not in rivalry with the gasolene [sic] visiting auto." at the end of the day, electric autos were for housewives; gas autos for their specialists hubbies.

[mechagalaxy]

Sten Hugo Hiller - Misunderstandings part 2

Misunderstandings Part II

Caitlyn: I arrived at the end of the chute. In the big cavern there was one tunnel leading away and one Anzu stood there. The tunnel seemed long so I went over to the Anzu. It was unlocked, and in the cockpit was a flimsy. "If you are here, organic fertilizer has probably been introduced to the rotary air distributor. The tunnel leads to an underwater exit five miles away from here. Code word for opening it "Caitlyn got our back". This Anzu should be waterproof to 80 meters, and the lake is 40-60 meters deep until you get to the beach on the other side. There is a small stash of valuables under the seat, you will need it if Starleague is to be rebuilt"

The old geezer had everything covered, I wondered if even Tony was aware of this. I got out and three hours later I returned to the Compound, Registered Mutant was under guard and Sten was in the hospital for leg replacement. I decided to wait some, and get some second opinions. I sent a message and sat back to wait, Lee would be out of the regentank in three days.

Cora: Tears of frustration and anger made the words of the message ineligible. No matter, they had burned themselves into my heart. Throwing the message into the fire I rose. I wanted to scream and rant, but then the girls would want to know what was going on, and I wanted to shield them from this. Travel time from here to the Starleague compound would be about three days. And I would get there to exact my revenge.

Lee: The lid popped and I looked out. Caitlyn was there, holding out a robe to me. I swallowed to hold back tears, she is so kind and gentle. After changing into uniform she asked me to come with her to the office, there was someone there I had to meet. I didn’t feel like meeting anyone, but for Caitlyn I would do.. anything! I got the shock of my day when I saw who was in the office, but Caitlyn sat me down and asked me to retell the story she had gotten already. It was painful, but.. for Caitlyn.

Paulzilla: Sometimes miracles happen, sometimes your deity makes an personal appearance. True, those occasions are far between, but what had happened here was unheard of. Sten had sent over all the paperwork I had given him over the last decades, and it was perfectly done as well. Getting on the horn to Tony to get an explanation I was told that Sten had gotten himself a new  Company clerk, Brian Franks. Looking through the folder I studied his resume, yes, highly qualified, but he had a black mark bigger than the base. Besides, I prefer it when my officers do their jobs, not shuffling it off to underlings. And anyway, Franks was underutilized in his current position, he clearly belonged in my staff. I started to walk over to Bugler Company for a little personnel reallocation. Passing by Caitlyn`s office I heard some loud voices. She then used the intercom and I heard her order her secretary to get out and lock the door. As the secretary got out I signaled for silence and got in before the door was locked. Sometimes a Commander has to know what goes on whiteout knowing what goes on officially. Caitlyns voice was easy to identify, the cold menace from Sten`s vife made her voice almost unrecognizable, but the broken sobbing story coming from Lee held my attention. Activating the recorder I sat back to listen.

Lee`s Story: " ..and my father was very angry. Good girls shouldn’t go to places like that and do such things. I was a shame to my ancestors, and should stay in my room. But Fluffles, my pet bunny, was missing so I got my coverall and started searching the house. Some hours later, after finding her in the lower basement I went back up, but the house was dark. Hearing noise from the outside, I drew aside the curtains. There was Mechs outside, and one of them turned in my direction. The pilot jumped out and charged into the house. My standard wasn’t so good then, but I got the gist of it. The Prince of Iron was about to hit the town and our neighborhood would be the main battleground. Everyone else had been evacuated, but he would get me to the spaceport. Once there he got me into an freighter. The freighter launched and we had a miserable time. There wasn’t any food, and my bunny was killed to get some food for the smallest children. Sometime later, perhaps a week or so, the ship landed and we passengers were chased out. It was a strange planet, and I didn’t really know any of the other refugees. I lived on the streets, disguising myself as a boy, but charity and work for someone my size and poor understanding was severely limited. I don’t know how long I was there. Half a year, a year? The street kids were my only.. friends aren’t the right word.. fellow sufferer’s maybe? We were terrified of being caught by the police. Labor camps were the official name, but none had returned from them. I had lost so much weight I was almost able to hide in the shade of a lamppost when one day the pilot who had taken me from my house walked past with some others in the same uniform. Getting up I tried to intercept him and ask to be sent home, but I stumbled, and my hand hit his back pocket as I tried to catch myself. One of the others catched me, and said "Another pickpocketing street kid, I will call the police Sten" Terrified I whispered "please... don’t, give me a job... I will do anything..." Sten looked at me "Job, do anything, hmmm, come along"

In the compound he took me to his room and indicated the bed. I sat there gingerly , but fatigue soon had me lying down. He came over and extending a hand he touched.. my places of shame.. His expression changed to anticipation and he said "well, what a surprise, I might have a job for you, the oldest in the world. He left, but was soon back. I stared at the thing in his hand, I knew what it was, and my father’s words of what could happen to bad girls echoed in my mind. He rubbed it with some lubrication and came nearer. Thinking of what the police would do if I denied him I just stared at the... thing. Soon it was out of my sight, and I could feel it entering me. It was my first time, and.. it was so big and violent. Maybe he noticed my expression of fear, for he withdrew and looked at me again. Then he went out again, but only for a minute. This time it felt different, smaller and gentler. I started to enjoy it, and from his smile he was pleased. When it was over and he withdrew I was panting and sweating. Suddenly his face went rigid and he got out a com. I don’t know what language he spoke, but a couple minutes later a monster came in. An exchange in the strange language later the monster came over and carried me out. After I had been washed and had gotten some food I discovered perhaps it wasn’t a monster. Conversation was difficult as both had a rudimentary grasp of standard, but that was our only common language. The pilot, Sten, was a Company Commander in Star League, and I was his latest find. As he was married, mentioning being alone with him was not done. Over the coming weeks I was given manuals of everything needed to become a mechpilot. I often cried myself to sleep, especially after Sten had made me ...perform.. with a steadily new line of .. others. One day he took me to the side "Your studies are suffering, and you don’t perform as well as I had hoped. But I have news for you. Tony managed to find your family, and they are in the dependent village now. Hostages are a terrible thing aren’t they. Now I expect you to get focused, there are some new ones waiting for you" My family here!! I couldn’t talk with them, I was ruined in the eyes of my family and my ancestors. but I had duty to them. I would do all that was asked, no matter if some of the ones I had to perform with was personally distasteful. Doing my assignments brought in money. Sometimes Sten would take me along, and at my request it would be like the first night, second time. I loved it even if I knew it was not proper. Focusing on my studies gave results, I was promoted, and after a while I was promoted again and was second in command. Sten was away a lot of the time, and as my free time expanded I started doing ...things he wanted. We had to keep it a secret from the rest, but I didn’t mind. And then.... He went out alone and got shot to pieces. I didn’t know what to do, but I did the same and.... It didn’t end well. I was in the regentank and he came in and said.... said... he.. said.. "

Paulzilla: The voice disappeared and only heartbreaking sobs came now. Caitlyn`s vicious voice came back "I am gonna blow him apart" Cora`s "No, I will take him home and get him quartered, that is torn apart between four horses" And Lee`s "I don’t want any of you to kill him. I want.. I want..." I had heard too much. Ripping the wall to shreds I strode into the room, eyes burning red-hot. "Sit tight the three of you."  Walking around, my tail smashed every piece of furniture to splinters. "I would love to rip him apart myself, but we will get a firing squad, you can apply to be in it." Getting my com out I punched a combo "Eric, get to Caitlyns office on the triple, and wear the black hat"

Eric: Black hat? That was my Regulations and Discipline hat. I got it three years ago and hadn’t used it yet. Why would I need it? Caitlyns office seemed to be under total renovation, or needing it. Taking in the four gathered there I asked "Ok, what is going on here? Someone destroyed the office and need a night in the cooler?" Paulzilla`s tail ripped through the outer wall. "Arrest Sten. Maximum Security. No visits, No comms, No suicide possibilities" I didn’t understand what was going on, but my orders were clear. How to implement them on the other hand...

Sten: I was in my office, luxuriating in the feeling that no paperwork was pending, and my clerk would get it all done as soon as it arrived. A call from Bruno broke my good mood. Boris and Keikko were not in the hangar. What could have made them leave when the orders not to do so were clear? A movement in the security monitor caught my eye. Eric, but Black Hat? This was serious, what could they have gotten themselves into this time? As he entered I asked "Eric, what have they done this time?" Touching his hat he said "I need you to come to the prison with me" Prison? What had they done this time? But Eric was in official mode, no answers so I had to follow him to find out. My dread increased as he opened the door to the security wing, as far as I knew we had newer used it before. Then he asked me to leave behind everything that could be used as a weapon or a tool. Knowing the two of them I just left everything and changed into a paper coverall. Strangely enough the cell seemed empty. I ran in, hiding on top of everything else, they were going to be sorry. But there was nowhere to hide in there. Turning toward Eric, to find out if this was the wrong cell I saw him lock the door and activate the subsonics. What???? No way to communicate through that.