Lost Video Island

[mistojen]

Keep hoping, my friend...I can't write this thing forever or I'll end up with NO readers as opposed to the mere FOUR I have now (2 on LJ)
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[SuperKC]

I said "twist end" lol. I understand it can't go on forever. I've accepted it.

*sniffle*

[mistojen]

[SuperKC]

Hopes and Dreams? Squashed.


hehehe, I am just giving you a hard time!

[PsychoCynic]

[mistojen]

I FAIL!

...I'll try to make this last installment longer, I promise...but to be fair, I wrote that at work with LITTLE to no muse left in me, since I'm so wrapped up in SurReality---it's a wonder I got this done at ALL actually
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[Spinning Iris]

I finally catch up and it's almost over . This is such an enjoyable story.
What's funny though is before I started reading this I was planning a Shannon video and this story has inspired me to make it as an AU crossover (my only problem involves finding DLM clips of Mason. I'll figure it out). And with your permission I would like to base it mostly on this story.

[mistojen]

Wow a new reader! Oh feel free to do a vid with my fic as inspiration! I love that. check out my Shannon's Nightmare vid--this fic inspired that a little, too. I'm glad that you like it so much!

If you have an LJ--go to community dlm_episodes (i think that's what it's called) and you can download the eps in their entirety. if you don't have room on your hard drive to keep them, just download them a few at a time and cut the clips you want from them and delete them--that's what I did; i'm in the process of fixing up a final cut of an AU xover of Mason/Shannon vs. Charlie/Shannon that should be up on LVI within a week or so, based loosely on this fic

Let me know when your vid is up!
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[mistojen]

A/N: Okay guys...final installment... hope you like it.

Only a Transition

Mason and I slowly make our way over to the dock where Charlie is still casually conversing with Mason’s Last Call.

“When do you...go...?” I choke.

“Dunno,” Mason replies sadly, “before him, though, I think,” he adds, pointing at the mark.

I nod slowly. “He becomes the new reaper, right?” I ask.

“Yeah,” Mason says with a sigh. He looks around. “Rubey ought to be here shortly. He always is for the new ones. ‘Cept for you and Charlie, which I reckon is because Rube doesn’t care for flying much,” he adds with a small smile.

I frown and look at my watch. “Ten minutes...” I sigh.

Mason wraps his arms around me. “It’ll be okay, Shannon,” he says. “Remember, I’ll be waiting for you.”

I nod and rest my head on his chest, letting my tears soak his shirt. I don’t really care and he doesn’t seem to notice as he smooths my hair gently.

Finally, we hear the sound of another vehicle rumbling into the area and I look up from Mason’s now-wet shoulder. Sure enough, Rube turns off the engine and climbs out of his truck.

As he approaches us, I know that it must be nearing 11:59.

“You okay, Barbie?” Rube asks, sounding, actually, genuinely concerned.

“No,” I admit, swallowing hard. I wipe at the tears rolling down my cheeks and stand up tall. I remind myself that Mason missed George when she left me with him...and that he missed Daisy, certainly, too, when she left us with Charlie. Now, I need to be strong for this new person the way that Mason was strong for us.

But wait, though...isn’t that why Rube is here? To be the strong one? The one with the right mind to tell this kid what’s what and who’s who? Why should I have to keep it together if Rube is here to do the hard work? I’m just here for Mason’s send off, aren’t I?

“You’ll be okay,” Rube says, interrupting my thoughts. He turns to Mason. “Did you do it?”

Mason shakes his head. “I was waiting for you, Rubey,” Mason says, and I’m pretty sure it’s a lie. I’m pretty sure that Mason just didn’t want to do it because he’s not sure what happens or when he goes in relation to when the new kid takes his place.

“You only have five minutes,” Rube says, looking down at his watch.

I look over at Charlie who is still chatting with our new friend. I find myself wondering how this new person is going to die. Is he going to fall and crack open his skull? Maybe. He’s clearly drunk, so he’d bleed out pretty quickly if he did. Perhaps he’ll drown, not fully alert and motor skills impaired.

Charlie looks back at me and frowns. I know that he’s worried about me. I can see it in his eyes, even from here that he’s longing to come over and take me in his arms to make sure that I’m all right. Charlie wants to fix me...but there’s no fixing this.

“You’ll go just after he dies. Before his soul comes out, but after he’s dead,” Rube explains to Mason.

I turn away from Charlie again and look back at Rube and Mason.

“Best say your goodbyes for now, Barbie...it’ll be a while before you see him again,” Rube says solemnly, and I know that he isn’t trying to pick on me or make me feel small for feeling the way that I do right now. I can tell that Rube actually means for me to say my goodbyes and see Mason off. “I’ll take care of the kid,” he adds, nodding over to let me know that when Mason goes, Charlie is free to comfort me.

Sniffling, I wipe my eyes and nod. “Thanks,” I whisper. Rube nods and starts toward Charlie and the newbie-to-be.

“Well, darling,” Mason says quietly, cupping my face with one hand and smiling weakly at me. “I promise you, we’ll meet again. Remember what I said,” he tells me.

I nod, although I disagree with what he’s asked me to do and I probably will do the exact opposite of what I’m implying with my nod. “‘Don’t wait,’” I repeat back to him.

“Don’t wait,” he says again, nodding.

Mason slowly bends his head down and captures my lips with his own, kissing me in a very—I can’t believe how horrible I am for thinking this, but it’s reflexive, so I can’t help it—Charlie-esque way. It’s not the way he normally kisses me, but I think this time he just wants to make sure it lasts.

I let him wrap his arms around me and I melt into his kiss, wishing that the moment would never end. I know that it will. It must...after all, there’s a new grim reaper to make.

As if on cue to my thought, Mason pulls away and looks into my eyes. “I love you, Shannon,” he says in a soft, husky almost-whisper. “You are so beautiful, and I love you. And I will wait for you.”

Feeling a new tear drip down my cheek, I close my eyes for a second and then I look back into his. I nod. “I know you will,” I gasp. “I love you, too, Mason.” And you know what? I mean it. I really do. I’ve said ‘I love you’ a thousand times in my life, and in my un-life...but this time, I really and truly mean it, and I’m gonna miss him like hell when he goes away. “F*ck...” I whisper.

A small smile tugs at the corners of Mason’s mouth. “F*ck, indeed,” he sighs. “I have to go now...”

“I know,” I choke, trying not to sob.

Mason takes my hand and the two of us walk toward the dock where Charlie and the new guy are still chatting amiably.

As we draw nearer, I see Charlie look up and I can hear him tell the guy, “well, mate...you have a good swim, then.”

“Thanks, Charlie,” the guy says with a smile, slurring his words horribly. “I will.”

Drowning. I thought so.

Charlie passes Mason and I as we approach him, but I hear him stop just behind us, waiting to be there to pick up the broken pieces of me when Mason disappears.

“I’ll see you when I see you, darling,” Mason says, kissing me on the cheek and puffing out his chest a little as he releases my hand and starts forward.

“Mason!” I call out, but Mason doesn’t turn back to me. I look down at my watch. There’s one minute to go. “Mason!” I try again.

Mason doesn’t turn back. I know it’s selfish, but it makes me angry that he won’t look back at me one more time. I’m pretty sure, though, that he’s got his reasons for not looking back. He doesn’t want to see me one last time. That’ll make it even harder, and he’s got no room to f*ck up; Rube is watching, and it’s Mason’s Last Call. Who knows what would happen if he f*cked up this particular reap...

Selfish being my middle name, I start to walk forward to stop Mason, but Charlie reaches out and grabs my arm, holding me back. I can’t even make myself look away from Mason long enough to turn to Charlie and slap his hand away, so I just let him slowly reel me in, bringing me closer to him. Rube walks past us as Mason touches his hand to the new kid’s shoulder, patting him genially. The new kid smiles, nods, and jumps off the dock.

And in a split-second, Mason is gone. Just like that, he’s vanished into thin air and Charlie’s arms are around me, pulling me close when I feel like I’m falling apart.

There are no lights for Mason. No angels...no choirs. There is no heavenly music, nor hellish flame. There is just Mason there and the next second gone. Like he never existed. I wonder where he is, now, or what he’ll be doing until it’s time for me to join him. Somewhere deep inside, though I don’t let myself think it consciously, I wonder if it’s even possible for him to keep his promise to wait for me.

“Shannon?” Charlie whispers.

I look up at him with a tear-stained face and red-rimmed eyes, but I don’t say anything.

“Ready to go?” he asks as Rube leads the new kid past us without saying a word, speaking to him of the finer points of being a grim reaper.

I shake my head and find myself unable to force even the smallest of smiles. “Can we stay here for a little while...?” I ask timidly, sounding less and less like myself and more and more like a new, fragile and petite broken version of my former self.

Charlie nods and smiles, draping an arm around my shoulders and he leads me toward the spot where Mason last stood. He lets go as I lower myself down onto the dock, hanging my legs over the side and letting my feet dangle into the water. I don’t mind much that the new kid’s body is still down there, floating around. I don’t even flinch or start when its head bumps against my ankle.

“He said he’d wait for me,” I tell Charlie without looking at him. “That he’ll come back for me when it’s my Last Reap.”

“And he will, Shannon,” Charlie says, sitting down beside me.

I look over at him. “You really think so?”

Again, he smiles at me. “I really do,” he replies thoughtfully.

Sighing softly, I drop my head down on Charlie’s shoulder and he takes my hand in his, rubbing my thumb gently with the tip of his own.

“He just...disappeared...” I say quietly, “poof! The end.”

“Death isn’t the end, Shannon,” Charlie says, “I mean, look at us.”

Lifting my head off Charlie’s shoulder, I look over at him again. “We’re not dead, yet. Not really... If death isn’t the end, then what is it, Charlie?”

Charlie shrugs and gives my hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s only a transition, Shannon. Pit stop before our final destination.”

Only a transition... I think to myself and find myself suddenly able to grin back at Charlie.

Yeah...I like the sound of that.
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[SuperKC]

[mistojen]

Thanks, KC I was worried I'd have a hard time closing this because I loved writing it so much but I'm pretty pleased with my ending, personally. I'm glad you liked it too Thanks for reading
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[PrincessSparkle]

Wow! That was so good! I just read the whole thing in one go I wish it could of gone on longer but it was such a beautiful ending Thanks
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Steph xxxxx

[mistojen]

No, thank you for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed
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[PsychoCynic]

*wipes eyes*

That was beautiful! You wrote Mason wonderfully here. If Dead Like Me had continued, and Mason really did have a Last Call, I'd imagine it'd be like that. The whole thing with Shannon, Charlie, and even Rube, fit it perfectly too.

This was really heartbreaking, but it was a proper ending to a fantastic story. I'll miss reading this.

Bravo! *applause, applause*
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[mistojen]

Aww thank you Maria! I'm really glad that the ending was well-taken by my few (but LOYAL!) readers. Thanks so much I hated to end it, but it couldn't go on forever...

Much love all of you!
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