Mary: "What the hell?"
Emily: "I think someone's sick of us."
Tristan: "What happened?"

Emily: "I went to get Mary, and Azrael said he'd sent her away so I hit him."
Mary: "You punched Death?!"
Emily: "Well, yeah. I thought he'd taken your soul, not sent you out of his office."

Mary: "So now what? How do we get out of here?"
Tristan: "We have to go back the way we came, back over the river..."

A screeching of breaks signaled the bus's arrival, as if summoned, it's squeaking doors somehow oddly comforting. Charlie grinned down at them.

Charlie: "You're quite the travelers! Can't say I've ever seen people use the bus so much in one day!"
Tristan: "We need to go back over the river. Can you take us there?"

Charlie's smile faded instantly, replaced by the familiar scowl he wore when they'd first seen him.

Charlie: "Not a chance! The watch is only good for payment in one direction. This bus doesn't go the other way."
Mary: "This is insanity."
Charlie: "No, the insanity is expecting to go back the way you came! This ain't some sort of day spa, you don't just come and go as you please."
Emily: "But Azrael said we weren't bound here anymore, any of us."

Charlie: "Little lady, I don't give a flying fig what that froufrou says. This bus only carries souls in one direction."
Mary: "It's not like you don't have to cross back over the bridge to pick up new passengers anyway. We'd sit in the back and be really quiet. You won't even know we're there. Plausible deniability!"
Charlie: "Nope, not gonna happen."
Stephanie: "I can't believe you're still so disagreeable after all these years."

Stephanie's voice startled all of them.

Charlie: "That's the rules, you know I can't go breaking them all willy-nilly."
Stephanie: "Chuck, you really need to chill out once in a while."
Charlie: "Ma'am, I have work to do."
Stephanie: "Then you'd best get to it."

The doors slammed close with a sickening thud before the bus pulled away. Emily, Mary, and Tristan turned to Stephanie in one collective movement.

Stephanie: "I see you found your friend. Hi, I'm Stephanie."
Emily: "Emily."
Stephanie: "These guys went through hell to find you, you know. We'll be talking about it for years. C'mon, I'll give you guys a ride across the river."

Mary: "Seriously?"
Stephanie: "Yep, I'm heading out myself. I just winter here."
Tristan: "Of course."

Stephanie: "Before we go, how about a glass of champagne to celebrate? It's not every day things that went wrong get set right."
Mary: "I don't see the harm in that."

Stephanie smiled widely and produced a bottle of champagne out of thin air. The top popped off with little effort, the sound echoing off the walls of the surrounding buildings. She quickly filled four champagne flutes with sparkling pink liquid, passing them out in turn.

Stephanie: "To second chances!"

Emily brought the glass to her mouth, wrinkling her nose as the bubbles tickled her throat. It was tangy, slightly sweet, and instantly made her feel more relaxed. A few sips later she was quite pleasantly buzzed.

Emily: "I'm some sort of… lightweight or something. This stuff's gone straight to my head."
Mary: "Mine too."
Tristan: "Really? I'm Just Fine."

Emily: "Then why are you annunciating everything so carefully?"
Tristan: "I Like To Speak ClearLy."

Stephanie: "Shall we go? We can finish off the bottle in the car if you'd like."
Mary: "I'm so done with this place. It's time to move on."