-/-/-/-/- 5 days from Now, approx. 8:00 AM

Two days went by without interruption. The destruction caused by the two rituals was cleaned up, and the souls of the people killed during those days were sent on their final destinations. Life in Seattle returned to normal, or as normal as it could get with a population consisting of wizards, witches, demons, vampires, reapers, one or two vampire Slayers, and the Muggles who were oblivious to all of those previously mentioned. Muggles, as usual, found some way of explaining the peculiarity of the week's events and continued to live in blissful ignorance of the supernatural.

Rube and Mason talked some more about magic and the wizarding world from which Mason was raised. Mason got a warning that he wasn't to hold anything back from now on, and Mason convinced his boss not to tell anyone about the world of magic, especially Daisy, Roxy, George and any other reapers Rube may come upon.

Mason was sitting across from Rube, busily eating a breakfast he'd actually ordered. Daisy was sitting next to him, looking over the menu.

"I wonder if I should try the eggs benedict," Daisy pondered.

"Don't," Rube advised. "The new cook never makes them exactly right."

Mason pointed with his fork down at his own meal. "This here is really good."

Daisy peered over the menu at the plate. "Mason! Did you order that yourself?"

"Had to. You hadn't shown up yet and Rube had already eaten. I was starving."

Daisy patted his cheek. "Oh, you poor dear," she said insincerely.

Roxy sidled into the booth across from her. "Anything good today?" she asked, nodding at Rube's empty dish and Mason's half-empty plate.

"The sausages are good this-" Rube stopped, eyes narrowing in puzzlement. Mason, Daisy and Roxy looked up at this. Seeing where he was gazing, they turned their attention to the door.

George had just walked in. Before the door swung closed behind her, a brown barn owl swept through the open door and over George's shoulder. Not expecting it, the young reaper jumped and cursed, then watched with the rest of the restaurant's patrons as the owl glided across the room.

"Where the hell did he come from?" Roxy asked, as surprised as everyone else.

"She," Mason corrected absently, having recognized the sex of the bird the moment he got a good look at her.

"What?" Roxy inquired, turning a confused gaze to him.

He didn't notice. He saw the owl descend toward him and, without thinking, held up his arm. The bird settled down on the proffered perch and sunk her claws into his leather jacket sleeve.

"Hello there, lovely," Mason greeted the bird. She hooted at him in response and held up her right leg. Tied to it with a green ribbon was a rolled-up piece of parchment. One-handed, Mason pulled off the tied ribbon and caught the scroll before it could fall. The owl hopped off his arm and onto the table when he attempted to unroll the letter.

Hey, Mace. I'm at your place. Come over ASAP.

-Jex

His eyes scanned the hastily written note and a relieved grin broke out on his face. "Oh, thank God!" Feeling jubilant, he looked around at his companions. They all stared back, open-mouthed.

"Mason?" Rube asked, tone approaching upset. He was the only one besides Mason who knew why an owl was delivering Mason's mail, and he didn't sound happy about it.

Mason's grin faded a little at his glare. The wizard reaper looked at the owl and then around at everyone else. He realized for the first time just how quiet it had become.

Kiffany walked over, staring at the owl. She stopped a few feet away, obviously not keen on being any nearer to the animal than necessary. "The bird can't stay in here. No pets allowed."

"Right. Er, sorry." Mason held out his arm again and the bird obligingly hopped back onto it. Mason stood up and looked to Rube. "Can I have my post-it, please?"

Rube opened his ledger and took out one of the post-its. He held it out for Mason to take, only to pull it back at the last minute. "Do I have to remind you about what will happen to you if you go blabbing to the wrong people?"

Mason shook his head. "No. It's nothing, Rube, I promise."

Rube held out his hand and this time Mason was able to snatch the post-it away. He stuffed the post-it and the parchment in his jeans pocket and then hurried out the door, conversation beginning again among the other customers as they returned to their meals.

"What the crap was that?" George demanded, staring from Mason to Rube and back again. Daisy and Roxy also looked inquiringly at him.

Rube slapped a post-it down in front of each of them. "It's none of your damn business," he said definitively.

-/-/-/-/- 5 days from Now, approx. 9:00 AM

Mason walked into his house and grinned when he saw who was sitting on his couch. "Jexter!"

Jexter stood, smiling as Mason pulled him in for a hug. "Hello, Mason."

Mason sat down next to him on the couch. "What happened, Jex? Where'd you go when you Disapparated?"

"Somewhere quiet, out in the middle of nowhere." He winced. "I was hoping we could talk or fight or something, just come up with some solution."

"Did you?"

Jexter snorted. "Oh, yeah, we talked alright. Then Ethan got out of there. I'm still not sure exactly how. Some Wiccan thing."

Mason smiled sympathetically. "He'll turn up again, I'm sure."

His cousin nodded. "Of course he will. And more people will die when he does."

"Guess so, yeah," Mason said, shrugging.

"Mace-" Jexter hesitated, then plowed on, "Where do people go, when they die?"

Mason smiled uneasily. "Don't know. I haven't gotten there myself."

Jexter stared at the carpet. "Think Ethan and I will end up in the same place?"

He grimaced. "Don't know," he repeated, wishing he could say something more.

Jexter smiled deprecatingly. "Probably not." He stood up. "I'll just have to hope for another chance in this life."

Mason got to his feet and smiled. "You do that."

Their eyes met. "Will you ever get to move on, Mace? Like Aunt Janis had hoped?"

Mason nodded. "Yeah, I will, eventually."

Jexter smiled. "Good. At least someone in this family will have a happy ending."

The reaper patted him on the back. "Care to stay for lunch? I've got an appointment in an hour, but I can probably meet you afterwards."

Jexter winced at the mention of his appointment. "No, thanks, Mason. I'll have to take a rain check."

"Um, okay, then."

Mason led the way to the door. "Be sure to write if you ever need anything," he told Jexter in a fit of protectiveness.

Jexter nodded. "I will. I have to go now, though. There's something going down that involves a five-headed beast and the end of the world that the Council needs my help with."

Mason blinked. "Is that the same thing Willow mentioned a few days ago?"

He laughed. "Uh, no. That was taken care of already. This is something worse."

"Oh." The reaper laughed nervously.

Jexter gave him an amused grin. "Oh, Mason, Mason. You really should keep up with the times. Then you'd know this sort of thing happens all the time."

"It just makes me relieved I don't work in Supernatural Causes."

Jexter let out a surprised bark of laughter before pulling the door open and walking outside. "I'll come by next week if I have time!" he called back as he walked down the path.

"See you then!"

Jexter waved and Mason waved back. Jexter grinned. "I'll tell Cheslie you said hi!"

Mason smiled before a look of horror came over his face. "Cheslie? Oh, sweet, miserable - Uh, Jex? I'd really appreciate it if you didn't-"

Jexter grinned before Disapparating away.

-/-/-/-/- The End