Who: Liv and Leon When: May 24 (Liv's first day on gamer brain) Where: The morgue to victim's apartment What: Liv gets visions that help Leon with the case Rating/Warning: Low - references to brain eating and murder Status: Complete
Leon hadn’t been the first on the scene, but he was the one who got the call. The apartment already had the police tape across the door by the time Leon made it there. Leon frowned, taking in the apartment. The man had apparently collapsed in front of the computer. The screen was still on, where he’d apparently timed out of some online video game.
The man didn’t seem to be in the best of shape, and Leon at first wasn’t sure that the death wasn’t from natural causes. A heart attack or something. But when Leon examined him closer, he realized that there were signs of asphyxiation. Asthma, maybe. Or poison. Very likely suspicious. If it was poison though, trying to find the poison looked like it might be a problem. There were about four or five cans of pop on the table, a couple knocked to their sides, and more littered the ground. Along with empty containers of microwavable dinners, a pile of dirty clothes. It looked as though the guy had been gaming pretty hard for the last couple of days. It reminded Leon of his own apartment. It suddenly occurred to him if he got murdered in his sleep, his fellow detectives would be pissed at how difficult he made everything for him.
On the bright side, Liv had apparently inherited her psychic powers from her dreams, and Leon was excited to get to take advantage of that. He waited until after lunch to visit her, since he had no intention of accidentally walking in during an autopsy. “Liv?” he called as he walked into the morgue. “You got those autopsy results yet?”
By the time Leon showed up at the morgue Liv had already determined cause and time of death. She had also eaten some of the brains storing the rest for later. It was only the second brain she had tried and while she felt bad about it she was ready to see if she would get any visions. She had with the last brain, but unfortunately hadn’t been working with Leon so she couldn’t do much about it. Not wanting to let some random cop and possible non dreamer in on her secret.
“Yeah,” Liv replied handing it over. “Arsenic poisoning. Time of death is approximately 4 am.” There were more details in the report but that was the basics. “Do you think I could go take a look at his apartment with you,” Leon already knew her visions had come through so hopefully he would get why she was asking. “It might trigger something,” she added just to be sure he got her meaning.
“Four am?” Leon snorted a little disdainfully. “Why on earth would someone want to stay up until four to play some stupid game?” He guessed that everyone lived their own life differently, but if Leon wasn’t sleeping at four in the morning it wasn’t going to be for anything less than work or a bender.
He frowned a little when Liv mentioned coming to the crime scene, about to mention that it really wasn’t a place for non-officers. But, well, if it would trigger something that would help crack the case then Leon wasn’t going to say no. Besides, Liv had gone to crime scenes in Leon’s body and since he hadn’t been reprimanded yet he thought that was a decent sign that she could probably handle it.
“Fine,” he said after a moment's hesitation. “I was just on my way there if you wanted to tag along.”
“Because it’s the most awesome thing ever,” Liv replied refraining from adding a ‘duh’. Honestly if she wasn’t working right now she would so be playing a video game. She wasn’t exactly sure why she felt that way though. It wasn’t like she ever really played them before. But then she knew why, obviously this guy was into video games so now Liv was too apparently. This new brain new personality thing was weird and she didn’t particularly like it.
Liv had also been to a few crime scenes with her boss. Though most of the time he went to the scene himself to do the initial inspection of the body and left Liv in the morgue alone. Which was where he was at the moment but whatever. He was a chill boss for the most part. As long as the autopsy report was done he wouldn’t mind her taking off for a bit. Especially if it was related to the case. “Sweet,” Liv said taking off her lab coat. She didn’t bother to put on another coat. It was practically summer in Southern California. There was no need for it. “I be he has a sick system,” she added as they made their way out to Leon’s car.
“Uh, okay,” Leon said, obviously surprised by this turn of events. He really hadn’t had any idea Liv was a gamer, but people could be good at keeping their hobbies from their coworkers, and it wasn’t like Leon had ever hung out in Liv’s place. He’d woken up there once and he couldn’t remember seeing any gaming systems, but it wasn’t like he’d been looking for them.
“I don’t know, it looked pretty high tech,” Leon said. He didn’t know much about computers, but it had looked high tech and if buddy was going to be up until 4am playing games he’d probably want a decent computer. “If forensics hasn’t taken it yet, you can take a look. But no touching. Obviously.” He knew Liv wasn’t a child but she seemed kind of excited about this gaming system. When he was eighteen he’d come across one of Babe Ruth’s signed home run balls, and without even thinking he’d grabbed it - glass case and all - and then was reamed out pretty hard. He just didn’t want Liv to get into the same shit.
He’d parked Stella, his green ‘66 Mustang GT500 right out front, so it was only a few steps from the front door when the walked out. He slipped into the drivers seat and leaned across the passenger seat to unlock Liv’s door as well. “You don’t mind Priest, do you?” he asked, turning on the car. Sure enough, Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law” came on over the speakers.
“Bit ironic don’t you think?” Liv asked as they headed to the crime scene. Or maybe just contradictory to Leon’s job. But whatever, she didn’t mind the song. Not like she was about to complain anyway. She was about to test out this whole triggering a vision thing that she had only seen in the dreams. And excited to see this guy’s gaming system too. Hopefully forensics hadn’t taken it yet. But either way Liv wouldn’t touch, no matter how tempting it was.
“Hey, good music is good music,” Leon said, smiling a little.
Despite the fact that the crime scene was some distance from the morgue, it didn’t take Leon that long to get there. The phrase “the best defence is a good offence” perfectly described Leon’s driving style, and the midday traffic really wasn’t too heavy.
He’d been given keys to the apartment as part of his investigation, and he used them to enter the apartment. The body had been removed since that morning, and evidence had been marked with numbered placards, but the rest of the crime scene remained untouched, including the fancy custom built computer. “Well, you’re in luck. His er… system… is still here. What exactly do you need to do to get these vision things?”
As soon as they got into the apartment Liv made a beeline for the computer. Eyes wide, fingers itching to touch it. She barely even heard what Leon said to her partly because of her excitement and partly because just as he began talking she got a vision. To Leon it would just look like she was staring blankly at nothing. But Liv was really seeing the computer screen as his video game unfolded then his hand picked up a can of red bull and took a long drink. That was it. Just like that she was back to reality.
“You guys gathered up all the empty cans right?” Liv asked looking over at Leon finally. She already knew what had killed him but now she knew what he drank it out of. They could probably dust for fingerprints and see if anyone else has touched the can.
Leon did not like the way that she was looking at that computer. He took a couple of steps toward her to keep a close eye on her, but then she just… stopped.
“Liv? Earth to Liv?” He was about to take a couple of steps toward her, maybe touch her, when she started asking about the cans. “Wait, was that one of them?” he asked, not quite able to contain his excitement. “What did you see? Did you see the killer?”
Liv laughed at the obvious excitement in Leon’s voice. He was probably as excited about her visions as she was at the computer. “Yes,” she responded to his first question. “It was, but no I didn’t see the killer.” That would just be too easy wouldn’t it? “His red bull was poisoned. There might be prints on the can.” Unless the guy was smart enough to wear gloves when injecting the poison.
It would have been too easy, but it would be nice for things to be easy for once. “Red Bull, got it. This guy’s apartment was filled with empty cans, but Red Bull’ll narrow it down, I think. Most of it was Coke. Was that it?” He was obviously disappointed.
“He was playing StarCraft,” she added. She could tell he wasn’t all that impressed with her vision. “Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I think I need to see more to get another one. Maybe if you find the can.” She was still learning how this all worked.
“I don’t even know what that is,” Leon muttered. Other than the fact that it was obviously some computer game. Leon’s extent of computer games reached about as far as the Sims, which he secretly enjoyed playing when he had some free time and nothing better to do.
“Or maybe something else?” He ran a hand through his hair, still not entirely used to how little of it there was now. The cans, and all the empty or mostly empty containers of microwavable dinners had already been taken to forensics to start testing. “To get the poison in the can, the killer would have had to have been here when the can was opened, wouldn’t they? Maybe they left something behind.” He gave a despairing look around the apartment. Even with much of the trash removed, it was still a sty. The killer could have left behind their wallet and it would still take ages to find it.
“It’s this like military sci fi game,” Liv replied a bit surprised that she actually knew that she had even recognized the game. “You can win like $50,000 in tournaments.” She wasn’t sure how she knew that either. Well she knew how but the actual knowing part would still take some getting used to.
“Why are you asking me? I’m not the detective.” But yes needing to be in the room seemed like the most plausible thing. “I didn’t see anyone else,” her brows furrowed together and she began walking around the apartment. Looking at everything trying to spark a vision. Her eyes fell on the fridge and then the blank expression was back on her face.
She was seeing the game again and then her head turned to look back at the fridge. There was a fairly short redhead opening the door. ”Nick, get me a red bull while you’re back there.” It felt like the words were coming out of her mouth but they were a man’s. The murder victims. And just like that it was over.
“Nick.” Liv said once she was back to herself. “Redhead, about this high.” She held up her hand just above her head. Liv was on the short side herself so the guy being just a bit taller than her wasn’t saying much.
For a moment, Leon couldn’t believe his ears. That was almost too good to be true. It wasn’t anything he could lock someone up for, but at least now he had a clear set direction. “That’s amazing!” He said, and moved to wrap her in a tight bear hug and spin her.
Liv laughed at Leon’s hug. She wasn’t expecting that but she definitely didn’t mind it. “I guess this means you’ll be taking me with you on more cases?” she asked with an eyebrow raise once he set her back down.
“Absolutely!” Leon exclaimed, letting her go from his embrace but still holding onto her by her shoulders. “I could kiss you right now!” He wouldn't, because she was his coworker which meant she had about as much sex appeal as Logan, but he was still overjoyed. Then something else she said came back to him. “Wait, fifty grand? Did I hear that right? Someone will pay you fifty grand for playing some computer game?”
Did Leon usually get this excited on cases? Maybe he did and she just hadn’t seen it before. But it was still a bit shocking. “Yup,” Liv replied only answering his last question. The kissing statement was just a little weird and while he was more attractive now with the short hair Liv didn’t exactly see him as anything more than a coworker/friend. She was sure he felt the same and just got caught up in the moment. “So that could probably be a motive?” Duh. But whatever she was still getting used to the detectiving thing.
Leon did often get this excited about cases when he made a big break. This, apparently, was even more so when a big break just happened to fall directly into his lap. He gave silent thanks to God, Buddha, and the extraordinarily gorgeous woman he’d seen modelling underwear on a billboard on his way to work this morning for bringing Liv and her murder-solving psychic powers into his life. Hell, between Liv being psychic and Leon talking to animals, there wasn’t going to be an unsolvable murder in this town again. Maybe he’d even get a raise!
“That’s a great motive! I’d kill for fifty grand.” Leon stopped. “Not actually, but you know what I mean. I mean, I guess I still need to find evidence on this guy, but I know exactly where I’m looking now. I’ll need to call forensics. Get them pointed in the right direction.”
“Please don’t kill anyone,” Liv joked. But really she would hate to eat that person’s brain and have visions of Leon murdering her. Even if she knew he wouldn’t do that to her or well anyone. “What? You mean my vision isn’t enough to take the guy in?” she joked again. She knew both from the dreams and from her experience in the morgue that her visions would only help point him in the right direction. Unfortunately he still needed to get the actual proof which hopefully wouldn’t be difficult.
“‘I call to the stand the psychic gothic medical examiner?’” Leon teased. Sure would be nice if that was the way things could work. It was a little hard to believe that this time last year he would have laughed in the face of any psychic who tried to offer their services to the PD, and now he was believing one whole heartedly, but this place had a way of changing people.
Leon hoped that getting proof wouldn’t be that difficult. Hopefully this Nick guy had left his slimy finger prints all over the poisoned can. Even if his prints weren’t in the system yet, once Leon turned his investigation to the people in the victim’s life, Nick would be the first one on his list.
“I think this calls for a drink,” Leon said. “On me.” Even if they were still on the clock, probably no one would miss them in the time it took to down a pint.
“Hey, if they are going to buy that anywhere it’s here,” Liv teased back. She hadn’t been living in this place long but it had already turned her into a zombie. And she knew people were very accepting of the strange things that couldn’t be explained.