It's been over a month and I am severely disappointed in myself. Unacceptable. I wrote a somewhat longer chapter for you guys, to make it up. I hope you like it. I want to thank all of you for all of your reviews! 49!! Need to break the 50 marker! Help me do it. Remember, reviews will encourage me. I want to dedicate this chapter to my friend who is turning 16 today. I don't know if she reads this fic yet, as she hasn't seen DLM yet, but I'll get her hooked once I get the DVD set. So happy birthday, Rhodes! And if you're Harry Potter or anime fans, check out her stories. She's got an amazing HP story up, just check out Animeluvr8. She's currently writing an X-men fan fic, too. So look forward to that.
Disclaimer: Don't own it, wish I did. I do have a pet graveling in my basement, however.
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"Bloody hell, Georgie. You look like you just spent the night sleeping on a bench!" Mason exclaimed, very indiscreetly. George's glare separated itself from Scarlet and focused on the Brit.
"Oh, thanks, Mason."
"What did you do last night?" Roxy butted in. "And who the hell are you?" She directed the last question to Scarlet, who was unusually immersed in the breakfast menu.
"Nothing. Couldn't sleep." George answered the first question, being faithful to Scarlet. Like hell she would answer the second one however. After a few seconds of silence, Mason decided to do the introductions.
"This girl?" He asked Roxy as he embraced Scarlet in a one arm hug, which surprised the teenager. "This is Scarlet. She's from Chicago and she's gonna be part of our dysfunctional family. Right?" Mason looked at Scarlet for the answer. Scarlet looked up at him, and then at George.
"Uh, right."
"Well, good luck, and uh, Welcome." Roxy replied. Scarlet nodded in thanks. "Hey, where's Rube?" The bell above the door answered her question before anyone could open their mouths. The eldest Reaper strode in, a smile on his face. He stopped at the head of the table, somewhat surprised at the number of people there already. He snatched a chair from a nearby table and sat down.
"We're going to have to get a bigger booth soon." He joked, looking at the faces of his band of merry Reapers. Only Scarlet was smirking at the gag.
"Alright, since no one is in the mood for the occasional joke, assignment time." Rube pulled out post-its from his brown appointment book. "One for you, one for you, and one for you." He handed Mason, Roxy and George yellow post-its. Scarlet, however, was left empty-handed.
"What about me, Rube?" The teenager spoke up.
"You, Scarlet, will be clocking some observation hours with Georgia."
"What!?" Both girls yelled, as Rube winced. "Rube, I've done reaps before. I got all my observations done with Ray back home! It's not like I just died!" Scarlet hissed at him.
"Daisy never had observation hours, and she was the same deal as Scarlet!"
"Scarlet is new to the city," Rube said calmly, looking at George. "And she's younger than you. I expect you to look after her for at least today." He then directed his glance to Scarlet. "You don't know this city. It's a bit different than Chicago. You're going with George on her reap, for at least this one time." Rube's glance then embraced both teenagers. "Ok?"
"Fine."
"Whatever."
"Good." He said, grabbing the menu Scarlet had been reading. "Now have you guys ordered yet?"
About an hour later, all of the reapers had dispersed from the diner. Daisy had finally woken and was currently on her way to her reap, Mason was the same. Roxy, after arguing with Rube that he had to stop giving her reaps during her shift, headed off to work. The head reaper himself left after he was sure that the two teenagers would leave together, and they did, albeit reluctantly.
The mustang pulled gently out of the parking lot, George behind the wheel, Scarlet in the passenger seat. As if George would let anyone but herself behind the wheel of her classic, although stolen, car.
"Alright now that we're alone, can we talk?" George asked the younger teenager. The brunette, however, just looked out the window, obviously ignoring George's question. "C'mon, Scarlet. Both you and I know something's up. There's a reason you're here."
"Where are we going?" Scarlet asked, completely ignoring George's prodding. George's grip tightened on the wheel, her knuckles turning white. Scarlet reminded George so much like herself, pre-toilet seat death. No wonder she had annoyed her mom, Joy, so much. George felt like ramming the mustang into a tree.
"Downtown. Outside some office building. We'll have to scan the crowd." George replied while looking at the clock situated in the car's dashboard.
The girls arrived about twenty minutes before the ETD that was written on the post-it. George parked and the both got out of the car.
"Look for high risks. It's kind of like-"
"Clue. Yeah, that's what Ray used to say. I know how it works, George. I have done this before." George glanced at the girl walking beside her.
"Fine. That's the building. The post-it says the death'll be around here somewhere. The name is R. L. Dobbs. Probably someone on a cigarette break." Scarlet headed toward a bench that was situated by the concrete "courtyard" in front of the building. She sat, George soon to follow suit. They searched the area like lifeguards searching a pool for anyone drowning.
"Window washer. Graveling." George said after a few minutes of scanning, the ETD looming closer.
"Possibility. Bike messenger coming out of the office building." Scarlet retorted.
"I still think it's the window washer. Higher risk."
"The gravelings are tricky. They get creative sometimes. If it is the window washer, how are you going to pull his soul? He's twenty stories up."
"Damn it." The girl had a point. George would never have time to get twenty stories up and reap the guy before he fell.
"I'm going to talk to the messenger. R. L. Dobbs right?" Scarlet did not wait for an answer, however, and strolled over to the bike messenger.
"Damn it, Scarlet, wait!" George sighed. The girl was already talking to the guy on the bike. The two began to laugh at something. "Was she? She was!" George thought. Scarlet was flirting with the young man.
"George! Come here!" Scarlet shouted. "I want you to meet someone!" George stood and with a rushed stroll, approached the two. The ETD was minutes away, and if Scarlet was wrong, George would be in deep shit.
"George, I would like you to meet Richard Dobbs. Richard L. Dobbs." The guy smiled at George and stuck his hand out in greeting. George took it, placing her other hand on his shoulder, dragging it down until both of her hands were grasping his. The familiar 'whoosh' of a soul leaving its body was heard by both Reapers, but Richard didn't seem to notice.
"Nice to meet you." George smiled.
"You, too." Rich took his hand back and smiled again at the two women standing in front of him. "How lucky could he be? Two amazing girls in one day!" He thought to himself. "Listen, I gotta go. More stuff to deliver. But here's my number. Don't lose it." He handed Scarlet his card and rode away.
"Nice guy." Scarlet commented as Rich got further away.
"Yeah…" George concentrated on her watch, the seconds ticking down. 5…4…3…2…1…Both girls suddenly heard a crash and screams coming from the direction of Mr. Dobb's now forgotten destination. They walked to the scene and saw a somewhat different death. Richard Dobbs was laying on the ground, dead, the window washer's platform on top of him. The window washer himself was laying on the platform itself. He seemed to be dead also.
"Shit!" George yelled. She rushed over to the scene of the accident, only to bump into Mason. Scarlet skidding to a stop beside the two. "Holy fuck, Mason. You didn't tell us your assignment was here! You scared the shit out of me!"
"Yeah, well same to you Georgie girl. I thought I screwed up again. Lucky for the both of us, eh?" George whacked Mason with a solid and well placed punch to the shoulder. "Ow! Bloody fuck!" George glared at the Brit, as Scarlet and the souls of the two newly deceased looked on. The brunette rolled her eyes and walked over to the two men.
"C'mon guys. I gotta get you both to your destinations." Both men followed silently, dragging their glances away from the scene of their deaths. As Mason and George bickered some more about how much shit they could have been in, and who's fault it was not telling the other about their assignments, two sets of swirling blue and white lights arrived and then faded in the distance.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TBC.
Yup. TBC. Hopefully, I'll update sooner rather than later. I have a little more than a week and a half left of winter break, so we'll see. Reviews will encourage me! It won't take more than a few minutes of your time! Less than that! Ok, I'm going to stop begging and let you get on with whatever you're going to do. Happy Thoughts and Cheers!
I remain,
-Pendragon4-