The Hellion (collateralshot) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-10-09 12:37:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, dan smith, olivia moore |
Who: Dan and Liv
What: A nice walk after dinner is rudely interrupted, which leads Liv and Dan to make a couple of confessions
When: Last weekend
Where: A walking path in Orange County; Liv's Morgue.
Rating/Warnings Low-medium for violence
Status: Complete!
It seemed as though life was getting back to normal again, or as normal as it could ever be these days. The news had called the appearance of the structures known as the Temples and the mercenaries that came with them “field testing conducted by two competing technology companies.” The names of these two companies weren’t disclosed, which came as no surprise. The two companies did not exist. The actual technology that was being used should not have existed either. But despite those two glaring realities, everyone who wasn’t a part of the network just seemed to accept the rather meager explanation as to why their lives had been interrupted for a week and carried on as usual.
Of course this wasn’t the first time that Dan had witnessed something like this and the cover-up just accepted as fact and yet it still baffled him. If he had never created an account on that site, would he have been just like everyone else who just nodded their heads, shrugged their shoulders and thought to themselves: “Hm. That was odd. Oh well…” He didn’t like to think that he would, he considered himself a smart and observant man. The sad reality of it was, though (a reality that Dan knew) that he would be just as accepting as everyone else. Whatever magic or curse Orange County had or was under, it affected everybody. The Dreamers Dreamed and everyone else was blind to what was really happening.
While that may not have been great, Dan could understand the why. He understood it better now that he’d had a very personal experience with one of those Temples. The Jungle Temple, it had been called and after what he’d experience he decided that if everyone in the county experienced it, the chaos of the past week would have been much, much worse.
On the bright side (and you had to look at the bright side in these situations, else you’d go crazy), he was getting a new roof as a result of the schizophrenic weather they’d gotten on one of the days. New floors too considering the water damage that had happened. Unfortunately that meant the Double Tap would have to stay closed until those repairs were finished. Disappointing, but not terrible. Dan had a few jobs waiting in the wings he could focus on, plus it meant he could spend time with Liv.
Dan liked spending time with Liv. He liked Liv. Quite a bit actually. They always seemed to have a good time together, and whenever they hung out it was always something new. Tonight they were going to go out and get a couple of drinks, but just before he picked her up Liv had texted and said that instead of drinking, why don’t they have dinner? Dinner sounded good to Dan, so with the change of plans, he’d picked her up and the two had themselves a very good dinner.
Dinner had been so good in fact that it had left Dan feeling a little over-full and sluggish. He suggested they go for a walk and talk a bit, just enjoy the beautiful weather of the evening.
Liv had been spending a lot of time with Dan lately. More than she had originally intended to. Especially with how their friendship started, but she liked being around him. He didn’t seem to care how much her personality changed. He took it in stride, even going along with each new trait, seeming to enjoy it himself. It was intriguing. The more time she spent with him, the more she wanted to spend with him. Now though, knowing he was married and with the change in her diet, she was feeling some guilt. She shouldn’t be spending so much time with a married man, sham marriage or not. And she definitely shouldn’t be thinking about anything more than friendship with him.
Dinner had been enjoyable. Of course Liv had doused her food with hot sauce causing a few looks from the wait staff and other diners, but it was something Dan was probably used to by now. When they finished their meal, Liv didn’t exactly want the evening to come to an end, so when Dan suggested the walk she readily agreed. Now that they were on the walk though she was feeling slightly guilty. The evening was starting to feel like a date, and Dan was married. She was committing a sin! No, those weren’t her thoughts. It was the brain. This wasn’t a sin. She did her best to push the guilt aside.
“You know,” Liv commented as they made their way down the street. “I think the Hopes miss you.” Dan had only spent like all of two nights at her place, but her rats seemed to appreciate the company. As had Liv. It was nice knowing she was able to be there for someone when they were going through a rough time. Especially Dan. She just wished she could have done more, or that he hadn’t experienced that at all.
Dan had been introduced to the Hopes when he’d spent the night at Liv’s. Originally he’d meant to only spend the one night. He hadn’t wanted to spend the night on that damn army-style cot alone, in his apartment. It was a little out of character for him. He wasn’t a jumpy sort of person. But there was something about Liv that just made him feel better.
She’d shown him the rats when he’d gotten there. They were cute little buggers, all named Hope, which had drawn a laugh out of Dan. A much needed laugh. The rest of the evening was spent in Liv’s living room sitting close and watching musicals. She even showed him the Music Man, the show where the song she’d sung at the pool hall had come from. It was a good way to spend an evening, even if Dan hadn’t been the best of company. With Liv sitting close to him on the couch, the two of them watching happy musicals while they drank a glass or two, Dan had slowly started to relax and feel more like he should.
He was used to her changing from one day to the next, with certain things remaining unchanged, such eating everything with hot sauce or jalapenos. It made Dan smile. But tonight she seemed even more different. She kept a strict distance between them and every time he tried to walk a little bit closer, she seemed to step away. Almost as if out of instinct. Dan wasn’t sure why. Had he done something wrong? Dan tried to think over the past several days, something he may have said or done that would have put her off. He wasn’t exactly a gentleman, but Liv had never seemed to mind that before.
“Liv, darlin’?” He started. “Are you alri-” The sound of footsteps coming up hurriedly behind them made him stop and turn to glance behind him.
There was a man there coming around the corner that hadn’t been when Dan and Liv had passed it moments before. Dan recognized the purpose of the man’s walk. Hurried, but not running. A hand in a pocket of a trenchcoat and the all too familiar look of impending death in the eyes.
Dan stepped forward and, for reasons he hadn’t really been aware of until that moment, put himself between Liv and the on coming man. A hitman, who was producing a weapon from that pocket. A blade shone in the light from the street lamp over head. There was no snide proclamation this time -- no announcement or greetings from the wronged Montoya family, but there was no mistake what the man was there for. If the Montoyas were going to go through all this trouble to get their revenge, then Dan was going to face it straight on.
At the last possible moment, he stepped to the side and grabbed him by the arm, using the momentum to spin him around. The man grunted and slashed with the knife, slicing Dan’s arm and drawing blood.
Was Liv alright? She wasn’t entirely sure. There was so much guilt involved in this evening. Guilt for spending time with a married man. Guilt for not telling Dan what she really was. She knew she had to tell him at some point. And soon. He had proven himself to be trustworthy. Liv was just scared. What would he think of her? Yes there were a lot of strange things in Orange County, different species. But zombies, well they were flat out predators. Monsters even.
The fact that now she was the one lying to him combined with the whole marriage situation was causing Liv to be a bit distant. She was doing her best to act normal, or at least a normal as Liv got. Trying to hide her qualms. But clearly Dan had picked up on it. Still, she was going to lie, assure him she was alright. But before she got the chance the was a man rounding the corner straight for the two of them.
For a brief moment Liv froze as Dan stepped in front of her. She knew what was coming. This had to be a sign from God. This is what she got for growing close to a married man. The thought flitted into her mind in the same instance that Dan got slashed in the arm. Just as quickly as the thought entered her mind it left. All Liv saw was red. Then instinct and adrenaline took over.
Liv changed. Her eyes grew red, her face had somewhat of a purple tint, and her veins were pronounced - thick lines across her face. She couldn’t speak anymore either. All she could do was grunt and act. She went for the knife that had slashed Dan, ready to grab it from the man and use it against him. However he was quicker than her, in the second she went to grab it he stabbed at her, the knife went straight through her hand. It caused a grunt from Liv but she didn’t feel any pain. She couldn’t in that state.
With her other hand she picked the guy up by his shirt, picking him up she threw him against the wall of the closest building. She leaped over to him using the knife that was in her hand to stab him in the chest, over and over again, even once it was clear he was already dead.
Dan had seen a lot in his life, both before and since coming to Orange County, but he had never seen anything like this. He had cursed himself for letting his guard down - for leaving his gun at home and not looking over his shoulder as he should have been doing. But what he saw right in front of him made him forget all about that.
The moment the would-be hitman had drawn first blood a monster had appeared. A monster wearing Liv’s clothes. He didn’t understand what had happened -- only that the hitman had wounded her, but before Dan could react Liv had grasped the man by the shirt and had hurtled him into a wall. Where...had she always been that strong?! How was it she was moving as if the other man hadn’t harmed her at all?
His arm wound instantly forgotten, Dan stared unmoving as LIv stabbed their attacker again and again, ripping holes in his chest and tearing them larger with each thrust. Dan couldn’t process anything he was seeing. Did being a psychic grant her some kind of superhuman ability?
A moment later and Dan shook himself out of his reverie. They were down a secluded path, not dark, but out of the way of the main street. A good place for someone to come along and subtly stab another in the back and keep walking as if nothing had happened. Hell, it was unlikely anyone would even spot what it was Liv was doing, but Dan did not want to chance it.
He also did not want to chance being stabbed himself. Liv had saved him, but he had no idea if she was even able to tell friend from foe in her current state of stabbing over and over even though the life of the man she was mutilating had long since ceased. “Liv,” he called out to her carefully. “Liv ‘e’s dead!” He reached for her gently. “Kin ye ‘ear me, Liv?”
There was someone calling her name, but Liv wasn’t herself at the moment. Her zombie instincts had taken over. Rage was all she felt. It wasn’t until Dan touched her that she turned towards him, eyes red, knife still through her hand. She lifted it, as if to go for him, but then something clicked. Those red eyes of hers took him in, recognized him. He wasn’t a threat to her, he was a friend. Instead of attacking Dan she pulled the knife out of her hand letting it drop to the ground, causing another grunt from Liv as it tore threw her hand, But once it was out, her hand began to heal. Not fast, but there was no blood spilling all over the place. She took a deep breath, eyes and face returning to normal. But she still didn’t speak. She had the ability to again, but she didn’t know what to say. What to do. Her adrenaline was replaced with shock. She just stood there, speechless.
Dan was pretty speechless too. An unnatural state for him. He watched her pull the knife from her own hand, saw as the wound started to heal itself. It wasn’t normal. Not human. But Dan wasn’t frightened. It was kind of strange, but this was Liv. Even when she’d reached for him, the tip of the blade still jutting through her palm, he wasn’t afraid of her. Confused, yes. Concerned, absolutely. But not afraid.
And now she was just standing there looking back at him, her eyes their normal color again. What he’d always assumed to be heavy make-up around her eyes suddenly looked less like make-up and more like…
...well, Dan wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure of anything, just that it was Liv still standing there and she had possibly saved him.
His arm was just now starting to throb, but Dan didn’t pay any attention to it. Finally after another moment of the two of them standing and staring at each other, Dan finally found his voice. “Ye alright, darlin’?” He asked gently. He took another cautious step towards her, not because he was afraid, he didn’t want to spook her after the ordeal she had just gone through. He just wanted to hear her voice, hear that she was alright.
Liv had killed in her dreams. Hell she had even killed some of those zombies and demons the previous month. But never a human, not even in her dreams. It had always been zombies that were attacking her first. But this guy, while he had been attacking Dan he was still a human.
Liv just blinked when Dan spoke again. Slowly she shook her head, because no, she wasn’t alright. Tears filled her eyes as the magnitude of what she had just done sunk in. “I killed him,” she finally said her voice shaky barely a whisper.
Dan was no stranger to murder. He had no sympathy for the dead man now slumped against the wall, but Liv seemed to be taking it pretty hard. It was obvious she had never done anything like this before. Poor girl. Dan couldn’t help but feel for her and the loss of innocence. He reached for her, pulling her away from the body. His questions about what had just happened could wait, at least for now. At least until Liv was more herself again.
He positioned the two of them so that he was between her and the body on the ground so she wouldn’t have to see it when she looked up. He put both arms around her and pulled her in. “Aye,” he said softly, a gentle tone of his voice that wasn’t entirely natural for him, but had come from dealing with so many young victims during his time with the Detroit PD. “Aye, ye did, Liv. But ye saved me.” He pulled her closely and hugged her tight.
He started pulling her along away from the wall and the dead body. He did his best to keep his voice gentle and not slip into that ruthless cold heartedness he always assumed when he was on a job. “I’m sorry ye ‘ad to,” he said and meant every word. The last thing he wanted was Liv to get drawn into the darker side of his life. “I really am.”
It wasn’t until his arms were around her that she realized his arm was bleeding. Of course she had seen it happen, but when her zombie instincts took over Dan and his arm had been forgotten. Now it was her guilt that was temporarily forgotten as she let Dan lead her away. “You’re hurt,” she said still not quite able to form full sentences.
In that moment she wasn’t thinking about the dead body or what needed to be done about it. What could happen to her. What she deserved. All she cared about was Dan. She didn’t want him to be hurt. “You need to get that checked out.” The fact that going to the hospital right now would be a bad idea didn’t matter to Liv. She just wanted him to be okay.
“Hm?” Dan glanced at his arm. His coat sleeve was slashed and dark crimson was glistening around the opening. It was only now that he became aware of how much his arm throbbed. He’d need stitches in the very least, but it wasn’t the worst wound he’d ever sustained. A two-month old scar in his belly portrayed an idea how just how much worse a situation Dan had recently found himself in. But he wasn’t about to tell Liv that. She was actually worried about him. Dan wasn’t sure if the worry was so she wouldn’t have to think about what she’d just done, but if it kept her out of shock, that was fine. He appreciated the concern. There weren’t many people out there who would have expressed any kind of concern over him. In fact, counting Liv, Dan could list off those who would have been worried on his fingers and not even have to move on to the next hand.
“Aye,” he nodded. He took her face in his hands and made her look at him. “Listen t’ me, Liv. Listen t’ me good, now.” And when he was sure she had her full attention he continued. “I’m gonna be fine. But it coulda been much worse if’n ye ‘adn’t done whatcha did. D’ye understand me? Ye didn’t do anythin’ wrong.”
There were a set of benches that lined the picturesque path the two had been walking and Dan gently guided Liv over to one so she could have a seat. He kept a reassuring hand on her arm and again positioned himself between her and the body. Now he had a decision to make. No one had come up on the little scene as of yet. There was time yet to deal with the body. He could call Garcian – the Cleaner – to assist. Or Ezio – his brother. Both of them could be trusted to keep this under wraps. But Dan wasn’t sure if that was would be best for Liv. By her reaction alone, Dan knew she wasn’t a born killer, despite her strange transformation. She was Good. Events like this tended to do bad things to those who were Good. Covering everything up would just eat her alive. Despite his instincts Dan knew he had to do what was in Liv’s best interests.
He crouched down in front of her, his hands resting reassuringly on her knees. “Do ye trust me, Liv?” He asked.
Her worry for Dan was genuine. It wasn't a way to avoid dealing with what she had just done. Yes, it was distracting her from the events that just happened. But the only reason that it was capable of distracting her was because she cared for Dan. More than she was willing to admit.
She stared at him while he spoke, it wasn't like she had much of a choice with him holding her face like that. "Yes," Liv replied softly. She did understand that the guy had attacked Dan. Might have even killed him. But that didn’t make killing him right. And definitely not the overkill Liv had done. Even if she hadn’t exactly been in her right mind. It was no excuse and it was not okay. Liv knew she would never forgive herself for this.
She let him lead her to the benches taking a seat. Sitting was good. She needed to take a breath. But then she remembered Dan’s arm. He needed to get that looked at. ASAP. With Dan grabbing her face and trying to talk some sense into her, calm her down, his arm slipped her mind, but only for a brief moment. Liv’s own hand was completely healed now, but she was a zombie. How was Dan functioning and taking care of her with a wound like that?
Did she trust Dan? A month ago she would have said no. Their relationship had started off based on a lie. She didn’t know his real name. But over time she got to know him better, and after those two nights he spent at her place she felt like she really knew him. “Yes,” Liv finally said her voice still soft and somewhat shaky. “I trust you.”
Given their current situation, Dan should not have been as pleased to hear that she trusted him as he did. It was good to hear, yes, of course, but for some odd reason, it made him feel really good for Liv to say I trust you. So much so that he could have easily forgotten how much his arm was bleeding through his coat sleeve.
He gave her a soft smile, nothing like the joking teasing smirks she’d gotten from before. No, this one was sincere. Genuine. “Aye, then,” he said. He’d made the decision. In his opinion Liv needed to unburden herself of what had happened. It was self defense. A bit overkill, but the guy had run up to them brandishing a knife and Dan had the wound to prove it. He would handle everything. All she had to do was tell the truth. The useful part of it anyway.
“I’m gonna call this in,” he said. “The police’ll come an’ ye can make a statement. Jus’ keep it simple. ‘E attacked us.”
Call it in. Right. It was the right thing to do. She could do that. Dan was right, he had attacked them first. But then she was reminded of her dreams. When she was arrested for hiding out in that shady detectives truck. She had been in general lock up for forty-eight hours and had almost lost it and ate her cellmate. She deserved to be locked up for killing the man. She knew that. But she couldn’t be. There was no way she could be deprived of brains for more than a few days. Even if she managed to resist all her cravings, not crack open anyone’s skull there would come a time where she wasn’t her anymore. Where she was just a mindless zombie, and then everyone would be in danger.
“You can’t.” Just as the words were out of her mouth she could feel the guilt eating away at her already. “I can’t risk it.”
Can’t risk it? Dan stared at her trying to figure out just what it was she couldn’t risk. What could she possibly have to hide? Dan looked over his shoulder where the body still lay slumped against the wall, it’s face hardly recognizable due to the force Liv had used to stab him through the skull. Right. That. Whatever it was Liv had become to do that. It was an Orange County thing. A Dream thing. It had to be. Dan could think of no other explanation, and even though the mass public of “normals” bought and swallowed every cock-n-bull story fed to them by the media regarding the massive dream bleed overs, there was no guarantee an isolated event would be swallowed as easily by one or two beat cops and a paramedic.
Dan chewed his lower lip in thought. Even with the self-defense argument there would be too many questions to answer and the possibility they’d take Liv away. Take her away to study her, experiment on her and do God only knew what else. Dan wasn’t entirely convinced there wasn’t some Men-In-Black outfit somewhere keeping a close eye on the goings on in this damn place. Ultimately he decided his main objective here was to protect Liv.
He looked back at the poor girl seated on the bench, scared and guilt ridden. Dan’s heart did a little twisting in his chest. This was his fault. He patted her knee comfortingly. “Aye, darlin’. No cops. I promise. I’ll take care of it.”
He got to his feet and took his phone from his pocket. Under normal circumstances he would have disposed of the body himself, but he was loathed to leave Liv on her own even for a short while. He also didn’t want to drag Ezio into this mess either. He’d made a promise not to and the last thing he wanted was to break that promise. With limited options, Dan put in a call to a certain information broker, putting in a request for “clean-up” on the little walking path in the park.
It was a moment later when he received a return call from the man he only knew as the Crow, who seemed agitated to be bothered at this hour and even more annoyed at the request. He stated that he wasn’t a cleaning service, but in hushed tones to spare Liv, Dan managed to convince him to lend a hand. It would cost him heftily, but so long as Liv was safe, Dan didn’t mind paying the price.
By this time his arm was bleeding pretty freely. His would-be killer had gotten him better than he’d first thought. Fucking bastard. Dan was feeling a little light headed by the time he hung up with the Crow and he sat down next to Liv on the bench. Just for a moment. Just so he could catch his breath again.
Although Liv was still in a state of shock she was still able to observe what was happening. Dan’s voice was low so she didn’t hear everything he was saying but it was clear he was making calls to have this taken care of. If Liv wasn’t so shaken up she would have questioned just how he knew who to call. It was very clear that this wasn’t the first time Dan had to deal with something like this. It wasn’t like she could really say anything though. She had just gone into full on zombie mode and killed a man. Dan was just trying to help. Now was not the time to question him.
When Dan sat back down Liv was very aware of just how much blood he had lost. The wound was bad and she had been concerned since the moment she noticed it. There were just other pressing matters that were now taken care of. Liv ignored her guilt for the moment focusing solely on Dan. He had taken care of her now it was her turn to take care of him. “Your arm,” Liv reminded him. She couldn’t help but be worried. “I can stitch it.” It was the least she could do and she really wanted to get it taken care of. She needed him and his arm to be okay.
Dan had been rubbing at his face with his off hand when Liv spoke, attempting to get some of that dizziness to subside enough so he could continue to think straight once the “clean-up crew” arrived. It really wasn’t helping. He glanced at his arm again. The sleeve of his coat was shiny with blood that had seeped from the wound. It had been acting a bit like a bandage – that and his shirt, which was ruined now – but small streams had started running down his arm, over his elbow and over the back of his hand. He looked at that too. His light headedness likely wasn’t going to go away until the wound itself was taken care of.
He looked at Liv next to him and decided a distraction would be good for her. Besides, he wasn’t keen on having to go to an ER and answer the exact questions they were attempting to avoid by having the body removed for them by those other than the police. He gave the woman next to him a tired, but appreciative smile, “Aye, darlin’, if ye donnea mind.”
As it turned out Liv didn’t mind. Several minutes later the two of them were in the morgue. It was after hours now, and they had the place mostly to themselves minus the dead bodies currently resting in their private individual drawers.
Dan was seated on one of the cold metal exam tables. He was stripped of his coat and shirt, both of which were over the back of one of the nearby chairs to be dealt with later.
Dan was fit, with well-defined chest and abs that came with the territory of both being a hired-gun and having to lug around beer kegs to attach to bar taps. Life had left him with a handful of faded scars from his misspent youth as a Detroit miscreant but other than that his skin was light and clear. The one exception was the still-healing scar on the left side of his belly just under his ribs that was very clearly from a gunshot sustained not that long ago.
Getting stitched up was nothing new to Dan. A number of those handful of scars were from past scrapes that had required a stitch or two. And he’d been to plenty of ER’s as a detective taking statements while victims received first aid. This was the first time he could remember ever receiving treatment in a morgue. Considering the night’s events, it was kind of amusing.
The wound Liv was currently tending to was mean and angry looking. The knife had cut a jagged slice into Dan’s upper bicep, deep and long enough to require stitches, but fortunately not so deep that nerves and muscle had been damaged.
Even though Liv was in shock she still drove Dan to the morgue. Dan was in no condition to drive with his arm bleeding like that. Luckily the morgue was empty. It was just Dan and Liv. Definitely for the best given they didn’t exactly want questions about what happened to Dan’s arm.
As soon as they stepped foot in the morgue Liv was all business. Yes, Dan was shirtless and he had a nice body. There was no denying that. But she was solely focused on his arm at the moment. Although she couldn’t help but notice the scar on his stomach. Being a medical examiner Liv could tell what the wound was from right away. “Were you shot?” she frowned as she gathered her instruments and supplies.
“This might sting a bit,” Liv warned before attending to the wound. While she was cleaning it she took note of just how deep it was. It wasn’t pretty, but luckily it wasn’t deep enough that it would need more than stitches. Once the lieson was thoroughly cleaned she started on the stitches. As strange as it was, stitching Dan up was making her feel better. Not just because she was taking care of him, but also because of the familiarity of it. It was comforting in a way.
It did sting and Dan winced, but didn’t dare move his arm. “Aye,” he said softly and moved a hand over the scar in his gut. Not that it’d have done any good. It wasn’t as if Liv -- a medical examiner who looked at wounds for a living -- wouldn’t have immediately known what it was. “I was shot,” he went on. “A coupla months ago while I was walkin’ home.” He paused there. His eyes were on the floor in front of the table. He wasn’t sure if he should go on. Far more people in his life knew what it was he really did for a living than he cared for. Liv was special. Different. He didn’t want her wrapped up in his sordid little affairs.
Dan had never been ashamed of what he did for a living. He wasn’t ashamed now either. No. Not really. But he was ashamed that Liv had to have been a part of it. That what had happened had triggered something in her and it had left her scared and guilty. “I’m sorry ‘bout what ‘appened,” he stated with a little more substance than he had when he spoke of his scar. “Liv, darlin’. What did ‘appen? To you?”
Liv had more questions about his gunshot wound. She could tell there was more to the story than he was just walking home. Especially with how he seemed to know how to handle everything earlier However before she could he was asking about what happened to her. With everything that had gone on, she almost forgot that she had zombied out like that. Another frown as she continued to stitch up his arm.
He deserved to know the truth. Even before that man had attacked them Liv had been thinking about telling him what she was. They had been friends for long enough now, and what she said was true. She did trust him.
“I’m not just a psychic,” Liv said her gaze remaining on his arm. “I’m not really a psychic at all. The visions I get, they are only connected to one person. The one whose brains I ate.” A pause as she finally looked up at him, anticipating his reaction to what she was about to say. “I’m a zombie.”
Normally that would be followed up with her rushing to explain how she only ate the brains of those that were already dead, in her morgue. That she did her best to get justice for each and every one of them. But tonight? She just left it there. Dan had seen her transform, had watched her kill. There was no coming back from that.
Aliens, vampires and zombies. Oh my! Perhaps it was the combination of blood loss and pain that made Dan almost utter that out loud. He bit down hard on his tongue to keep it in check. This was serious. Liv was being absolutely serious. This was serious, serious business. But the way she was looking at him, as if she’d just confessed some kind of horrific crime, the whole irony of the situation was not lost on Dan.
“Are ye?” He asked with a raised brow. He leaned towards her a little to look at her critically. Pale skin, platinum blonde hair, dark circles around the eyes he’d always mistaken for heavy make-up. Huh. Now that he was looking at her he wondered why he’d never thought of this before. Especially considering his best friend was dating a vampire and he had another friend who was an alien. It wasn’t as though non-humans were something new around here. Though, admittedly, Dan had never heard of any zombies in town. At least not any that hadn’t been summoned by someone’s Dreams. On top of that, Liv wasn’t like any of the zombies Dan had ever read about. “’Ave ye always been a zombie, darlin’? Like back then, when we first met? Were ye a zombie then?”
Liv let out a breath she wasn’t aware she had been holding. He didn’t seem terrified of her. Or even the slightest bit scared for that matter. She wouldn’t blame him if he was. Zombies didn’t exactly have the best reputation. Plus there had been enough evil ones showing up in Orange County. And then there was what happened earlier. Hell, Liv was even scared of herself after that.
No. She couldn’t think about that right now. Dan’s arm wasn’t fully stitched yet. That was the priority. So she got back to it, tearing her gaze from his face now that she knew he wasn’t going to run screaming.
And then he called her darling. Granted he had always called her that but it felt different this time. Knowing what she was and still giving her a term of endearment. It made her stomach do a little flip.
“About two years,” she replied eyes focused on her work. “So yes. It’s from the dreams,” she explained although she was sure he already knew that.
Dan should have been scared. But he wasn’t. This was Liv. She let him sleep on her couch when he hadn’t wanted to be alone. She introduced him to her three pet rats all named Hope. She took him to his first musical. She ate hot sauce on everything. She had saved him. Yes, what she had turned into had been frightening, but she was still Liv.
Still, it was a lot to suddenly take in and process. Liv was a zombie. She ate brains. Dan did not know what to do with this revelation. Did Liv’s state of undead-ness change anything? Dan watched her continue to stitch up his arm. He didn’t want anything to change. He enjoyed the time they’d spent together. The fact that she had been a member of the walking dead didn’t change how much fun they’d had so far. And he still wanted to spend time with her. Those ticklish little feelings that had started to bud in Dan’s otherwise cold heart hadn’t changed with the news either.
The two of them were quiet while Liv stitched his arm and Dan thought. “Where d’ye get’em?” He asked suddenly and quite out of the blue. “The brains, I mean.”
When Dan grew silent Liv’s stomach twisted with worry. The information was clearly starting to sink in. Things were undoubtedly about to change between them. And not in the way Liv wanted then to. After tonight Dan might never want to see her again. She wouldn’t blame him either. But just in case this was the last time she would ever see him, Liv made sure to take extra time on his stitches.
Huh? Where did she get what? Oh. The brains.
Liv looked up at him once he clarified his question. “Here,” Liv replied clearly referring to the morgue. “Just the ones that were murdered. I try to help them get justice with my visions.” If she had to be this monster the least she could do was help those she fed on. Bring them the justice they might not otherwise receive.
“Yer a vigilante zombie?” Dan asked. The image of Liv with her red eyes and purplish skin decked out in superhero attire (complete with a mask and cape, too of course) was too funny and this time Dan actually did have to laugh. The tension that had been steadily rising since the attack was just too much and he needed to laugh at something.
The sheer inappropriate sound the laugh made in the otherwise empty and somber morgue made him reign it in quickly. “I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not laughin’ at ye, darlin’. I’m not. Just that...yer a superhero zombie. Ye saved my sorry ass t’night an’ ye go aroun’ gettin’ justice for others. That’s just -- it’s incredible! You’re incredible.”
It was a tad worrisome, though. Not every job Dan took resulted in murder. To be perfectly honest, contract killing was a very rare request. Most of the time his jobs involved thieving, or spying, or the like. People could be downright mean and nasty to one another, but there was a huge leap from wishing someone dead to actually hiring someone to make it happen. In Dan’s experience most people weren’t able to make that leap. In the last year, he’d only been hired once to kill someone. Still, it made Dan a little twitchy to wonder if the brains of that certain individual had somehow made their way onto Liv’s dinner plate.
And to add insult to injury, here was Liv doing her damndest to make the best out of a bad situation while he made his living on the misfortune of others. If Liv -- good, kind Liv who wanted to do right by the murdered people whose brains she survived on -- were to ever find out, she’d probably never want to see him again. That wiped the smile clear off Dan’s face and twisted something in his soul.
Was he seriously laughing? Liv frowned at first. She wasn’t sure what was quite funny. Maybe the blood loss and the events of the evening were starting to get to Dan. And of course the shock of finding out what she was. Of course she knew it was shocking. She wasn’t stupid. Orange County was full of many things, but there weren’t any other zombies around… that she knew of. The only other one she had met was her ex and he was back in London now.
His explanation made her feel a bit better. Although she wouldn’t consider herself a superhero and definitely not incredible. She was just a person, well a zombie, but still a person none the less, doing her best to survive in Orange County.
“Well I’m glad you think so,” Liv said. She was flattered and it even gave her that warm fuzzy feeling that Dan thought so, but she still didn’t agree, causing her tone to be a bit solemn. With that she got back to stitching, finishing up his arm.
“You should be okay,” she told him as she tied off the stitch. “If it starts to swell, get it checked out.” She had cleaned the wound and all the instruments before starting on the stitches, but just in case it got infected she wanted him to be okay.
As for his coat? The arm was blood soaked and he had gotten a good amount on his shirt as well. But they were in her morgue. Liv walked over to the back office grabbing one of her spare lab coats, handing it over to him. She doubted he wanted to go home shirtless.
Dan frowned slightly at the serious tone of Liv’s voice. He’d meant what he’d said. She may not have thought herself extraordinary, but he sure did. Especially after what he’d seen her do. Dan had thought she was pretty special before and he still thought so now. He wasn’t sure how to tell her that without it sounding like some kind of line.
“Aye, I will. Thank ye.” Dan nodded. He’d gotten stitches before and knew what to do to keep them clean. He’d be sporting a new scar, that was for sure, and this one had quite the story to go with it.
While Dan shrugged on the lab coat -- thankful to have something to change into -- he wondered what he should do. Liv hadn’t asked why the man had attacked him. He hadn’t demanded their money, or valuables or anything that would have made it look like a random mugging. Of course Dan knew the reason. He also knew that Victor Montoya wasn’t likely to give up his desires to see Dan dead and buried any time soon either. The last thing Dan wanted was for anything to happen to Liv. Technically she was already dead, but that hadn’t changed the way Dan felt about her. And even if it was unlikely she’d be physically hurt by anything a would-be assassin would do, just being associated with Dan could spell disaster for her in other ways.
But if he told her, confessed to her what he was, she probably would want nothing to do with him, and he wouldn’t blame her for that. But she deserved to know. She deserved to be able to make that decision on her own.
“Liv,” he said quietly once he had the lab coat on. “I need t’ tell ye somethin’.”
Liv never thought she would see Dan in her lab coat. It was an odd sight, but then this whole evening had been bizarre. And terrifying. And depressing. Ending the night with Dan in a lab coat was oddly fitting.
She had been ready to say goodnight to him. Call him a cab or a Lyft and send him on his way. Now that his stitches were done, Liv was convinced he wanted to get the hell away from the zombie, that had just killed a man. But then he spoke again, causing a brow raise from the zombie.
“Okay.” One word answer. Great reply there Liv. “You can tell me,” she added her tone sincere, eyes even worried. What could Dan possibly have to tell her?
Dan hesitated. He had never just come right out and admitted what it was he’d done for a living. Gamora had caught him in the act. Ezio had dug a bullet out of him and put two and two together. Carolina had dug deep into his personal history and dragged it out of him. Liv was the first and only person Dan was telling without having been prompted. He took a breath and swallowed hard.
“The man ‘o came after us t’night,” he started carefully. “He was hired t’ kill me. I donnea jus’ bartend fer a living. It’s better off if ye donnea know all the details,” though it was likely a smart woman like Liv could figure it out if she thought long and hard about how there was going to be no body for the police to discover come morning. “but suffice it t’ say I’ve made some enemies.”
He hesitated again before deciding to give her the story. “My father was killed a few years ago. He was a cop on the beat and someone ran him down. I was a detective for the Detroit Police Department at the time. I worked vice. My colleagues in homicide knew who it was who’d done it. The son of a mob boss from Chicago. I know they knew because I knew, but they either wouldn’t or couldn’t do anything about it. The whole department wasn’t corrupt, but the right people were in the right pockets, if ye know what I mean. In the end, because I wouldn’t let it go, I was forced out. Made to quit. So, knowin’ nothing would get done, I took matters into me own hands…”
Dan shook his head. “I got my revenge, but it’s not over.” He sighed. “I like you, Liv. An’ I donnea want you mixed up in alla that. So after t’night, iff’n ye donnea want to see me again, I understand.”
The way Dan was acting only adding to her worry. The hesitation, the breath he had to take. It wasn’t exactly a good sign. But then did anything good ever come after ’I need to tell you something’? Whatever it was he could tell her. Liv’s instincts took over again, but not in the same way they had earlier. It wasn’t her zombie instincts this time. It was her. She reached out for his hand giving it a reassuring squeeze. The fact that he might be scared to touch her at the moment didn’t cross her mind. She just wanted to make him feel better, comfortable. Whatever it was he could trust her.
Liv wasn’t an idiot. She knew Dan didn’t just bartend. That was obvious with the way they met. When he broke into her morgue. This morgue. The one they were in right now. It had all come full circle in a way. However, she wasn’t focusing on that at the moment. The fact that the guy had been hired to kill him definitely took priority.
And then there was the rest of his story. Liv was no stranger to a corrupt PD. At least in her dreams. The chief was a zombie. He covered up Blaine’s murders in exchange for brains. Liv understood why he had to do it. He needed brains to survive. And he had done the right thing in the end. But still she understood that corruption happened.
“I’m sorry, about your dad,” Liv finally said her tone completely genuine. As far as Dan’s actions for revenge? While she did understand it, she couldn’t condone it. In her own dreams she had been unable to kill Blaine, even though she was on cold hearted sniper brain and he was a serial killer. But that resulted in her boyfriend’s death. And she didn’t want to go through that again. Not that Dan was her boyfriend or anything. The guy was married but she did care about him. A lot.
“So he would have killed you if I hadn’t stopped it?” She finally asked. That made her feel at least a little bit better. About her actions. She had saved Dan in a way she hadn’t been able to save Lowell in her dreams.
The irony of his last statement was not lost on her. Dan had just found out she was a zombie. Seen the monster she could become. And he was worried about her not wanting to see him again? “I was going to say the same thing to you.” Of course the fact that he said he liked her was totally lost on her. She figured he meant as a friend. There was no way anyone could have actual feelings for her after seeing that.
Liv’s hand felt cold in Dan’s, but not the way one may have thought. It wasn’t unpleasant. It was comforting. Reassuring. Nice. Dan’s fingers closed around her’s and gave it an appreciative squeeze. “Aye,” he answered her. “He would have.” Or would have tried. Dan was a tough S.O.B. to put down, but if Liv hadn’t been there, the killer would have stood a much better chance of success. It seemed as though Victor Montoya had learned from the last time he had sent someone to kill Dan. No guns, no announcements or cutesy messages. Just straight to the point with a blade that was probably meant to slide nice and cleanly into Dan’s back.
Perhaps Montoya will decide not to send any more men to their deaths, but Dan somehow doubted that. He was going to have to deal with Montoya himself, and sooner rather than later since he didn’t want to dodge hitmen for the rest of his life. But first…
“Why wouldnnea I want t’ see you again?” He asked. “Because yer a zombie? That doesn’t matter t’ me. I mean it matters,” he had so many questions, “but it doesn’t scare me. I was a cop. I’ve seen death. And It’s not as though you’ve ever tried to munch on me head,” he gave her a rueful grin. “We donnea choose what it is we Dream ‘bout, darlin’, and we cannea control what it is they decide t’ do with us, either. I’ve met all sorts since signin’ on t’ the network. It’d be a lonely existence if yer gonna be scared of all those sorts.”
His hand tightened around her’s, hoping to bring her some of that reassurance she was trying to give him. “I like ye, Liv. I like ya a lot. I like spending time with ye and I’d like t’ spend more time with you, if ye’d want to.”
While the fact that the hitman would have killed Dan lessened her guilt, it increased her worry. What if someone else came after him? Liv couldn’t let that happen. She wasn’t going to let anything happen to him.
His next words even brought a small smile to her face. Yes, after the events of the evening she probably shouldn’t be smiling. But he wasn’t scared of her. It was a huge relief. And then he went on. It finally dawned on her that he might actually like her as more than just a friend. That he had the same feelings that she did. It didn’t matter though. He was married. And she was a zombie. They couldn’t be together. Not in the way she wanted. But she couldn’t bring herself to stop spending time with him. He was an important part of her life now. She managed to just be friends with Major in her dreams, she could do the same with Dan in real life.
“I’d like that,” she agreed. “I don’t want us to stop being friends.” She didn’t admit her feelings. Didn’t want to lead him on.
Friends. Dan’s heart fell a little in his chest. She didn’t want to stop being friends. Ah, but what had he been expecting? It wasn’t as though they’d been on dates or anything. Just two friends hanging out, shooting pool, seeing shows, having dinner. He’d gotten his hopes up maybe. Foolish. The type of life he lived, it was selfish of him to think that anyone, much less Liv, would want any part of that. He should be thankful she still wanted to associate with him at all. And he was thankful. He may have wanted more, but both of their lives were complicated enough. Pushing the issue would only complicate them more so. Liv still counted herself among the very few friendss Dan had, and that alone made him happy.
“Aye, darlin’.” Dan gave her hand a squeeze again. “I donnea want t’ stop bein’ friends either.”