Death quickly ran over the list.

He could scan through a day's worth of names in a second, so it was rather easy work. A bit boring, but Death did not mind it much.

He was three months from the present when he paused.

A name had caught his eye. Rarely do names catch Death's eye. He had seen so many names from so many planets that it was nothing new for him any longer. Yet, this one caught his eye. Ah, yes, he had seen this name before.

Death never forgot a name. And he certainly never forgot the name of a soul that had thwarted him twice before.

Kal-El, from the late planet of Krypton.

The soul was supposed to perish along with the rest of the planet, but a tiny mishap and miscommunication between his reapers, and Kal-El was shot off of the dying planet.

However, Death does not hold grudges. Should a soul manage to escape him, he will let them go until their time comes again. After all, everyone will come to him in the end. Death is in no hurry. He has waited longer than nearly every being. What is another hundred years to him? A thousand? Nothing but a blink of an eye.

And Death was right. Kal-El's time did come again. He had landed on Earth, been found by a human couple and raised as their son. However, when he was eighteen, he had been on a plane with a group of his classmates. The plane was hijacked, and he as well as the rest of his class, was doomed to die.

But Kal-El saved nearly his entire class, along with several other people on the plane. Death was a little annoyed by this, being cheated of a handful of lives, as well as Kal-El's own for a second time.

But still, Death did not become angered. He let Kal-El live his life, and now, his name was on his list once more.

But this time, Death was determined to gather his soul. Even if he needed to collect it personally.

Death called for Richard.

A young man in a dark cloak walked in. He bowed before Death and lowered his hood, revealing pale skin, dark hair and bright blue eyes.

Richard was the only living being in the Palace of Death. He was a special case.

About a decade and a half ago, Richard's parents were on Death's list. However, the reaper sent to take Richard's parents could not shake the young, distressed child. The young Richard could not see the reaper, but his soul had latched onto his parents, so the reaper could not take his parents' souls without taking his.

And Richard's name was not on the list, so the reaper was no allowed to take him.

Death was called in, and even he was a bit baffled by the situation. Never had he had this happen before. There have been situations in the past where souls have melded together, but the souls all happened to be collected together.

Death checked his list again, but Richard Grayson's name did not appear on it. In fact, his name was not on the list until eighty some years from the present. Death called in his brother, Life, and Life managed to keep Richard's soul intact with his body while Death transported his parents' souls to the Palace.

There, John and Mary Grayson's souls were carefully separated from their son's. However, in doing so, a part of Richard's soul also broke off and went off with theirs.

Life deemed Richard defected and unable to live his life to the fullest now. And so, Death took pity on the young child and took him in.

Death cared for Richard dearly, and he believed that Richard returned the sentiment, but they never really spoke about it.

Richard helped Death out around the palace. He was Death's apprentice, in a sense. They had a professional relationship. However, behind closed doors, once there are no reapers in sight, their attitude towards each other relaxes.

"Dick," Death said, using the name the young man preferred. "I will be taking a short trip to Earth. There is something I need to check up on."

Dick cocked his head to the side. "Earth? Why there? Thought you hated that planet."

"I do not hate any planets," Death said. "But I do find it… slightly more distasteful."

Dick shrugged. "Whatever you say," he stepped up to Death's throne, waving his hands at Death.

Death, should he be holding a human form, would have glared at Dick. But even so, he moved over on the throne. Dick plopped himself down in the small space and kicked his legs up on the arm of the chair, over Death.

He plucked the list from Death's hands and scanned down the list.

"So what do you want me to do?" He asked. "Sit here and pretend to be you?" Then he smiled. "Actually, that might be fun." He made his face blank and spoke with his voice lowered, flat, and monotone. "'Reaper, go forth and bring me the souls of," Dick glanced at the list. "Rosaline Moore and-" He broke character for a moment and squinted at the list. "Goodness, Thanatos' handwriting is horrendous." He blinked up at Death. "You should give him penmanship lessons."

Death did not laugh. "Do not insult my scribe's handwriting. It is not horrendous. Your writing is horrendous. You think I have not seen you notes to Barabarous?"

Dick went slightly red. "You saw those notes?"

"She did show me."

Dick gracefully kicked his legs off of the throne. He flipped, his head hanging off of the seat and his legs hanging over the back of the throne. "Do I have no privacy here?" He whined.

"I do believe," Death said dryly. "If you wrote those shameless letters on any planet, they would be the subject of gossip."

"Gossip?!" Dick gasped, his head popping up. "You guys gossip about me? I thought you were all doom and gloom!"

"I do not gossip," Death reminded gently. "I cannot say the same for my reapers. I find they often indulge in gossip. It may be because they spend too much time on Earth. Though, it is not my fault humans have such short life spans." Death's voice was tinged with a bit of annoyance when he spoke again. "Dick, get your feet off of the throne. Have some respect."

Dick put his hands on the ground and kicked off of the back of the throne. He flipped over and stood, smiling. "Sorry. It's just fun to climb. So what do you want me to do in your absence, oh inescapable Death?"

"Do not call me that," Death said. "Just make sure everything continues running smoothly. Assign reapers to each name. I have gotten up to two months from the present day. Continue from there forth. And, do not bother assigning anyone to Kal-El. I shall be personally meeting him."

Dick grinned. "Ooh, what's so special about him?"

Death did not laugh, nor did he smile. "I shall make sure he does not thwart me a third time."

Dick smirked. "Oh, that Kal-El." He took the list again. "Alright then. I'll make sure everything is smooth sailing."

"There is no sailing involved, Dick."

"Never mind. Have a safe trip!"

Death stood, and the second he vacated his throne, Dick sat down on it and kicked his feet up. Death decided to let it go.

"Thank you, Dick," Death said.

Dick nodded. "Sure thing, bye!"

And Death headed to Earth.


A/N ~ So I'm writing this right now. It will be updated at least once a week, but I can not guarantee that this site will get the updates on time. Thanks for your patience!

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