Title:Between Life and Death

Rating:R or M…depends on what system you want to go by.

Chapter:7

Author:White Werewolf

Category:Xander/Georgia

Spoilers:Post "Chosen" in BTVS, post "Haunted" in DLM

Summery:During a mission from Giles, Xander has an unfortunate accident. But just how unfortunate is the question.

Disclaimer:Buffy: the Vampire Slayer is owned by Fox, UPN, Whedon, and ME. Dead Like Me used to be own by Showtime, now Sci-Fi airs it, so I really don't know who owns it anymore. Not me though. If I did, I'd put it back on the air in a heartbeat.

Author Notes:I know I promised a return of one of my older fics, but when I saw Dead Like Me on Sci-Fi I got intrigued. Bought the dvds, and was hooked. Now, I just want Sci-Fi to start airing new episodes if ratings are high enough.

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My eyes tiredly opened as the morning light started to shine through the windows. My hand instinctively rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

My head turned to the left and there, beside me slept a dark haired man. My first thought was…

Trip.

I immediately shot out of bed and yelled, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Trip shot out of bed and rolled out of bed.

Fuck.

When did this guy get here?

"Not so loud, Goerge!"

My eyes widned. "Mason…"

I yanked the sheet off the bed and wrapped myself inside. What the fuck happened last night? Why is Mason here and why the fuck was I in bed with Trip.

The fucking guy who never called or did anything after we slept together that night.

"Somebody tell me what the hell just happened?"

Trip started to get to his feet. I stormed over to him and yelled, "Why the fuck are you here?"

He scratched the back of his head. "This is my hotel room, George."

When he said those words, I realized who I was yelled at. "Oh my god." I remembered what happened last night and dropped the sheet. I bent down and offered my hand to Xander.

"I'm so sorry, Xander. I thought you were somebody else."

He looked at me finally and chuckled slightly, "I got that. I don't know who this Trip is though."

"Trip's a guy who George used to date." Mason said with his hand over his face. "And can you guys keep it down. Not so loud."

Xander looked at him. "Maybe next time you shouldn't drink so much."

He scoffed. "You don't know how dramatic Daisy can act sometimes, mate." Mason shook his head, "And trying to talk to Willie is never fun."

The mention of the Willie not only made me glare at Mason, but it also caused Xander to approach him.

"Wait…Willie's in Seattle?"

Mason looked at him, "Xander, keep it down, will ya? Too many voices."

He sat down on the bed and continued to watch Mason. I shortly joined him and said, "We were trying to keep that to ourselves."

Xander looked at me, "Why?"

I dint know how to respond to him. I mean, the reason why I never wanted to bring it up originally was because I thought that maybe the past was something he wanted to forget.

I just wanted him to not make him feel like we were talking about him behind his back.

I could lie to him, try to cover it. Be so much the reaper that I already am, but I already know how that turned out. My mouth goes dry and I can't speak. Even though him his jokes were nice, I still don't want to repeat that performance.

I looked back at him, and decided to be honest. "I just didn't want you to think we were talking about you behind your back."

Mason asked, "Did you really almost get fucked by a praying manits?"

I glared at Mason, "That's exactly one of the reasons why I didn't want to bring Willie up, Mason."

I smiled slightly back at Xander, "Sorry about that. You have to excuse him. Mason doesn't know how to handle an adult conversation."

He shot back, "That hurt, Georgy. I had a bad night."

She nodded, "A night full of drinking and chatting with the barkeep."

Xander added, "Mason, Willie isn't the Cheers type. He's only interested in saving his own ass."

George smiled, "Actually, those two should get along great."

Mason shook his head, "George, lay off. I'm seriously not in a good place right now."

"Well, you're going to continually be in a bad place if you drink all the time."

Mason said, "I know I need to lay off the drinking." He turned to Xander, "Can I ask you a question?"

He nodded, "Sure."

"So, did the praying mantis thing happen or not?"

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We reached Der Waffle House within the hour. After my rude awakening and talking with George and Mason, I finally got to talk with Giles. And of course he asked me about the book. I told him since I was in Seattle for a while, I'd mail it to him. So, he should get it with a week.

After we got into the restaurant George already spotted her boss and we soon walked over.

Rube looked between us and noted a little annoyed Mason. "Looks like someone had a rough night."

Mason slumped down on the booth. "Daisy refused to let me into the house last night."

Rube looked at the blond in question and then back at Mason. "Never mind. Not interested."

He glanced up at me. "Interesting to see you this morning."

I already decided what I wanted to say to him before we even got to the restaurant this morning. "I want to say I'm sorry about last night. It was one long day and I'm sorry I left like that."

George sat down next to Mason as I grabbed a spare chair. "Mason told Xander about Willie."

"Ah," Rube said. "So I can safely assume that what Willie has said was the truth."

I thought for a moment. "Knowing Willie, he holds nothing back. Given the proper motivation, I'm sure he'll sell out on anyone. He sold out one of my friends a few years back."

I couldn't help but chuckle a little, "I should've known he get out of Sunnydale before it became a sinkhole."

I looked at Rube, "Did he have any information about the prophecy?"

Roxy added, "Didn't mention anything."

I asked, "Didn't know anything or didn't want to tell anything?"

"How do you mean?" Daisy asked.

I answered, "You obviously never handled Willie. Tell you what, I'm sure I might be able to get him to talk."

"How?" George asked.

I replied, "With the proper motivation, he'll say anything. I do have that axe back at the room."

Roxy asked, "How did you get the axe passed airline security?"

I smiled, "It helps when your best friend is a witch." With a shrug, I added, "Plus, Buffy wouldn't let me go anywhere without a weapon."

"You think you could threaten Willie to stop hassling me about the tab?" Mason asked.

I smirked, "You're on your own there."

Daisy asked, "Did you find anything out from your friend?"

I answered, "You mean, Giles?" She nodded. "I did call him this morning."

I paused for a moment. "Lemme tell you he wasn't happy not getting the book on time, but when I told him I got caught up in something prophetic, he understood."

Rube asked, "Did you tell him about us?"

I leaned forward to him, "I understand secret keeping. I know that it's required in your line of work. Hell, it's the same with Buffy. But letting him know about reapers isn't something you need to worry about. He can be trusted."

Rube leaned close as well, "Xander, I understand the need to try and figure out this prophecy and I understand that you want to move on with you life. If I had the opportunity like this, I would want to too. But, I just don't feel comfortable with all this. Reaping is something that isn't supposed to be known about."

I knew he was right.

"Rube, if I could, I wouldn't want to interrupt your mode of operations here, but I don't have much of a choice. It's just like the Powers that Be to screw people over. But one thing my time with Buffy has taught me is that whatever life deals you with; you need to adapt to the new situation. Either that, or get lost in the past."

As soon as I mentioned the last part of my statement, Rube glared at me even more. I was about to say something, when Mason said, "Never say stuck in the past, mate."

Rube looked at me, "I understand your new to this, but Xander, I think that maybe you shouldn't bring any more people into our situation."

I defended myself, "I'm all for that. But I do want to try and understand why the PTB wants someone like me to do their dirty work. Last time I checked, I'm not a slayer, witch, vampire, werewolf, reaper, or anything like that. I'm human. Plan and simple."

I paused for a second...

I shrugged.

"I'm normal."

Rube scoffed a little, "You're not as normal as you may think."

I sat back a little, "What do you mean I'm not normal? I don't have any powers."

Rube replied, "I learned a few things from Willie recently, Xander. A normal person as you claim wouldn't be exposed to such a life and not make an impact. And just because you may not have powers, still doesn't make you normal."

I couldn't help but roll my eye. "What kind of impact?"

"Well, how about that heart of yours. Because of that heart, you not only saved your friends, but you saved the world numerous times. You stopped Angelus when other 'normal humans' would have died a moment later. But you survived."

"I was just doing my best to protect Buffy."

I'm going to kill Willie when we're done here.

Rube leaned back. "Which is exactly what I'm trying to tell you. There is more to you then may think."

He paused for a moment.

"Which leads me to another avenue."

"And that is?"

"Maybe having in the fold with us isn't going to be a bad thing."

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TBC