Disclaimer: "Courage the Cowardly Dog" belongs to John R. Dilworth.
Story inspired by C2ndy2c1s's AU comic "ASLEEP".
Muriel and Eustace Bagge were some of the strangest humans Grimm has ever encountered in his thousand years of existence.
After his first visit to the Bagges, Grimm thought it was a fluke that the two were able to escape death…
After the second visit, Grimm thought the two were extremely lucky to have escaped death not just once but twice…
After the third visit, Grim suspected a higher power was interfering with his job…
After the tenth visit, Grim started to believe that the Bagges were abominations against nature with unnatural luck …
Seriously! There have been plenty of times when their hourglasses appeared to be running out…
The time when they had stayed at that shady motel…
And the time when the old woman was kidnapped by a fox…
And the time when the old man used that defective hair tonic…
And the time when the they were cursed by a mummy…
And the time when the old man was enthralled by a demon…
And the time when the old woman was about to be eaten by zombies…
…ugh, don't get him started on the time with that obsessive duckling…
…even more unpleasant to remember was the time with that chicken from outer space…
The point is, time and time again the Bagges have escaped death and lived to see another day…
Normally, Grim would either have been annoyed with how often these false alarms seemed to happen or completely embarrassed by the fact it was an ELDERLY couple that constantly escaped death, and he would have done everything within his powers to have them in death's grasp…
But that didn't happen.
Somewhere along the line, Grim began to…enjoy his visits [not that he would admit that out loud]. There was this growing fascination he felt each time he visited. He would be amazed at the situations these humans were caught up in; however, what was truly fascinating was not how often they escaped death but how they were always rescued [Muriel more than Eustace] by their little, pink dog!
Oh, Grim should have definitely felt humiliated at this tid bit but surprisingly wasn't. Again, it was just fascinating to watch how far the dog was willing to go to save his owners that Grim couldn't help but admire the little dog's courage [ha ha ha] in dangerous situations and so didn't retaliate. The Bagges couldn't escape death forever and when the time comes, Grim will be ready to collect their souls…
Still, it came as a shock the day Eustace Bagge died.
At the time, Grim was in the Halls of Time, editing his list and adding any new names he found, when he decided to visit the Bagges' hourglasses. An hour later, Grim watched in disbelief as the last bit of sand dropped into the bottom of the old man's hourglass.
The next thing he knew he was standing over Eustace Bagge's corpse in the Nowhere Hospital morgue.
"Who the heck are you?"
Grim wasn't surprised to see Eustace's spirit in the room and summoned his scythe with dramatic flare. "EUSTACE BAGGE! I AM THE GRIM REAPER AND I HAVE COME TO COLLECT YOUR SOUL!"
"…Nope…"
Grim narrowed his eye sockets. "This ain't up for debate mon!"
The old man narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "I ain't going nowhere with yea'!"
The reaper felt his temper flare and threateningly raised his scythe. The spirit phased through the wall and Grim gave chase. The old man was fast but it wasn't a problem as Grim followed energy trail left behind. He didn't notice anything unusual until the trail bright him to one of the examining rooms…
And suddenly he was in the middle of listening to a doctor's diagnosis for one Muriel Bagge.
"–sprained hand and ankle in the car crash…and a few minor bruises. However, in another bad news, in our MRI scan we found a tumor in your brain in it's latest stage. I'm sorry you only have three weeks to live…"
Oh…
"NO!" Eustace yelled, sending a fist through the doctor. "LYING SON OF A BITCH! TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK!"
Grim thought that if Eustace were still alive the old man would have cried along side his wife at the shocking discovery…
Grim didn't attempt to capture Eustace and just watched the old man follow his wife out and listened to their fading calls for the woman who couldn't hear them…
A few weeks later, Grim was standing in the Bagge's kitchen, watching both the living and the dead. Muriel was in the process of preparing dinner while her deceased husband hovered nearby. Grim wasn't worried about Eustace wandering off since the old man obviously chose to stay by their wife's side ever since the two left the hospital [and he definitely didn't want any trouble of trying to separate them at this point]. Without a word, Grim took a seat at the table and took out a newspaper to read.
CHOP. CHOP. CHOP–
Grim began to hum along with Muriel, creating his own tune that mismatched with theirs. It was awhile before Grim suddenly noticed that the old woman had stopped humming. He looked up from his paper and noticed she had stopped chopping and stood completely still. Grim couldn't see Muriel's face, but knew something was off when he saw the worry look pass through Eustace's face.
"There's only a week left…" Muriel spoke out loud to herself, unaware of her audience.
Grim narrowed his eye sockets and observed the old woman carefully as she continue to speak.
"No one will love Courage as much as I do…people will euthanize the poor thing when they get the chance…
Won't it be better if I took him with me?"
Alarmed, Grim watched with wide eye sockets as Muriel marched out of the room with a kitchen knife. Grim wasn't the only one shocked at the display and Eustace quickly followed once they realized what she was about to do.
"MURIEL! WHAT ARE YOU DOIN'?! THIS AIN'T LIKE YOU!"
Grim listened as the old man continue to shout for her to stop though it was futile. Minutes later he heard the sound of running footsteps going up and a distant yet loud retching somewhere in the house.
Sighing, Grim stood and made his way to the second floor. As he was walking up the stairs, the dog ran down pass him, most likely to call for help…
Upstairs, Grim found the Bagges in the bathroom yet stayed out in the hallway. Muriel was lieing in her barf passed out while Eustace was screaming in anger for being unable to help his wife.
A loud gasp distracted him from the scene before him and he turned to look for the source. There, near the stairs, stood Courage, wide eyed and trembling. When Grim turned to fully face them he noticed that the trembling increased and knew that despite the concealing magic he placed on himself the dog could see him. Looking directly into the dog's eyes, Grim only uttered a single word to them.
"Soon."
[End of "Until Our Last Breath"]