Chapter fourteen on the fourteenth! Some days are just that good. :) (and yay - that good mood persists!)
Thank you for the lovely review, Living Lucid Dream - I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on the last, less-action-packed chapter. Veronica and Archie are definitely turning good corners as a couple, I agree, and I'm excited to see more. It's also been too easy for FP to just say Jug was messed up and ignoring flaws (and disasters and abuse), but as Jug acknowledges the realities of what's been done to him, he's turned the corner to forgiving and not denying that anything was wrong. Which, as you point out, is only good if it is not premature... I think FP and Brand are both worried about that, in different ways. And yeah, Fred is the best dad and his word is law when it comes to parenting. :-D And Fred is right; FP and Brand feed off of each other's energy very weirdly. And now Brand is having to figure that out in a whole new context as Donn starts nudging things with Rose - and as he tries to avoid the ugly outcomes I think you are quite right to predict!
Thank you for the great reviews, too, Guest! You're all caught up, in time for a new one. :) FP is definitely missing being in control of the situation, I think, and knowing how to act and what to do (and probably also just being so very beloved and respected). I'm so glad you enjoyed the Southside's collision with Riverdale High; I know you were looking forward to that in particular! Jug definitely is more upset about hurting someone than being hurt, I agree; and yes, Brand has been very steady and hasn't been cut much slack. I think FP's going to be more on the ball now, though. We shall see! Rose and Donn are definitely brewing in the background, too. I'll be interested in seeing where that goes...
Enjoy!
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"It's not Halloween yet, intern," Agent Williams spoke when she walked past the cubicle that Jughead was sharing with Clark.
Clark's eyes widened. He shot her a horrified look and made a slashing gesture across his throat.
"What, is Davies around?" Williams had apparently decided that Brand was a problem, and Monday had not gone entirely smoothly between them. "Because this kid having a guardian angel at the agency will only get him so far."
Jughead looked up then, and that was enough to make it apparent that the bruising was real.
"Uh-," Williams seemed to choke on her own words for a moment. "What in the world happened to you?"
"That's why he wasn't here yesterday - and he's here now. At ten am on a school day." Clark motioned around them to indicate the obvious: that this was not Jughead's usual shift. "Leave it alone. It's under investigation and he doesn't want to talk about it."
Jughead ducked his head and focused on the computer screen again. Clark had been protective of him since he'd arrived that morning, looking - and feeling - like a zombie, and with very little explanation that he'd wanted to offer anyone.
Sheriff Keller still did not know who the rest of the attackers had been, but he was gathering photos to help them identify suspects. Archie was likewise out of school, pending 'a meaningful response from the school,' as Mr. Andrews had put it. Archie was at work with his dad for the day. The Andrews men had been invited to join the movie night with Jughead, FP, and Brand after work, and they would surely talk more then, but everything about the attack at school felt like it was still actively unfolding and developing.
The ground was still shifting.
After Williams left, Clark muttered to himself about there being no stupid questions - only stupid people. He turned to Jughead after a few moments of brooding silence. "Look, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, and I know you said that the police are already involved. But... this didn't happen because I talked to your father about vaccinating, did it?"
Jughead did a double-take. "No, Clark. My dad didn't do this to me." Jughead snorted as he thought about that idea. "For one thing, he doesn't have that kind of time on his hands."
Clark's eyebrows shot up.
"It was eight guys, Clark. That's why I look like an extra from a haunted house. My dad would never hurt me - and I don't think any one person could have done this to me without, like, ketamine and an hour or two to invest."
"You ticked off eight guys at once?" Clark frowned at that - and at Jughead's bizarre comment about being drugged and beaten. "Did this have anything to do with your friend Kevin and his missing boyfriend?"
"No." Even as he spoke, Jughead realized that he actually wasn't sure. The whole 'strike back at the FBI' explanation was admittedly confusing. "I don't think so."
Brand came over then, and he slid a large plate of croissants onto the desk the interns were sharing. "Compliments of Agent Quinn; she's working offsite today, but she dropped these off when she heard that you came in injured."
"Wow. That was really nice of her," Jughead responded with a grin. "Bakery, huh?"
"She's a working professional and you didn't exactly give her a heads up that you were going to get jumped this week. They're good, though, and they're still warm." Brand smiled as the two interns eagerly reached for the croissants, but then he frowned. "Did Williams say anything to you?"
"Nope." Jughead willed Clark to finally have a poker face.
"Clark?"
"She asked if he knew when Halloween was, sir." Apparently Clark was not going to lie for him, 'wingmen for life' or not.
Jughead took a bite of his croissant and then looked up cautiously, waiting for Brand's reaction.
He was eyeing Jughead critically, but also with a small smile. Jughead realized with a jolt that he was eating a croissant without worrying about where it had come from or who had had access to it; he must really be distracted by the painkillers. Or maybe he was starting to get back to normal. That would be nice.
"You will save money on a costume if you haven't healed up by then, Jones."
Jughead's eyebrows lowered into a scowl. "I'm sure that will be a relief to my father, sir."
Clark shot him a look in response to him mentioning FP. Great.
"Not that he's invested in saving money because of my being injured. Sir."
Brand looked confused and disturbed by that comment. "Uh-huh. You taken any painkillers recently?"
"No. I'm clean, sir. Relatively, anyway."
They had made the decision to forego painkillers after his morning dose for as long as Jughead felt reasonably ahead of the pain, but he had them in his pocket. He'd been toughing it out so far, and decided to take something over lunch in the hope that any mental haze would begin to clear before he was back on paperwork for the afternoon. At least he and Clark were working together, so nothing would get messed up if he did get loopy.
Clark's leg twitched in response to the obvious criticism from Brand, and Jughead was very relieved when Clark caught himself before pulling his usual move of kicking his fellow intern in the leg. That would have really hurt.
And Brand's eyes were suddenly wide. He must have caught that, too.
They really needed to fess up to Clark. But now things were messy with Agent Donn, the beating was making it awkward, and-
"You've got a handle on things, Clark?" Oh. It looked like Brand didn't care whether they explained to Clark or not. He could just order them both to do whatever he wanted, anyway.
"Yes, sir. I'll make sure everything is accurate, sir."
"Make sure Jones takes something if he needs it."
"Yes, sir."
Brand left.
"He's so personable." Clark sighed. "He takes such an active interest in everyone. You have no idea how rare that is in a boss, let alone someone with his kind of talent and ability. And these croissants are awesome; Agent Quinn rocks. We are the luckiest interns ever, Jones."
"Yep." Jughead tried not to sound sarcastic. He'd talk to Brand tonight, because they needed to tell Clark, probably together, and do it soon. This was so awkward.
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Alice was sitting with Sweet Pea while they ate lunch, but everything that had been nice about that arrangement the day before had abruptly turned dark and unsettling.
Veronica and Betty were eating lunch somewhere else. Kevin was probably with them, wherever they'd gone. Jughead and Archie were not in school at all.
The Serpents had uncovered their tattoos for lunch period, as they did whenever they had an opportunity, even though Principal Weatherbee had requested that they be covered during school hours.
There was loud gloating that Jughead had gotten some sort of comeuppance - and that Archie was next.
Alice wished that she were still confused about what they were talking about, but she'd been regaled in exquisite detail that made it clear that some of the Serpents in this lunch room were the culprits - though nobody was saying who - right down to imitating the way that Archie had cried out in pain when they'd slammed the locker closed on him, and claiming that Jughead had cried when he pulled the 'cowardly' move of using an illegal - highly dangerous - martial maneuver to end his 'punishment' early.
Speculation abounded regarding whether that needed to be revisited, or if Jughead had learned enough of a 'lesson' about 'turning on his own' and aligning himself with the FBI.
There was no mention of FP, but Alice wasn't stupid. Jughead had been attacked because his own father had basically called in a strike on him. It almost made Alice's parents look sane - loving - in comparison.
Sweet Pea was visibly uncomfortable and tried to quash the boasting. He also tried to explain to Alice that there was a sharp division between the older Serpents and the bragging subset of Serpent highschoolers, and that the only question the vast majority of the gang was debating was whether attacking Jughead had been an act of misguided and impetuous loyalty - or one of outright treason. Sweet Pea insisted that the teenagers were bragging now, in school, because they were so nervous about what repercussions they'd brought down upon themselves by attacking Jughead.
FP leaving the Southside immediately once he'd heard the news, not to mention refusing to respond to any of the Serpents since the previous evening, had likely nailed the coffin shut for them: the teens stood to lose their tattoos and jackets. Or so Sweet Pea claimed.
Alice thought that was a profound misreading of everything that had happened on Saturday night.
From where Alice stood, it was obvious that this was exactly what FP had expected - courted - with his inflammatory words. He must be as cold-blooded as his gang symbol suggested; after all, someone had literally shouted Jughead's name during the rally. FP had not forgotten that his son was interning with the FBI. And of course he was distancing himself from the Serpents for the moment; anything else would look ridiculously suspicious. No. This was calculated.
It made Alice wonder if Agent Davies was aware of all this. He was the only one who might be able to protect Jughead if it was true that his own father had turned on him and set the Serpents gunning for him.
Google did not disappoint: Alice got an address for the resident agency and braced herself for the unhappy prospect of holding a conversation with Agent Davies. He made no secret of the fact that he disliked her, and Alice found that she understood that. Some of the time she wasn't so sure about herself either.
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"Archie's going over tonight. You talked to Jughead?" Veronica wrapped her arms around herself. She, Betty, and Kevin had gotten permission to eat in a classroom as long as they were meticulous about cleaning up after themselves.
"He was on painkillers, so… kind of," Betty gave a half smile. "Brand explained what happened, and then Jughead explained that he was okay and had won a betting pool on how many broken bones he had. Apparently Brand started the betting with the techs, and Jughead bet that he had no breaks - but maybe a couple of fractures. He says we're all going out to Pop's with the eighty bucks he made."
"Big spender." Kevin smiled weakly. "Do you think Brandon will take time off from work now? Since Jughead's out of school and everything?"
Betty shook her head. "They're both at work right now; Brand's still looking for Joaquin, Kev. And Jughead's doing pretty well, I guess. Even his dad went to work today."
"Okay. Good." Kevin frowned at his own words. "Oh my God. I'm a horrible person."
"No, you aren't," Veronica said firmly. "You're just worried. I'm the one who-,"
"V, you didn't set them up," Betty headed her off. "And Archie has been texting me every hour to remind me to remind you, so I know that you're getting texts too. He's sure that Jughead is all right, and that the Serpents are being watched closely enough that nothing else will happen."
"Archie is also convinced that any minute now Jughead is going to realize that he did something 'awesome' and be totally fine." Veronica appreciated - and envied - Archie's upbeat attitude, but she was deeply skeptical of that particular assessment. "I think he's being a lot more optimistic than he has any right to be."
"How's Patch doing?" Kevin knew the Serpent vaguely. There was no love lost, especially not under the current circumstances, but there had never been bad blood between them before this incident.
"No idea." Betty shrugged. "It sounded bad, but it was just his hands. His fingers."
"As opposed to Jughead's whole body. And Archie's shoulder." Veronica nodded. "He got what he deserved."
Kevin looked a little ill over the whole thing, but did not comment.
"We're having a sleepover tonight at the Pembrooke. Do you want to come, Kevin?" Betty asked. "Archie and Jughead are having a movie marathon at the Joneses' place, and that inspired us. We're going to get Veronica's internship applications done."
"Wow. Fun." Kevin made a face. "I might give that a pass. You make it sound so tempting, though."
"We'll do other things too," Betty amended. "I just don't want to overpromise. It is a school night."
"For us, anyway," Veronica added. "I guess if being attacked gets you out of school for a few days, you might as well enjoy the perks. Maybe they are doing okay - they're going to watch a bunch of the Bourne series, which seems like a terrible choice if they were really upset."
"I guess so." Betty gave her a small smile. "And they're all planning to be at the speech tomorrow at Southside High, and hopefully the demolition on Thursday, too."
"They got all of that scheduled?" Kevin asked with more interest. "My dad said I could go, since he'll be there along with, like, everyone we know. He hasn't wanted me in the Southside since... everything."
"Kevin," Betty eyed him, "why don't you come with us? We'll all go, and we can investigate Joaquin's disappearance together. I don't want you to feel like you have to go into the Southside and try to look for him alone."
"Obviously not, Betty," Kevin responded easily. Perhaps a little too easily.
"Please, Kev," Betty persisted. "Just… think of how mad you'd be if Joaquin put himself in harm's way. You need to stay safe or you can't help him. We'll help you search, but please don't go alone. We'll be more successful if we work as a group, anyway."
"That's not usually how things work there, Betty," Kevin said soberly. "But I appreciate the offer. I'm not planning to sneak off. I just want to see who shows up, and maybe ask around a little."
"Still," Veronica offered, "we'll go with you."
"We'll see." Kevin shrugged. "I'll have to make a read of whether that's likely to help or hurt."
"Of course." Betty was a little more satisfied that Kevin was not planning anything dangerous. "We're here to help, Kevin. Whatever you need."
"Thanks." Kevin sighed. "I appreciate it. And you know what, I might try to come for the sleepover after all. Could we bake something? I owe Jughead a batch of sympathy cookies."
"Really? Sure," Veronica agreed quickly. "That's... random."
"They were really good." Kevin gave them a small smile. "It was nice of him."
"He's trying to gain back some weight, too," Betty nodded. "That's a great idea - if he'll eat them. I guess we can find out, and it will be a nice thing to do for him either way."
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Alice did not notice Sweet Pea following her out of Riverdale High until he cleared his throat, just as she was approaching her car.
Alice jumped.
"Hey, uh, I wanted to let you know that… I had nothing to do with what happened yesterday." Sweet Pea was staring at his shoes. "If I'd had any idea, I would have told them not to jump Jughead. Or anyone."
"Oh, but you couldn't say that in school, right? Where you might be overheard? And would you have actually tried to stop them if they refused to listen? Put your own skin on the line?" Alice was starting to learn the rules, and she had a feeling she wouldn't like the answer to these questions.
"I don't know," Sweet Pea's eyes were still on his shoes. "I hope I would have, but… this is dangerous, Alice. I think you should stay away from it. Maybe sit somewhere else at lunch for a little while, until things blow over."
"Really?" Alice was simultaneously incensed by his nerve - and his lack of nerve. "Do you really, Sweet Pea? Well, that's convenient. Because I'm going to the FBI right now to tell them what I know. So thank you for saving me any hesitation at all over the all-important decision of where I should sit for lunch tomorrow. But I'd already made that choice."
"You're doing what?" Sweet Pea paled. "No - Alice - if anyone sees you... that's the worst thing that you could do right now. The older Serpents are out of their minds about Jughead being hurt when we just got FP back, but they're, uh, inspired too. Nobody else is going to get away with helping the FBI at this point. Not now that the highschoolers drew first blood. They're probably watching the FBI offices and everything."
"Oh, well, if they're calling it 'first blood,' that changes everything." Alice rolled her eyes. "Are you going to help, or are you going to walk away?" Alice had lost patience with Sweet Pea's tough protector act - and its obvious limitations. He hesitated, his eyes dropping to his shoes, and she scoffed. "Go on; you don't need to stick your neck out, but that's what I do. Maybe I'll write an article about it, too. How would that be?"
"That would be suicide," Sweet Pea was not looking at his shoes any longer. He took a step toward Alice. "And then I'd have to stay away… and never get to know you. Alice, I wanted time to get to know you."
Alice's breath caught. But this had to be a ploy. "Classy, Sweet Pea. That is so utterly… classy." Alice's tone dripped with disdain. "Go try your lines on someone who doesn't mind having a complete follower claim to be an admirer. I cannot believe that you would say something like that to get what you want."
"I'm not saying it to-,"
"Oh, my mistake. Are you coming along, then? Because I'm going, so the only question at this point is what kind of a man you are. You already know my best guess." Alice's lip curled. She turned and got into her car.
And Sweet Pea was suddenly jogging to her passenger side door.
"FP didn't send the Serpents after Jughead. There's no way. I'm loyal to him - and I'm loyal to the people I care about." Sweet Pea was looking at his shoes again.
"That's the best you can do?" Alice was not fully appeased, though she was surprised that Sweet Pea had done even this much.
"I guess it is." Sweet Pea sounded displeased with himself.
He might be right: this was the best that he could do right now.
Alice figured she'd take it. At the very least, it would lend credibility to her story. And she really needed Agent Davies to take her seriously.
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Jughead was finishing up for the day, though he figured Brand would be a little while longer since almost everyone else had left early in preparation for the long day they'd have tomorrow. Clark was getting ready to leave as well.
"Want me to walk you to your car?" Clark gave Jughead a supportive smile. "If I were you, I wouldn't go anywhere alone, ever. Not until they caught the guys or I'd healed up, anyway."
"I wasn't actually alone when I got jumped." Jughead shrugged. "I'll get someone to walk me out in a few minutes, Clark, but thanks."
"Wait, someone else got jumped too? Was it someone you know?" Clark was confused. "I thought all of this-," Clark motioned to Jughead's battered body "-was eight against one."
"I was with my best friend. They locked him in an equipment locker and then they beat the crap out of me."
"Wow." Clark shook his head in disbelief. "It really was targeted, then."
"Kind of. Maybe." Jughead shrugged. "I'm not sure what it was about, and it seemed like they were after Archie but changed their minds when they saw that I was with him."
"That's intense." Clark frowned.
"Yep." Jughead wasn't sure he had anything to add to that.
"I'm definitely walking you to your car."
"Thanks; I will too." Brand was walking over to their shared cubicle.
"Special Agent Davies." Clark sat up straighter.
Brand smiled tightly. "Let's get out of here. Almost everyone else is gone already, and with good reason. We'll have a job and a half when it comes to the speech tomorrow, so we should all get some rest."
"Yes, sir." Clark had been thrilled to learn that the FBI would have a robust presence at the speech at Southside High, in connection with an ongoing case that he and Jughead had not been read into. They'd both speculated that it might be connected to Joaquin's disappearance, but they had not been able to figure out more than that - including why the speech was an important event to attend.
Jughead was excited, though. They would not be acting like secret service, or bodyguards to the mayor or anything, and to be honest the interns were basically just getting a field trip, and not engaging in actual field work, but it was still neat. It felt like doing something real.
They gathered their belongings and headed out of the resident agency toward the parking lot. Jughead wondered if Brand was finally going to confess to Clark that he and Jughead knew each other - lived together, kind of - once they were outside of the resident agency. It was going to be obvious that something was weird when they got into the same car.
But all thoughts of that fled when Jughead saw Alice standing in the parking lot, next to a huge guy he recognized from school - but had not realized until this moment sported a Serpents tattoo.
"Get Jones into your car, Clark, and lock the doors." Brand did not hesitate. "That's a member of the gang that attacked him and issued threats against the FBI. Jones, don't take another painkiller. If you need to run or fight, we'll want you alert."
Jughead nodded while Clark motioned him toward an exceptionally bright green Prius. "Wow, Clark. Does it glow in the dark?"
"Shut up and get in. Take the back seat; I've got stuff everywhere in the front. You brought a gang down on the FBI, and Special Agent Davies is about to have a showdown in the parking lot. We are not missing this, Jones." Clark's eyes were wide with excitement.
Jughead got into the back seat and Clark had to lock the doors twice when Jughead popped his door open a second time. "Hey - don't open that door again."
"Only the guy is in a gang. The girl is Alice. She's a friend," Jughead corrected Clark, ignoring his admonishment about the car door. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm pretty sure nobody's been 'brought down on the FBI,' Clark."
"I cannot believe that Davies just gave you fighting advice. That was so cool." Clark grinned, but then his smile faltered. "Do you think we're going to need to fight?"
"We are in a locked car." Jughead rolled his eyes at the thought of anything Brand had said being termed 'fighting advice.' "You need to calm down, Clark. Brand knows what he's doing. We're safe."
"Right up until Special Agent Davies hears you call him 'Brand.' My God, Jones, learn some self-preservation. It's a way of life."
Jughead sighed. They watched Brand talk to Alice for a couple of minutes.
And then another car pulled into the parking lot.
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"Alice Carter." Brand smirked.
"Agent Davies." Alice had fought with Sweet Pea; she'd gotten here; she'd done the hard part already in some ways, and she felt bold. "I came here to let you know that Jughead is in danger."
"Are you a buck short?" Brand snorted darkly. "Because you are definitely a day late, Carter."
"FP is trying to hurt him. He told the Serpents to come after him." Alice folded her arms and tried to make her tone firm and insistent. "I saw him do it."
"He didn't so much-," The tall gang member shut up when Alice turned her glare on him.
"He held some kind of a rally against the cops and the FBI at the Whyte Wyrm on Saturday night - or early Sunday morning, I guess - and someone was yelling about Jughead. He didn't care, and I think he knew exactly what he was doing. I don't think Jughead's safe with FP."
Brand wanted to laugh and he wanted to rage.
This was not new information, and FP was already feeling eviscerated by his oversight and its terrible fallout. The fact that someone had been specifically yelling about the kid and still FP had never thought to mention him being an exception to the 'go after the FBI' edict was mind-boggling - but it was still old news.
The fact of the matter was that this was FP's legend, though, and Brand needed to react appropriately.
"Thank you for telling me, Alice. I'll look into it. You might reconsider the hours - and the company - you're keeping." Brand shot the gang member a pointed look. Bizarrely, he looked more scared than Alice, despite having a couple of inches on Brand.
"You can't let Jughead go home. Not if FP's there. It might not be safe."
"Well, I can't kidnap him, either," Brand snapped.
Alice thought that over. "Can you take him into protective custody?"
The tall gang member was looking at her like she was crazy.
Brand could relate.
"I'm staying with them, Alice. I'll find out what's going on, and I'll make sure Jones stays safe."
"Please do," Alice said primly. She glanced over to where Jones was sitting in the car with Clark. "He looks like he could use a little more safety."
Well, that confirmed it: Brand still did not like Alice Carter.
A car pulled into the parking lot.
"Oh God, it's the Serpents." The tall gang member ducked and looked panicked, as if he were not a member of the gang and the safest person in the lot.
"Alice, let's go," Brand made a speedy decision. "Green car - we're getting you out of here."
"We can't leave Sweet Pea."
"You have a pet with you?" Brand was lost. "Why are you still talking? Take it with you. Move."
"I'm Sweet Pea." The gang member slid into the back seat of Clark's car right behind Alice, joining Jones there.
Oh. All right, then.
"Get them out of here, Clark. Go around the block and wait for me there. If anything happens that makes you feel unsafe, just leave. Call the police then, but not before."
"Yes, sir." Clark's eyes were huge.
Jones opened his car door. Brand's hand stopped it from swinging all the way open. "Oh, hell no. You go. I'll be right behind you."
"Have you lost your ever-loving mind, Jones?" Clark motioned to Brand. "The child safety lock is right there."
Brand liked the way he thought. He flipped the switch and closed the door on his godson - who began yanking on the door handle from the inside as if he was convinced that he would suffocate if he couldn't get out of the vehicle right away. Alice was trying to say something to him, but it didn't look like Jones could even hear her, let alone start to calm down.
Brand tapped the rear window forcefully and Clark rolled it down; the kid's breathing was already shot, and Brand winced. "Keep the window open for him, Clark, but do not let him out of this car. You're fine, Jones. I'm right behind you. Now go. Get to safety and stay there."
Clark pulled out of the lot, and Brand turned back to where five Serpents had emerged from the car.
These were not highschoolers.
At least he didn't see any weapons. Yet.
"Hiya, fellas. I've got one ground rule, so listen up." Brand strode toward the Serpents, who moved into a threatening constellation in response to his aggressive approach. "If you make me take out my service weapon, I'm shooting to kill. That paperwork is no joke, and I like to earn my punishments. You still want to do this?"
Brand's words were irritated, but his grin felt good. As long as he could avoid the worst of the paperwork, this might even be a good time.
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Aaaaand that's a cliffhanger. :-D Happy mid-December! Life is in the meat grinder (what is going on, life? Did I look bored or something?), and it was super nice to sit down and find this fic exactly as I'd left it. And I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As always, thank you so much for all reviews. Your notes are much appreciated and make it even more fun to write. I hope you have a lovely weekend!
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