Title: Dizzy Up The Girl
Author: obiwankatie
Characters: Mason/George
Rating: R
Summary: Growing up is hard enough, but growing up as a Grim Reaper is hellish. And being a new Reaper, George hasn't learned all the ropes and rules of dating while undead. People tend to date within their profession, and Reapers aren't much different.
A/N – I don't own Dead like me, else it never would've gone off the air. Unbeta'd
The reviews are what reminded me of this. I'm sorry I dropped off the face of the planet and stopped posting. I guess I grew unpleased with the story. A few reviews critiquing the fic drove me crazy, partially because I can't take criticism, partially because there are so few fic in the fandom to begin with, and partially because I'm a freaking wimp. And then when asking a friend of I should do one thing and she said to do another, I took her advice and wrote myself into a corner. Oh, and then I found a passion at school that I drove right into and it consumed me for two years. That, and I got into Star Trek. Excuses, excuses. I'm still here, I'm reworking my plot outline, and I'll be posting more. Promise. Hopefully soon, not in another two years. But I am a busy girl, so don't expect anything tomorrow!
Chapter 7 – All Eyes On Me
And all that you knew slips away
Really, I blame myself. I was warned by Roxy and Rube. I could visibly see how easily he moved from one girl to another. And then there was my brain screaming at me as to how wrong the very idea of being with him was. Of course he wouldn't stay a whole night with me. That would be just too kind.
So I get up and shower before heading over to Der Waffle Haus.
Daisy's downstairs waiting for me as though I should have moved slightly faster when getting dressed. She says nothing, just stares at me as I grab my coat and keys. Maybe she can read my anger, though she seems a little pissed herself. I hate it when she gets like this.
We get into the car and drive in silence. I know it sounds selfish, but can't I be the one upset right now?
Whatever.
After I ask Kiffany for some toast and scrambled eggs, Rube hands out our post-its. "What about Mason?"
"Called him in for a reap at five. Should be back by now, but it's Mason. I've learned to expect nothing from him."
"You called him on his cell?"
"Yes, that's normally how it's done."
"Oh." So that's why he was gone.
"Why are you so interested in his whereabouts?" Roxy asks, turning to look down at me from my left shoulder.
"Just wanted to know if he was going to do his job today, too. If I have to reap, I want him to, too."
"Well he is, so go back to not caring."
"Done and done." I sit back and wait for my breakfast.
Mason stumbles in as I finish up with breakfast. The others filter out, but I wait with him while he orders his food.
"I got called by Rube. Early mornin' reap."
"I know. You could've woken me."
"You don't sleep much."
He's got a point.
"Well, could you wake me next time? You were gone and I thought you left me…"
"George…" He moves from across the booth to sit next to me. "Georgia, I am not leaving you."
"But it feels like you will."
He takes my hands, as if he's trying to reassure me with physical contact.
"Georgia, I am not lying to you. I want to be with you. Haven't I proved that well enough?"
Strange thing was, he wasn't completely wrong.
Summer school is a known buzz kill, but juggling classes, a part time job, and full time reaping is nearly fucking impossible. So when Rube gave us all a pile of post-its a week later at breakfast, I was the first to groan.
"Group reap today. Except Daisy. You're getting everyone not at our location." Rube handed her five yellow sheets. Nothing, compared to my twenty.
"Rube, what the fuck is going down?" Roxy was flipping through her notes, trying to solve the crime before the rest of us.
"Looks like an accident on the Ferry," Mason replied, going though his own.
"Mason, sometimes you surprise me." Rube's face was equally shocked. "However, I don't have the details. Just gotta be on that Ferry. So, this breakfast is to go."
We leave our money for Kiffany and move out. Rather than risk losing my car on the doomed ferry ride, I park it. The four of us walk down to the docks nearly in synch. Like a fucking gang. A gang you really don't want to fuck with. When you hit us, we don't hit back. We just take your soul.
We should get jackets.
Rube gets us on. And then the game begins. We all have twenty minutes to find our reaps before the first death. Thankfully, Rube's included a few extra notes on the post-its. Like age and gender. Sometimes he's a nice guy.
He also warned us on the ride over that we simply won't get everyone. Some will have to be reaped post-death. Traumatic and sad, but you can't win all the time.
So we do our best. I find Mason before the collision with another boat and hold on tight. I'm knocked out, and he must have been, too, cause we wake up to speakers shouting that the boat was heading to the docks. Mason has a pole sticking out through his shoulder, and I've got some blood on my forehead. I pull the pole out and it heals before anyone notices.
When the boat reaches land, people pile out. A whole fleet to ambulances and EMTs are waiting to try and save everyone. I try not to look at them as they run past me. I have ten more left, Mason only has five. Roxy was on another section of the boat, as was Rube, so I have no idea how well they did.
I give Mason a quick kiss and get back to work. I work my way through the boat and find the dead. If they match the description, they get pulled. That leaves me with five more. Their times are slightly later. People are already being brought out to a makeshift hospital on the docks. I have to get past the cops to get to those reaps. I find Roxy and follow her into the trauma unit.
I hang around after pulling all my souls. Mason finished up and waited with me on the sidelines. A mass of souls waited behind us, some crying, some yelling. Some didn't say anything. We waited for them all to show. One of the EMTs fell into the water, causing a distraction. A few more people died and showed up in our group.
Helping groups of dead cross over is easier than just one single soul. Group mindset is involved. If a few people accept it, more will join in. Oh, well if ten other people died then I guess it's ok that I did, too.
We meet at Der Waffle Haus at the end of the day. Roxy had to go to the hospitals for a few more souls, and Rube waited around all day for a few of his guys to show up. I had to head into work, where all I heard about all day was how tragic the ferry accident was.
We're all exhausted and emotionally drained. It's not like we do such a reap every day.
"Before I forget, this letter is for you, Mason." We had been eating in silence, but Rube's voice pulled me out of reliving the ferry ride this morning. Mason snatches the letter from Rube's hand and rips it open. He reads over the crisp white paper with a confusion that quickly turns into anger.
"No, that's not right at all! I didn't request this!"
"Watch your volume. It's your time."
"Wha do ya mean?"
"You've been in one place long enough. It's time for another change."
"Then I'll go to the office and change my appearance. I'm not leaving."
"They need you down in Texas."
"Like bloody hell they do!"
"Again, watch your volume. This is a family restaurant. Do we need to take this outside?"
The two of them got up and continued their screaming outside, leaving the paper behind. I picked it up and read through it.
"He's being reassigned." There's a buzzing in my head. I don't know what from. But I can't think. I get out of my seat and walk out of the restaurant, past the two of them arguing, and slide into my car. I drive off and away. I keep driving for the next two hours until I run out of gas and find a station where I stop and finally cry.
When I return home, there's no one inside. I half expected Mason to be waiting in the living room or in my bed, ready to tell me everything was going to be fine, that he fixed it. He didn't have to leave.
But he wasn't there.
And neither was Daisy.
Instead there was a note on the fridge – 'Went out. Mason stopped by. You weren't here.'
I pull out my cell and call Rube.
"What the fuck is going on?"
"Hey peanut. Where've you been?"
"I went for a drive. What the fuck is going on?"
"Was it a scenic drive? Did you head up to the mountains?"
"I wasn't watching. Just driving. What the fuck is going on?"
"That's a shame. The trees are beautiful this time of year."
"What the fuck is going on with Mason, Rube?"
"And here I thought you called just to make small talk."
"I swear to god, Rube, I can't take your fucking games."
"I'm not playing any, peanut. Mason's been stationed here in Seattle for a long time. Boss says it's time for him to be relocated. Happens to all of us from time to time. Can't let people catch on."
"What about Betty? She was here since her death and she didn't ever move!"
"She kept up with her paperwork, filed the necessary requests when it was time. Mason is a fuck-up. He's lucky to have stayed here the ten years that he has."
"So you're saying a few papers are all that's taking him away?!"
"Listen, peanut, you're wasting my minutes here."
"It's after nine-o'clock, Rube! You get free nights!"
Silence.
"Talk to him. He has some decisions to make."
I hang up on him. Fucking fucker. Of course Mason has some decisions to make. Like whether he dumps me now or just leaves without another word.
I call Mason. He doesn't answer. So I get in my car and go over to his place. Rube's truck is parked outside, and the man himself is sitting in the driver's seat. He opens the passenger's side door, and I climb in.
"He's not here," he states. No shit.
I just stare straight ahead.
"This is for you."
He holds up a post-it.
"I thought we were done for the day."
He just stares at me. I take the note. The death is in twenty minutes, and it's across town.
"Fuck you, Rube."
I make it to the location to find Mason sitting on a bench across the street. I'm tired and upset and confused, but I have to finish this fucking reap. I ignore him and track down my R. Tisdale. When I pull out her soul, I cross the road and sit beside him. His eyes are red, but for probably the first time in his life it probably isn't due to drugs or alcohol. And he's shaking.
"Georgia, I don't know what to do."
I can't look at him. I don't know the rules and regulations of being a reaper, and I don't understand why he has to leave.
"George, I have to leave in the morning. Rube has my plane ticket."
This isn't fair. Fuck, life wasn't fair to me, why should my after life be any different?
"Don't go. Don't get on the plane, don't leave the city, don't do anything. Send your replacement down to Houston."
"Rube won't help. Says it's time I stop bothering him and move on."
"He's just pissed about us! That fucking asshole! You can't leave! I need you here!" I still can't look at him, but I can feel his gaze on me.
"I don't want to go, George. I don't want to lose you." He slides his hand around mine. I look over at him and lose it, tears falling out of my eyes like I had never cried before.
"I don't know what to do, Mason. I don't know what to do."
We're holding each other on the bench, his tears are in my hair and mine are on his neck.
When we finally get it together, we walk back to my car and drive back to his shitty apartment. Rube was gone, but a post-it was left on his door.
'Waffle Haus – 6 am.'
His apartment is a fucking hell hole. There are a few piles of dirty clothes just laying around sprouting a award winning science projects, the kitchen is fighting for a prize of its own, and the bathroom is certainly no honorable mention. It's disgusting. He pushes a pile of things off his bed to make room for me and motions for me to sit beside him.
I don't think I can form any sounds with my throat as I stare up into his eyes. I'm scared and angry as hell and I think I can actually feel my heart breaking in my chest. Fuck it hurts.
We are staring at each other, watching the others pain and sorrow. And he leans over and plants the softest and sweetest kiss on my lips. I feel like I'm floating as he moves his lips around mine, sucks on my skin, prods my frozen lips with his tongue. I think I'm slightly confused by his action, but the physical connection is soothing and something my body is liking. So I let him lay me down on his bed and let him explore my mouth. His hands are busy exploring my body. Mason's getting to second base with me screams in the back of my mind, but I can't hear it cause I think we're nearing third. And then home plate is in sight.
Clothes are being shed, and our hunger is getting more forceful, more aggressive. The only other guy I've been with this way was Trip, and that feels like ages ago. But I remember the morning after being with him, and then the morning after I asked Mason to stay with me… I can't ruin this moment, this time with him by thinking of that. I stretch up and kiss him while he works at sliding off my underwear. It's a little awkward fooling around with him, but I think our desperation makes it all okay.
He stares at me the entire time. He's kissing with his eyes open. He finds a way to do everything with one eye on my face. When he fucks me, he keeps his gaze locked on my eyes. I can't look away. He's trapped me, and it makes everything better.
When we're both spent, he finds a towel and cleans us off before curling up next to me, his arms and legs wrapped around me like I'm going to feel the need to run away in the middle of the night and leave him alone. I find my phone in the pile of clothes on the bed and set the alarm before falling asleep on his chest, his erratic breathing reminding me that he was still there.