Chapter 10: That Thing You Do

Rosslyn POV

Mornings sucked. No, mornings after reaps sucked. No, reaps sucked which, in turn, made everything else suck which includes mornings. Therefore…mornings sucked. Der Waffle Haus couldn't even make me feel better as I neared it, and it had magical powers as far as I was concerned.

When I walked in under the jangling of the bell and the floor filled with customers turned to look at me I could feel my cheeks blushing red. Well, I could feel them blushing, but they were already red and puffy courtesy of the punches I'd taken the night before. I caught sight of the group at our usual table and they looked at me with curious faces. I didn't blame them.

It was February, early morning and cloudy which was a given for the Pacific Northwest. I, though, had donned large, dark sunglasses that morning, a trench coat that was a little longer than I normally wore, gloves, a scarf and boots that came up to my knees and laced up. I probably looked like some deranged flasher with cataracts. No one said anything though as I pulled up my normal chair at the end of the table and leaned against the back of it. I was fucking exhausted and really had no clue as to why I had even bothered to get out of bed.

"What the hell happened to you? Get dressed in the dark?" Roxy asked as Kiffany brought me a cup of coffee.

"No, and I don't feel like talking about it."

"Well what with those shades and all, love, you're practically vintage!" Mason pretty well gushed and reached out to grab my glasses.

I shied away and kept a firm hold on the ear piece as I glared out from behind the dark lenses, but it might have worked better if he could have seen my eyes. George was looking at me closely from her spot next to me and she leaned in close enough to spot my swollen cheek even though I'd tried to cover it up with concealer before I'd left the apartment.

"Did someone punch you, or what?" she asked, tilting her head to one side as she looked at me.

I saw Rube's head bolt upward from looking at the menu and his eyes turn to me. Well, he fucking noticed that… It was the first time he really paid me any mind in the week since…the whole graveyard thing. He locked eyes with me and I lowered my gaze, well, lowered my head to peruse the menu before I decided to skip food and stick to solid caffeine. The coffee was the only thing keeping me awake at the moment, but the stares from my fellow reapers was enough to make me want to crawl into a hole and hide.

"No, I just…what are you talking about?" I lied blatantly and everyone knew it, but I was so NOT in the mood to discuss my current physical ailments at the moment.

"You look like you took a right hook to the cheek, Ros." That would be Daisy's albeit kind nature, but from what I could tell she was eyeing my outfit like I was some homeless person who wandered in and sat down with them.

"I'm fine. Can we order now, where in the blue hell is Kiffany?"

"Don't bother, kids, there are souls to be taken before breakfast so grab a latte when you're done." Rube interrupted and opened his planner, that same beat up thing that he'd had for almost as long as I'd known him. "One for George, one for Roxy, one for Daisy, and one for Mason; I'd get a move on if I were you."

They all took the same moment to look down at their Post-Its just as every reaper did when they first got them. It was a curiosity thing and I think on some level you did get a slight God Complex because you did, in fact, hold someone's death in your hands…on a little sheet of yellow paper. During this time though Rube turned his quiet attention to me and mouthed are you alright? I simply smiled at him though, if it took me getting beaten to hell to get his attention now then I sure as hell was going to give him the same damn treatment.

"Why no Post-It for Ros?" Mason asked in that semi-whining tone of voice which earned him a scowl from me and a silent answer from Rube. Well, silent for a little while.

"You got a reap today, Ros?"

"I…probably, yeah, why?"

"Because Mason is very interested in your appointments. Maybe he ought to tag along?"

I narrowed my eyes and lowered the glasses to reveal two puffy, black eyes and in a very low, hollow voice I countered "I don't think that's a good idea, boss."

Rube's dark eyes widened slightly, but he turned back on his expressionless face and left me at the mercy of the rest of the group. Roxy, the cop of course, pulled my glasses down the rest of the way. I was completely exposed, hell, I should have ripped off the scarf to show off the claw marks in my neck and the trench for the bruises on the rest of me if that's what they wanted to see. It was my job and…nothing is more important than the job.

"The fuck happened to you?" George asked as I lowered my head to look down in my lap.

"I…have to go..." I started and pulled the glasses back on.

Silently I hoped that Rube would follow me. He stared after me in the same way he always did when I didn't want to talk about something. I didn't see him but I knew that face: his jaw would be set, his eyes would be blank and his expression would be unreadable save for the distinct vibe of being hurt that I didn't confide in him what had happened. Only this time I shied away from him and his reapers in a fashion that was probably one of the worst ways I could have brought my line of work to the surface. I'm so viciously fucked…

I needed someone to talk to and since my only confidante was in there and apparently angry at me, or avoiding me at the very least, I had to seek out someone else that I knew I could trust. But who? Everyone aside from Rube that I knew was inside and as I turned to give one last darkened lens glance at them I wondered if anyone else I knew was still around.

OPOV

Penny. Penny had always been her saving grace when Rube was in a pissy mood. She trusted her almost as much as she trusted him and had always thought of her like an older sister, which was actually kind of funny because she was at least a lifetime older than the petite woman reaper. That was Rosslyn's answer. Besides, she had been in town for almost three weeks and hadn't stopped by to see her yet.

The hospital was till the same. It still made her nervous to go in even after being gone for as long as she had been. Never when she lived there did she go in to see Penny, Rube always took care of that and he had an even worse fear of hospitals than she did. Yes, always the strong anchor, he was.

The elevator was welcoming what with the scent of floor cleaner and Febreze wafting in as Rosslyn pressed the button to take her to the right floor. The ride was quick and she thought back to the first time she'd ever come to see Penny outside of a work related issue. Ironically enough, it was actually about the same reason why she was there now.

The desk on that floor was huge and cluttered with papers. Another nurse sat in the swivel chair behind a large phone system writing something up and it took her a few moments before she noticed the tall auburn haired woman waiting for her.

"Can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm looking for Penny. Is she on shift?"

"Is...It an emergency?"

"Tell her Rosslyn needs to talk to her. Yeah, it actually is important."

"One moment." The nurse got up and went around into the room behind the counter.

Suddenly Penny's familiar small frame walked out, holding a cup of coffee behind. Her smiling face brightened even more as she saw the other reaper and went over to hug her. Rosslyn too wore a smile and she hugged her back just as excitedly.

"Holy crap, I never thought you were going to come see me…what the hell happened to you?" she asked upon seeing the younger looking girl's odd clothing.

"The usual…can you get a break and come talk? I…really need to talk to you."

Penny nodded and turned to the other nurse, "I'll have my pager on, Loretta, can you hang for a couple of hours? I'll come back so you can go to lunch."

The other nurse nodded and after Penny got her coat the two were riding the elevator to go get coffee. Once they made it to a small café and ordered Rosslyn finally took off the sunglasses to reveal her two black, swollen eyes and puffed cheek to her old friend.

"Christ…you really took a beating, huh?" Penny asked, cupping Rosslyn's cheek in one hand.

"Yeah, but that's not why I'm here."

"That's never why you're here, sweetie."

"Why do you call me that? I'm older than you."

"Because I can, so tell me what's up."

"I…I don't even know where to start."

"You came home, that's a damn good place to start."

"Yes, I came home. I came home and everything's turned ass-side up."

"What do you mean?"

"I came home to talk to Rube and figure out if he was okay what with the whole…Rosie thing. Now he's off on this…I don't even know what you'd call it, but he's stopped wearing his wedding ring and was acting all happy like nothing was wrong." Rosslyn spoke fast, gesturing wildly and almost knocked over the poor waitress who brought them their coffee.

"He's not wearing his wedding ring? You mean that old bastard finally got it through his head that he wasn't obligated anymore? Praise the fucking lord."

"The hell are you talking about? He's worn that thing for as long as he's been married…and dead. Why is this a good thing?"

"You mean it never bothered you that he wore it for all those years?" Penny cocked an eyebrow at the younger woman and sipped her coffee.

"No! Okay, well it did a little, but it was normal. It was comforting. He was starting all this talk about letting go and that he was finally going to start enjoying his afterlife and all of this other crazy shit."

"Is it really so crazy, Rosslyn? His wife treated him like shit when he was alive and now that he's finally coming to terms with it you're giving him crap? He's in a really rough place right now. As his best friend I thought you'd might understand that." Penny was appalled and she half glared over the white lid of her coffee cup.

"I do understand, but Penny it's weird, okay? It's really weird. You know he asked me out for Valentine's Day?" Rosslyn was frustrated as all hell and was starting to feel that hysteria bubbling up in her.

Penny paused, a hand coming up to rest on Rosslyn's arm, but instead she just looked at the other woman, "he asked you out? Seriously? What did you say?"

Rosslyn sighed and leaned back into the booth, "I said yes. Of course I said, yes, Penny, what else would I fucking say to him?"

"So what happened?"

"What do you mean what happened?"

"You wouldn't come here bitching about him not wearing his wedding ring anymore if something big didn't happen. So what happened?"

"I…we…we kissed, okay?"

A smile broke out over Penny's face, "Was it everything you thought it was going to be? Every thought you've denied yourself for almost twenty years, Rosslyn, was it? Come on, you've been head over heels for him since before you left so you can't tell me that it wasn't everything you wanted."

Rosslyn stopped and Penny put a hand on her arm in a sisterly way, squeezing lightly. The bruises ached under the touch, but it was welcome under all the stress and frustration she was feeling at the moment. Her swollen eyes looked up from the tabletop and locked with Penny's gaze before a very evident blush won out over the redness of her bruised cheek.

"It was. It really was. I wanted to kiss him again. I've wanted to do that for so long, but…now everything is so fucked up, I don't know what to do." There were tears in her eyes and they made her voice thick.

"What happened?" Penny leaned in; this was definitely not the response she'd planned on hearing when those two finally got it together.

"He's been avoiding me since it happened. I haven't talked to him outside of at meals when the rest of his group's around. Granted, it made me mad so I'm kind of avoiding him too, but look at me…I went in there this morning and he didn't even say anything about how I looked." She was fighting back tears and losing as they started to fall down her cheeks slowly and only added a more pathetic air to her already battered appearance.

"Okay, you know Rube's a big boy. He can, and WILL take care of things when he feels its right to do so. If it's bothering you go talk to him about it. You know how he is about talking and letting out his feelings…it'll take you making the first move." Penny again reached for her arm and patted it, looking on with wanting to do something, anything to ease her pain.

"But what if I really am crazy and the kiss was just a fluke? I'll be standing there having poured my guts out to him and he'll think I'm crazy. Then. I'll be out a really good friend and have to go back to Boston just to get away from everything. Do you know what'll happen if that happens, Penny? I don't want to go back to that again and-"

"You're not crazy and it wasn't a fluke so stop talking like that. He's just as nuts about you as you are for him and the only insanity is the fact that you two have tap danced around this for so long." Penny interrupted sternly.

"What?"

"He…came and talked to me a few days before I guess he asked you out. He was in pretty much the same shape you're in now minus the hysterics over the fact that he was feeling something for you and I told him to do something about it."

"You told him to ask me out?"

"Not in so many words, but Ros, he's fucking crazy for you okay? Trust me on that. You two were meant for each other. Stop worry about it and just…jump in there, already." Penny's voice had softened and Rosslyn's tears had stopped.

The younger girl sniffled and smiled at the other reaper. The frustration was still there, but not the same as it had been. She had to go talk to Rube or she was going to die…again. This time though, there wouldn't be any of that 'tap dancing' bullshit.

"So…he said he was crazy about me?"

"Let's just say he's been fighting it for about as long as you have."

"Thanks, Penny…really."

The shorter woman patted Ros's arm again, "No problem."

OPOV

"Can you believe her comin' in like that this morning?" Roxy asked the rest of her co-workers over a waffle lunch.

Rube had taken off to do whatever it was he did during the day and Rosslyn had disappeared as she tended to do once breakfast was over. This left Mason, Roxy, George, and Daisy to eat together for lunch and discuss the earlier morning's actions.

"Rube didn't even bat an eyelash at her; don't you think that's a little odd?" Daisy asked, taking a drink of her Diet Coke.

"Oh he did, he just didn't say anything. I saw him give her a look before Toilet Seat here jumped on her about how she looked." Roxy countered and looked to George who stared evenly at the cop.

"You were all thinking it." She simply answered and turned back to her plate.

"What do you think happened?" Daisy asked.

"I don't fucking know, she's always coming here with scrapes and shit so why bother asking ourselves that. She's Rube's friend so we should be asking him, not each other." Mason answered, leaning over to take one of George's strawberries.

"Don't you think it's weird that she never gets Post-Its yet Rube doesn't ever jump on her about working? I mean, I know she's here on a visit but she's been here almost a month so you'd think someone somewhere would give her something to do." Roxy added.

"Maybe she does work, but doesn't get her Post-Its from him?" George asked, slapping Mason's hand away from the rest of her fruit salad.

"I want to know why the hell she's coming in all beat up like she does. I'm a fucking cop and if it's a domestic disturbance thing, I want to know who to put in jail."

"Aw, Roxy, I didn't know you cared so much for our mysterious little friend." Mason gushed as he tried to sneak another strawberry from the younger blonde who promptly tried to stab him with her fork.

"I don't. I just want to know what the fuck's going on."

Daisy sighed a little and gathered her things to leave, "I say we just leave it alone and if they want to tell us, they will. That's how it's always been with Rube and she looks just his type."

"Yeah, Rube has a type, that's funny, Daisy." Mason laughed.

Daisy turned and left, heading out to her reap for the afternoon. Maybe it wasn't such a weird idea to figure out why Ros was in such bad shape and Rube had been in such a bad mood the last few days. So where should I go to find her?

DPOV

The night was cold as ice as I turned the corner, trying to follow as quietly as I could manage. The stiletto heels made a sharp click click noise on the pavement and for a while I was sure I'd be caught. Rosslyn had become a friend to me since she'd gotten there: we'd gone shopping a few times and out to eat as well. She was a quiet girl, much like Georgia, but had more of shyness rather than hostility to her.

I'd seen her walking through a park earlier in the twilight. Now, it was dark and starting to rain as I followed her. Was this her reap? A young guy, probably mid thirties or so walked a half block or so in front of her and she followed his every step since she's caught sight of him on the grass in the park. She wore an odd expression as though she were looking at him and even communicating with him, but not with her body. Those hazel eyes were blank and glazed over under the light of a streetlamp and I could see it from my perch just beyond the corner of a building.

Rosslyn stopped as the man stopped and he turned around to face her. He was angry and glared out at her with contempt as he opened his mouth and a horrendous scream filled the air. It was what a banshee must sound like before they take your soul. Even as he shrieked at her she stood calm and collected. Soon the man quieted and stared out at her in a stupor, eyes wide and mouth hanging half open.

She sauntered up to him, placed a hand over his chest and I saw the familiar tremble of her popping his soul. Her body backed away quickly and the man stood there for a moment before his body collapsed leaving the soul to stand in its place. Only, this wasn't a soul like I had ever seen.

It looked like a mixture of a graveling, a human and the Wolf Man standing before my fellow reaper. She looked on without fear, or perhaps so much fear that she couldn't move. The two stared down at each other as if waiting for something. I saw Rosslyn's hand twitch and her palm started to twinkle and glow blue. Well, it wasn't her palm per say, but it was almost as if the Lights that souls see flowed in her veins in that hand.

The creature shrieked again and sent her jogging backward a few feet. It roared and charged her, swinging hands, no, claws at my friend. A scream rose up in my throat as one claw caught her wrist of the hand that glowed blue and dug deep into the veins. She let out a cry and with her other hand pulled out the sharp talons and shoved them away. She looked pissed.

"Don't fuck with me…" Rosslyn said in a low voice and countered, holding her hurt arm close to her chest.

The two circled each other until this time Rosslyn charged the thing and the two clawed at one another. Long, deep scratches raked her already swollen face as she fought to get her injured hand over the creature's chest. I couldn't help but want to call for Rube, he was her friend right? He could help her? This wasn't a soul, this was some kind of monster.

I saw the Lights out of the corner of my eyes and turned, seeing her palm glowing blue over where the heart would be if that creature had one. Lights filled the background behind them and I saw the monster start to change. It went from that hideous thing to something that matched the body it had come from and I stared, open mouthed. The soul turned to look at Rosslyn in its arms, she nursing her arm and looking at him with a bloodied face.

"Thank you…thank you so much. I…" he looked at her for what had to be the first time really seeing her.

"Did I do that to you?" he asked and reached out a hand to her bleeding wrist.

"No, you didn't" Rosslyn answered with a tired smile.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, I wanted to stop, but I couldn't, I'm so sorry-"

"You didn't do anything, okay? I completely understand. Now go before you lose your chance…again." She was tired and shaking badly, I could see it from where I was.

"Bless you." The man said and put a hand on her shoulder before going into his Lights.

Rosslyn stood for a few minutes, holding her wrist to her and stared at where the Lights had been. I stared too from her to the space. What the hell was that? What the hell was she? She… gave him lights. She conjured them up like some magic spell. This was definitely not right. The others had to know about this…

RPOV

It was blessedly quiet that night as I sat in my chair with a book and a glass of bandy at my elbow. The fire was warm, but I still felt cold. I had been feeling cold for the last week.

Seeing Rosslyn in such a state that morning bothered me to no end. Why hadn't she come to me for help? Why hadn't she come to talk in a week? Did she think I was mad at her or something?

My thumb absently rubbed over the place on my ring finger where my wedding band had once been. It hurt on some level that we were ignoring each other, especially after what happened on Valentine's Day. God, that kiss had been glorious. I finally felt as I should be feeling when I kissed a woman and…I was glad it was with her.

This last week had made me come to realize that 'doing something about it' wasn't the only thing I had to do to finally…come to terms with the fact that I wasn't in love with Lucy. I would always love her with all my heart; she had been my wife, but I wasn't in love her the way I should have been. It hurt me that I'd wasted so long in thinking she was the only woman I'd ever have room for in my heart. Sure, I loved Roxy and George, but more in a family sense. Penny was like a sister me and Betty was like the loveable next-door neighbor's kid that came to bother you.

Rosslyn was different. She always had been. From the moment I'd laid eyes on her almost seventy years ago she was different to me. Yes, she was beautiful but there was just something about her soul that got to me. At first I thought it was just some crazy fluke because we had been so close but after she'd gotten the notice she was leaving the area for the east coast I felt those feelings become stronger. I missed her like crazy, but not in normal terms. I had been depressed after she left and I took it out on anything and everything. Just as she'd always said that I was her anchor, she was mine.

A knock on my door jarred me from my thoughts and I stood. It was close to one in the morning, who the fuck wants me this late? I opened the door a crack, thinking maybe it was just The List coming for a really late-night reap. I was dead, pardon the pun, wrong.

Rosslyn stood just outside my door just as she always had when she was hurting. Whether or not it was physical pain she always stood with a guilty expression like she was worried I'd refuse her. Yeah, like I could.

She was covered in blood and her already swollen face was covered in deep scratches. No doubt she'd had a reap on top of everything else. No, two in two days. It was a wonder she was still standing.

"Get in here..." I ordered in a soft tone and opened the door wide for her.

She nodded and walked in, holding her wrist to her chest. That was the source of the blood, I noticed. There were deep punctures in her wrist by the veins and the blood was just flowing. Ah, the price we pay for immortality.

"Reap?" I asked.

She nodded again, "yeah."

"You okay?"

Again she nodded, "yeah."

I shut the door and closed the distance between us, "are you really okay?"

She shook her head no and I wrapped her in a hug. I could feel all the pain and hurt she'd been feeling from me from this last week. Guilt washed over me, in my search to figure things out I had pushed her away. She worried things were her fault and that I was angry at her. I'm not.

I know. I heard her voice in my mind as only her kind of reaper could conjure. It was times like these when I was glad for it too. She looked up at me and I smoothed away a lock of those auburn curls. Her face had all but stopped bleeding, but it was her wrist that worried me. I grabbed some bandages and set to dress it, but she pushed my hands away and looked into my eyes.

"Don't fuck with me, Rube. Tell me the truth."

"About what?"

"Was that kiss just a fluke or what? Should I never bring it up again?"

"Do you not want to bring it up again?"

"I…don't do this to me now, I've had two reaps in two days and I'm losing blood flow to my brain. Just answer the damn question."

I leaned down and kissed her forehead, just barely brushing my lips over her bloodied skin. I felt her relax against me and again I felt that warmth, what I had once called a strange feeling that only came up when she was around. I held her for as long as I could stand it before I tipped her chin up to meet mine in a kiss.

She slid neatly into my arms, just as she always had. The kiss was different. The one in the cemetery was filled with questions that needed to be answered, but was hardly lacking in passion. This one was more gentle and filled with the answers to those questions. When I finally let her go she looked up at me with those big, hazel eyes.

"Can I stay tonight?"

"Of course."