"Let me see, the pupils are definitely dilated, skin's decidedly flushed, possible fever, and the heart-rate's elevated to alarming levels, but enough about me, you on the other hand are doing just fine."
The shock of everything wearing off, somehow I wasn't surprised at all to hear myself laughing. The sound seemed to echo much farther than I intended, and I leaned in, hoping to keep whatever it was being shared between us...between us. I almost reached up to check his forhead for fever, the movement nearly over before I remembered this was a stranger.
"I hate to give you the third degree, seeing as how we're on our first date and all, but what's a nice, young, decidedly pretty girl like yourself doing in the middle of a warzone? Wejonbu is fifteen miles back that way...
"Well, there was this portal, and since you have been so I nice I will try and keep my language clean when referring to the nastines of it, and then it happened again, which I was convinced the statistical odds were very much in my favor on this one. But that teaches a gal to think two unrelated points are not a line, except it wasn't so much a line as a spinning vortex, and now I am here....in Korea?? Did you just tell me I was in Korea?"
"I'm Captain Benjamin Pierce by the way, but you can call me Hawkeye. Practically everyone does. Although I'm sure that if you say it, it will sound like a gentle rain falling on a meadow or something equally poetic."
"Hawkeye," I said softly, repeating it only because he had asked me to. In a sort of a way. And we were both still standing here talking, words flying and yet they all found their own place and nothing was on top of each other. Except maybe us? Were we even closer? "I'm Fred. Or at least...you can call me Fred."
"Did I mention that I'm a doctor? Do you need anything else examined? I'm very good with my hands."
"I know." Somewhere in there Hawkeye had stopped matching my ramble for ramble, and my last thought hovered in the air, all by itself. I clapped a hand over my mouth as my cheeks colored. But even the hand couldn't hide the smile underneath.
"Sorry. I'm badgering you. You just had a nasty scare and I'm acting like a lunatic. I can't help it. It must be the full moon. Am I growing fur yet?"
"Oh,"I replied knowingly. "If you were going to turn you would have done so long before now. And I wouldn't be standing nearly so....I wouldn't be here."
Somehow it seemed as though we were both babbling at each other, and yet not overlapping. We were speaking the same language and yet not. But what did it matter? Everything about her was fantastic, if I'd hit a landmine I couldn't be closer to heaven.
"Well, there was this portal, and since you have been so nice I will try and keep my language clean when referring to the nastines of it, and then it happened again, which I was convinced the statistical odds were very much in my favor on this one. But that teaches a gal to think two unrelated points are not a line, except it wasn't so much a line as a spinning vortex, and now I am here....in Korea?? Did you just tell me I was in Korea?"
I nodded, puzzled that she seemed shocked by that thought. Half of what she was saying was flying over my head somewhere and the other half was making me think I was back in science class. A portal? It didn't quite make sense and yet she seemed to know exactly what she was talking about. I nodded again and pretended I was keeping up with her.
"Hawkeye," She murmured, and again, as if testing it out. I lifted my eyes to the sky. Okay now I could die a happy man.
"I'm Fred. Or at least...you can call me Fred."
Fred? What a strange name for a girl, and yet it suited her. It was intriguing, like everything about her. The more I learned the more I wanted to know.
"I know." I chuckled when she clapped her hand over her mouth, a rosy blush coming to her cheeks. So, she wasn't immune to my charm. This could be the start of something beautiful...
"Oh, if you were going to turn you would have done so long before now. And I wouldn't be standing nearly so....I wouldn't be here."
She was some bright spark, turning on a dime right with me. I'd never met someone who could follow my tangents with such aplomb and come up with some of her own that just left me to gape in wonder.
"Well, ...Fred. Portal or no portal, and werewolves notwithstanding, I'm very glad that you stumbled into my corner of Korea." My voice had dropped low, and I became very aware of how I was still massaging her palm, and was leaning in closer than was probably prudent. But something about this gal just had me wanting to get down on bended knee and declare mad passionate love to her. This was crazy! I'd just met her and yet...I'd never felt more alive. I gazed at her for a few more moments and then reluctantly relinquished her hand.
"You know that is quite a feat. Rendering me speechless like that, most of the time my roomies can't get me to shut up. And what kind of name is Fred? What were your parents thinking when they named you? One look in those soft brown eyes of yours when you were a baby and I would have picked Gazelle, or Heidi, or Guinevere or Juliet. And yet, Fred...it suits you. I bet you have a mean left hook too." I smiled and then realised I was still standing there like a schmuck, as though I was the one caught in some headlights. "Well I guess we'd better get-"
Suddenly a shot rang out and I felt something whistle past my ear. I instinctively ducked and pulled Fred down with me, trying to shield her with my body.
"Damn snipers. Don't they realise we're in the middle of a date?!" I muttered, lifting my head briefly to try and get a bead on where the shooting was coming from. "Come on, we need to make a run for the jeep. If we're going to be sitting ducks, we might as well be moving sitting ducks. May I have this dance?"
I put my arm around Fred's waist, and grabbed one of her hands and steered her towards my vehicle. We managed to make it to the jeep with only a couple of shots fired at us. I pulled off my helmet and handed it to her.
"Here. Put this on. When I give the signal, clamber in the jeep, and I'll try to get us out of here." She nodded at me, and I was relieved that she seemed to be keeping her head under fire. "On the count of three. One...two...THREE!" I let her get in first, and then scrambled into the drivers seat and gunned the engine. We ducked as more shots rang out, but soon I had the jeep in reverse and out of the ditch. I didn't dare turn the lights on again, so I concentrated on following the road in the moonlight. It was not until we were a minute down the road and there were no more shots coming our way that I felt safe enough to stop the car for a brief moment.
"Are you okay? That was insane! But then again nothing about this war is sane, or makes a lick of sense. Please tell me the only thing hurt here is my pride.. and my shorts."
"Well, ...Fred. Portal or no portal, and werewolves notwithstanding, I'm very glad that you stumbled into my corner of Korea."
"I..." I stopped dead cold, and I swear I could feel the difference of it hissing againt the warm in the air. Was I about to say that I agreed? That I was glad to be tossed mind, body, and battered soul through a portal? Again??? Just because....the because of it? I chewed on the inside of my cheek, then looked up at the moon.
At least that was the same. So maybe...maybe? Maybe it wouldn't be so different here? So I could be the same? I looked back down to Hawkeye, our eyes locking.
"I'm glad too," I whispered into the darkness.
"You know that is quite a feat. Rendering me speechless like that, most of the time my roomies can't get me to shut up."
There it was again. That beat of quiet between us that wasn't so quiet after all. What was happening to me? And why did it make the portal feel so far away?
"I'm sorta the same way," I offered after a moment. "And my friends get tired of my chattering and rambling too, though they try not and show it. They're really wonderful like that"
"And what kind of name is Fred? What were your parents thinking when they named you? One look in those soft brown eyes of yours when you were a baby and I would have picked Gazelle, or Heidi, or Guinevere or Juliet. And yet, Fred...it suits you. I bet you have a mean left hook too."
"It's Winifred actually," my voiced dropped the way it always did when I repeated my full name."But it didn't take long for it to become just Fred, and it seemed to...fit. And those last names were a little too tragic for my liking. I mean, if you don't mind."
"Well I guess we'd better get-"
A bullet sped past us, whipping my hair up as it hissed through the air. Hawkeye pushed us both to the ground, and for a second...just a second I'm sure. I promise? But in that second where he rested on top of me I convinced myself that it was all over, and we were safe, and I tolted my head up. In, and closer, and all the other warm things that blended so well with the night here. When he pulled away I blew my hair out of my face in frustration, letting Hawkeye pull me deftly to my feet.
"Damn snipers. Don't they realise we're in the middle of a date?! Come on, we need to make a run for the jeep. If we're going to be sitting ducks, we might as well be moving sitting ducks. May I have this dance?"
I nodded, sure that this was a time to stay quiet. But I still found a way to squeeze his hand in further understanding. I had survived worse than this in my time in LA, and the place before. Besides...I was determined to see what came after.
"Here. Put this on. When I give the signal, clamber in the jeep, and I'll try to get us out of here. On the count of three. One...two...THREE!"
Hawkeye dropped his helmet on my head, and it was still warm from where he had worn it. Of course, it was big too, dropping just over my line of sight. With a small, private smile I pushed it back to my hairline.
On Hawkeye's command I scrambled up into the jeep, holding on as it literally gunned into reverse and bumped its way down the road. I watched him driving, my focus lost somewhere in his. Finally we rolled to a stop.
"Are you okay? That was insane! But then again nothing about this war is sane, or makes a lick of sense. Please tell me the only thing hurt here is my pride.. and my shorts."
"War," I repeated, taking of the helmet and looking at it before handing it back to Hawkeye. Finally everything settled into place. "Korea...Korean war. That was some portal." Then I remembered the rest of his question. I reached out to rest one hand on his own.
Winifred. How was it that such a name could inspire the warmest of feelings within me? Winsome Winifred. Fearless Fred. I could come up with a deluge of suitable nicknames for this delectable damsel and still never scratch the surface of her appeal.
"War. Korea...Korean war. That was some portal...I'm...good."
I looked over at Fred with concern, her face dimly illuminated by the moon above us. Perhaps she had hit her head after all. Why else would she act so surprised that she was smack dab in the middle of nowhere at the height of the Korean war, sorry police action ? But this wasn't the time to alarm her with further examinations.
"You're not just good. You're remarkable. I've never seen someone act so bravely and with a level head. No screaming or hysterics. If Frank had been here it would have been a huge song and dance. But you, you were like...a vikingess. All action and courage. I think I'd better start driving now before I beg you to pillage me." I grinned and put the jeep into gear.
We didn't even have to talk all the way. Just having her sit next to me felt like we were still speaking to each other. Five minutes later and we arrived at the Aid station.
"Fred, it's going to be a mess in there. Open wounds, people in pain. You don't have to go in if you don't want to. But it's my job to fix them up, and I won't be able to take care of you for a few hours. Maybe the good sergeant here can find a place for you to rest until it gets a little less crazy? Believe me, the date doesn't end here, but duty calls..."
The sergeant nodded with a bemused smile, not exactly sure who my passenger was supposed to be, she wasn't dressed like a nurse after all.
"Ma'am there's a barracks further back in the building if you want to wash up or sleep. O'course the shelling won't be letting up much so you probably won't get much shuteye..."
I turned to Fred, not wanting to let her out of my sight, but also not wanting to subject her to the true horrors of war.
Hawkeye was looking at me again, deep and leveled and ... really looking. So this was the part where normally my body became a barrier, and my hair a curtain. Anything to hide behind because always with that kind of looking came trouble. Collars or concerns, were they wanted to lock me into place, or didn't understand my place at all. So it became easier to dissapear from it all. And even though sometimes I left clues. Countless clues, some even barely there through the part wth the crying, it always felt like no one had ever, really, truely...read them right. Read me. It, and I, was always what they wanted to see.
It made Angel feel good to have someone to save, when he was afraid that Cordy had gotten past the point of saving. And it made Charles right again to have someone to protect, once his sister was gone. And Wesley wanted me, because he thought I could help him be what he wanted.
They all thought I didn't see, but I do. And that doesn't mean I love them any less for it, because...well make even they don't see the whole of it. But somehow, standing here, with this man looking at me... seeing me? For the first time, it felt all the way right.
He saw me.
"You're not just good. You're remarkable. I've never seen someone act so bravely and with a level head. No screaming or hysterics. If Frank had been here it would have been a huge song and dance. But you, you were like...a vikingess. All action and courage. I think I'd better start driving now before I beg you to pillage me."
Is that what Hawkeye saw then? Somehow that made it at least just a little more true, and I felt myself stand even straighter. I could be that...I could be that strong. I could be an ancient....
"Hey," I got caught up in the ideas of it. "How do you pillage a person.....oh." It came to me, slower than it should of. Especially with the 'seeing'. "Oh." I flushed, but somehow I couldn't hide the smile either.
"Fred, it's going to be a mess in there. Open wounds, people in pain. You don't have to go in if you don't want to. But it's my job to fix them up, and I won't be able to take care of you for a few hours. Maybe the good sergeant here can find a place for you to rest until it gets a little less crazy? Believe me, the date doesn't end here, but duty calls..."
"You don't have to take care of me," I nodded slowly, hoping it would only take this once for me to say the words, and that would be all. I hoped so much it hurt a little. "But I would like to help you." My mind was already whirring with the possibilities. "Of course, I mean...Cordy was always much better at all of that than I was, but I know just as much about anatomy. Actually, I know more...and I'm not a bit squeemish, because nothing like a little demon gore to take that right out of a girl..."
"Ma'am there's a barracks further back in the building if you want to wash up or sleep. O'course the shelling won't be letting up much so you probably won't get much shuteye..."
The shelling didn't need to let up. I didn't want it to let up, because the noise was just enough to allow me to lean closer to Hawkeye's ear. "If you don't start walking," I whispered softly. "Then I can't come after you."
The shock of everything wearing off, somehow I wasn't surprised at all to hear myself laughing. The sound seemed to echo much farther than I intended, and I leaned in, hoping to keep whatever it was being shared between us...between us. I almost reached up to check his forhead for fever, the movement nearly over before I remembered this was a stranger.
"I hate to give you the third degree, seeing as how we're on our first date and all, but what's a nice, young, decidedly pretty girl like yourself doing in the middle of a warzone? Wejonbu is fifteen miles back that way...
"Well, there was this portal, and since you have been so I nice I will try and keep my language clean when referring to the nastines of it, and then it happened again, which I was convinced the statistical odds were very much in my favor on this one. But that teaches a gal to think two unrelated points are not a line, except it wasn't so much a line as a spinning vortex, and now I am here....in Korea?? Did you just tell me I was in Korea?"
"I'm Captain Benjamin Pierce by the way, but you can call me Hawkeye. Practically everyone does. Although I'm sure that if you say it, it will sound like a gentle rain falling on a meadow or something equally poetic."
"Hawkeye," I said softly, repeating it only because he had asked me to. In a sort of a way. And we were both still standing here talking, words flying and yet they all found their own place and nothing was on top of each other. Except maybe us? Were we even closer? "I'm Fred. Or at least...you can call me Fred."
"Did I mention that I'm a doctor? Do you need anything else examined? I'm very good with my hands."
"I know." Somewhere in there Hawkeye had stopped matching my ramble for ramble, and my last thought hovered in the air, all by itself. I clapped a hand over my mouth as my cheeks colored. But even the hand couldn't hide the smile underneath.
"Sorry. I'm badgering you. You just had a nasty scare and I'm acting like a lunatic. I can't help it. It must be the full moon. Am I growing fur yet?"
"Oh,"I replied knowingly. "If you were going to turn you would have done so long before now. And I wouldn't be standing nearly so....I wouldn't be here."
I was very, very glad that he wasn't a werewolf.
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"Well, there was this portal, and since you have been so nice I will try and keep my language clean when referring to the nastines of it, and then it happened again, which I was convinced the statistical odds were very much in my favor on this one. But that teaches a gal to think two unrelated points are not a line, except it wasn't so much a line as a spinning vortex, and now I am here....in Korea?? Did you just tell me I was in Korea?"
I nodded, puzzled that she seemed shocked by that thought. Half of what she was saying was flying over my head somewhere and the other half was making me think I was back in science class. A portal? It didn't quite make sense and yet she seemed to know exactly what she was talking about. I nodded again and pretended I was keeping up with her.
"Hawkeye," She murmured, and again, as if testing it out. I lifted my eyes to the sky. Okay now I could die a happy man.
"I'm Fred. Or at least...you can call me Fred."
Fred? What a strange name for a girl, and yet it suited her. It was intriguing, like everything about her. The more I learned the more I wanted to know.
"I know." I chuckled when she clapped her hand over her mouth, a rosy blush coming to her cheeks. So, she wasn't immune to my charm. This could be the start of something beautiful...
"Oh, if you were going to turn you would have done so long before now. And I wouldn't be standing nearly so....I wouldn't be here."
She was some bright spark, turning on a dime right with me. I'd never met someone who could follow my tangents with such aplomb and come up with some of her own that just left me to gape in wonder.
"Well, ...Fred. Portal or no portal, and werewolves notwithstanding, I'm very glad that you stumbled into my corner of Korea." My voice had dropped low, and I became very aware of how I was still massaging her palm, and was leaning in closer than was probably prudent. But something about this gal just had me wanting to get down on bended knee and declare mad passionate love to her. This was crazy! I'd just met her and yet...I'd never felt more alive. I gazed at her for a few more moments and then reluctantly relinquished her hand.
"You know that is quite a feat. Rendering me speechless like that, most of the time my roomies can't get me to shut up. And what kind of name is Fred? What were your parents thinking when they named you? One look in those soft brown eyes of yours when you were a baby and I would have picked Gazelle, or Heidi, or Guinevere or Juliet. And yet, Fred...it suits you. I bet you have a mean left hook too." I smiled and then realised I was still standing there like a schmuck, as though I was the one caught in some headlights. "Well I guess we'd better get-"
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"Damn snipers. Don't they realise we're in the middle of a date?!" I muttered, lifting my head briefly to try and get a bead on where the shooting was coming from. "Come on, we need to make a run for the jeep. If we're going to be sitting ducks, we might as well be moving sitting ducks. May I have this dance?"
I put my arm around Fred's waist, and grabbed one of her hands and steered her towards my vehicle. We managed to make it to the jeep with only a couple of shots fired at us. I pulled off my helmet and handed it to her.
"Here. Put this on. When I give the signal, clamber in the jeep, and I'll try to get us out of here." She nodded at me, and I was relieved that she seemed to be keeping her head under fire. "On the count of three. One...two...THREE!" I let her get in first, and then scrambled into the drivers seat and gunned the engine. We ducked as more shots rang out, but soon I had the jeep in reverse and out of the ditch. I didn't dare turn the lights on again, so I concentrated on following the road in the moonlight. It was not until we were a minute down the road and there were no more shots coming our way that I felt safe enough to stop the car for a brief moment.
"Are you okay? That was insane! But then again nothing about this war is sane, or makes a lick of sense. Please tell me the only thing hurt here is my pride.. and my shorts."
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"I..." I stopped dead cold, and I swear I could feel the difference of it hissing againt the warm in the air. Was I about to say that I agreed? That I was glad to be tossed mind, body, and battered soul through a portal? Again??? Just because....the because of it? I chewed on the inside of my cheek, then looked up at the moon.
At least that was the same. So maybe...maybe? Maybe it wouldn't be so different here? So I could be the same? I looked back down to Hawkeye, our eyes locking.
"I'm glad too," I whispered into the darkness.
"You know that is quite a feat. Rendering me speechless like that, most of the time my roomies can't get me to shut up."
There it was again. That beat of quiet between us that wasn't so quiet after all. What was happening to me? And why did it make the portal feel so far away?
"I'm sorta the same way," I offered after a moment. "And my friends get tired of my chattering and rambling too, though they try not and show it. They're really wonderful like that"
"And what kind of name is Fred? What were your parents thinking when they named you? One look in those soft brown eyes of yours when you were a baby and I would have picked Gazelle, or Heidi, or Guinevere or Juliet. And yet, Fred...it suits you. I bet you have a mean left hook too."
"It's Winifred actually," my voiced dropped the way it always did when I repeated my full name."But it didn't take long for it to become just Fred, and it seemed to...fit. And those last names were a little too tragic for my liking. I mean, if you don't mind."
"Well I guess we'd better get-"
A bullet sped past us, whipping my hair up as it hissed through the air. Hawkeye pushed us both to the ground, and for a second...just a second I'm sure. I promise? But in that second where he rested on top of me I convinced myself that it was all over, and we were safe, and I tolted my head up. In, and closer, and all the other warm things that blended so well with the night here. When he pulled away I blew my hair out of my face in frustration, letting Hawkeye pull me deftly to my feet.
"Damn snipers. Don't they realise we're in the middle of a date?! Come on, we need to make a run for the jeep. If we're going to be sitting ducks, we might as well be moving sitting ducks. May I have this dance?"
I nodded, sure that this was a time to stay quiet. But I still found a way to squeeze his hand in further understanding. I had survived worse than this in my time in LA, and the place before. Besides...I was determined to see what came after.
"Here. Put this on. When I give the signal, clamber in the jeep, and I'll try to get us out of here. On the count of three. One...two...THREE!"
Hawkeye dropped his helmet on my head, and it was still warm from where he had worn it. Of course, it was big too, dropping just over my line of sight. With a small, private smile I pushed it back to my hairline.
On Hawkeye's command I scrambled up into the jeep, holding on as it literally gunned into reverse and bumped its way down the road. I watched him driving, my focus lost somewhere in his. Finally we rolled to a stop.
"Are you okay? That was insane! But then again nothing about this war is sane, or makes a lick of sense. Please tell me the only thing hurt here is my pride.. and my shorts."
"War," I repeated, taking of the helmet and looking at it before handing it back to Hawkeye. Finally everything settled into place. "Korea...Korean war. That was some portal." Then I remembered the rest of his question. I reached out to rest one hand on his own.
"I'm...good."
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"War. Korea...Korean war. That was some portal...I'm...good."
I looked over at Fred with concern, her face dimly illuminated by the moon above us. Perhaps she had hit her head after all. Why else would she act so surprised that she was smack dab in the middle of nowhere at the height of the Korean war, sorry police action ? But this wasn't the time to alarm her with further examinations.
"You're not just good. You're remarkable. I've never seen someone act so bravely and with a level head. No screaming or hysterics. If Frank had been here it would have been a huge song and dance. But you, you were like...a vikingess. All action and courage. I think I'd better start driving now before I beg you to pillage me." I grinned and put the jeep into gear.
We didn't even have to talk all the way. Just having her sit next to me felt like we were still speaking to each other. Five minutes later and we arrived at the Aid station.
"Fred, it's going to be a mess in there. Open wounds, people in pain. You don't have to go in if you don't want to. But it's my job to fix them up, and I won't be able to take care of you for a few hours. Maybe the good sergeant here can find a place for you to rest until it gets a little less crazy? Believe me, the date doesn't end here, but duty calls..."
The sergeant nodded with a bemused smile, not exactly sure who my passenger was supposed to be, she wasn't dressed like a nurse after all.
"Ma'am there's a barracks further back in the building if you want to wash up or sleep. O'course the shelling won't be letting up much so you probably won't get much shuteye..."
I turned to Fred, not wanting to let her out of my sight, but also not wanting to subject her to the true horrors of war.
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It made Angel feel good to have someone to save, when he was afraid that Cordy had gotten past the point of saving. And it made Charles right again to have someone to protect, once his sister was gone. And Wesley wanted me, because he thought I could help him be what he wanted.
They all thought I didn't see, but I do. And that doesn't mean I love them any less for it, because...well make even they don't see the whole of it. But somehow, standing here, with this man looking at me... seeing me? For the first time, it felt all the way right.
He saw me.
"You're not just good. You're remarkable. I've never seen someone act so bravely and with a level head. No screaming or hysterics. If Frank had been here it would have been a huge song and dance. But you, you were like...a vikingess. All action and courage. I think I'd better start driving now before I beg you to pillage me."
Is that what Hawkeye saw then? Somehow that made it at least just a little more true, and I felt myself stand even straighter. I could be that...I could be that strong. I could be an ancient....
"Hey," I got caught up in the ideas of it. "How do you pillage a person.....oh." It came to me, slower than it should of. Especially with the 'seeing'. "Oh." I flushed, but somehow I couldn't hide the smile either.
"Fred, it's going to be a mess in there. Open wounds, people in pain. You don't have to go in if you don't want to. But it's my job to fix them up, and I won't be able to take care of you for a few hours. Maybe the good sergeant here can find a place for you to rest until it gets a little less crazy? Believe me, the date doesn't end here, but duty calls..."
"You don't have to take care of me," I nodded slowly, hoping it would only take this once for me to say the words, and that would be all. I hoped so much it hurt a little. "But I would like to help you." My mind was already whirring with the possibilities. "Of course, I mean...Cordy was always much better at all of that than I was, but I know just as much about anatomy. Actually, I know more...and I'm not a bit squeemish, because nothing like a little demon gore to take that right out of a girl..."
"Ma'am there's a barracks further back in the building if you want to wash up or sleep. O'course the shelling won't be letting up much so you probably won't get much shuteye..."
The shelling didn't need to let up. I didn't want it to let up, because the noise was just enough to allow me to lean closer to Hawkeye's ear. "If you don't start walking," I whispered softly. "Then I can't come after you."
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