Ravi's eyes widened, watching the rat convulse in the cage before flopping down limply. It was the second failed attempt at a cure this week. He'd thought the latest changes were an improvement, but apparently he'd just magnified the adverse reactions. He was basically creating more and more effective forms of zombie rat poison at this point.

With each new formula, the poor creatures suffered a more violent demise. Ravi peered closely at the rodent, slowly opening the lid of the cage. This time blood stained the rat's white face, oozing from its tear ducts. It appeared this last batch had caused unexpected hemorrhaging.

Ravi squinted. It was strange though, the blood not quite the color it should be, decidedly thin and almost neon pinkish. He was reminded of the way Liv's eyes glowed when she went into full-on homicidal zombie mode.

"Another rodenticide? You're a regular Janie Lou Gibbs over there."

Ravi turned away from the cage to face Liv, taking in a new pair of horn rimmed glasses and a smug smirk. "You're awfully satisfied with yourself. I'm assuming that's some clever reference to…?"

"A woman who killed her entire family with rat poison. Number five on my list of favorite female serial killers." Liv blinked rapidly, face falling. "Damn it! He looked so normal laying there on the table. Grad student, 25."

"And stomach contents: fair trade chocolate and artisanal home brew." Ravi slipped off his gloves, tossing them aside. "I always say, beware of hipster brains. You never know what lame thing they're ironically obsessed with. I told you to go for the nice girl in drawer five."

"I've had my fill of stripper brain, thank you very much." She flexed her shoulder. "I'm honestly not sure my body could handle going another round with the pole."

Ravi smirked, biting his bottom lip. Of course he couldn't help the images that flashed before his eyes. Liv's short lived stripping career wouldn't be something he forgot soon. "You'll never know unless you try."

"Shutty."

He opened his mouth to argue, but the words died on his lips. The cage behind him was rattling. Liv darted forward, pushing him out of the way. "She's alive?"

The rat sat up on its hind legs, front paws clutching at the wire of the cage. The white color slowly receded from its coat, the warm brown hue finally beginning to return.

"I can't believe it. I swear she was dead five minutes ago."

They hunkered close together like a matching pair of statues staring down at their miraculous little friend.

"Do you think…?" Liv trailed off, almost afraid to whisper her hope. She backed away from the table, swallowing hard as she stared.

"We can't be sure until more tests are ran… and we should probably put the cured rats under observation before moving on to human subjects… but Liv, I really think this might be it."

Her eyes widened, and Ravi didn't have time to brace himself before she tackled him in a bear hug. They fell to the floor in a heap, Liv laughing breathlessly against him. "Oh god you beautiful British genius!" She gave him a smacking kiss on the lips, pounding her tiny fists happily against his chest in celebration.

More images flashed through his mind, this time lingering inappropriately, the creamy globe of her exposed breast making its way around again and again. He could help it, the same anatomy was pressed up against him now, every line a soft curve his fingers itched to investigat. And her lithe legs… Damn it… He should have declined her eager invitation to the burlesque show last week, but he was a weak man.

She rolled away from him, scrambling to her feet before reaching down to haul him up. He would never get used to her weird super-human zombie strength… and it seemed he wouldn't have to. If they were lucky she would be back to normal by the end of the month.

She dusted herself off, broad smile spreading across her face. "Let's get to work."


It was a strange process to watch, now that he knew how it worked. Now that he knew he'd soon be administering the cure to someone he cared about. But the fact that it was the same each and every time was a good sign, even if it looked painful.

It took approximately five minutes after injection for the drug to take effect. The initial muscles spasms seemed to be the worst part, contorting the creatures' bodies as they squeaked in protest. This was the kind of thing he hated reading about in med-school, but it seemed like a necessary evil for the betterment of mankind… And he was willing to push aside any queasiness he felt if this meant curing Liv.

The hemorrhaging started next, blood pouring from the eyes and noses. Except it wasn't blood… Exactly. Yes it was plasma, and some red blood cells, but in actuality the substance seemed to be mostly composed of an array of chemicals. There were ones from his drug, sure, but also ones that he didn't immediately recognize. It was like seeing two pieces of a five thousand piece puzzle click together. The rest of the pieces were still scattered across the metaphorical table, but at least they were there.

The death he'd observed earlier was indeed death. The rats' slow beating zombie hearts stopped altogether, eyes glazing over as their little diaphragms failed to draw in air. This was the worrisome part. In each case the time it took for the rats to gasp back to life varied. Sometimes so drastically that he thought they were dead for good.

He noted the latest numbers in his log, leaning back in his chair. Lines of exhaustion etched on his face, Ravi let out a long sigh. He could hear the tell-tale click of Liv's boots on the tile in the morgue, and he knew it was only a matter of moments before she popped her head into his office, badgering him about human testing… on her.

It was one argument he wasn't looking forward to having again. It was just too dangerous. The cured rats seemed normal, to the inexperienced eye, but some of their vitals were worrisome. Elevated heart rates and body temperatures for one, and their behavior continued to be odd. It wasn't anything scientifically quantifiable, but they fidgeted in their cages, pacing like mental patients trapped in padded rooms. He didn't have a clear read on any of it, and he wasn't risking Liv's life because she was impatient.

He could still hear her walking around, humming to herself as she did god knows what. Her footsteps didn't get any closer to his office. Ravi closed his eyes, concentrating on the melody floating through the air. His lips twitched up involuntarily. It was the awful music they'd been playing in the smoky bar the night she'd shed her clothes and wrapped herself around a pole. What was with strip clubs and popularity of late eighties glam metal? He'd nearly spilled his drink down his shirt when the first notes of Cherry Pie had blasted out of the PA, amusement clearly written all over his face. He almost regretted that a cure would mean an end to these entertaining shifts in personality and interests.

The loud clang of a metal tray falling to the floor jerked Ravi from his wandering thoughts. He jumped out of his seat, darting into the exam room. He was always on edge these days, fearful that any one of the numerous enemies Liv seemed to attract would pop in uninvited.

Liv wasn't anywhere to be seen, the cheerful humming eerily absent, replaced by the alarming sound of choked groans. On high alert, he rounded the exam table she'd been working at, stepping around the scattered autopsy tools littering the floor. His heart stopped in his chest when he saw her, curled up in a tight ball on the cold tile, spasming painfully, an empty syringe clutched in her right hand.

He pushed aside the panic, drawing instead on the little reservoir of calm he had deep inside. It was a shallow pool to draw from, but he had to do something. He couldn't leave her spasming in the floor in a pile of sharp dissection tools. She felt light in his arms, seizing against him. Her jaw was clenched, eyes squeezed shut against the pain.

"Damn it, Liv. What the hell have you done?"

At the sound of his voice, her eyes popped open. She sucked in a strangled gasp, clutching at the front of his shirt. A pained smile flitted across her face. "I'm fine… I swear. You never would have... been ready to test it on a… on a … human."

The syncopated rhythm of her speech, interspersed with harsh panting, was enough to make Ravi think she probably wasn't okay, but he didn't have much to say. What was done was done, and all that was left was to sit and observe. He carried her into his office, laying her down gently on the sofa against the wall.

He checked her pulse, pale skin cold against his fingers. He'd never quite gotten used to that. She wasn't cold exactly, not in a way that would freak anyone out if they shook her hand, but it was just enough of a temperature difference to make someone in the medical field cock their head to the side in thought. The pulse itself was so much slower than a regular human's. Ravi was glad he'd studied her so thoroughly in the beginning, or this would have had him dialing 911.

Cold fear washed over him as the spasms began to subside. This was the part of the cure that he'd known he wouldn't be able to handle watching, and yet he had no choice. How could anyone watch someone they care about slowly disappear? The mask of medical indifference kept falling away, no matter how forcefully tried to keep it there, worry lines creasing his brow.

He knelt on the floor beside the sofa, peering closely at her as the pain faded from her face, limbs unfolding as her muscles finally relaxed. Her face was smooth once again, an almost peaceful expression marred only by the pinkish tears cascading down her face. He knew he should probably get something to collect a sample, but he was frozen, watching her with his heart in his throat.

Instead of getting up and grabbing one of the vials off his desk, he leaned forward and took her hand in his, tracing lines across the back of her knuckles. She weakly squeezed back, and tears welled up in his eyes spilled over the edge. There was a chance that this was it, that somehow they'd gotten the dosage for humans wrong and she wouldn't wake back up. He had no idea how he could explain Liv's death to Babineaux… to Major, but that wasn't what had him all twisted up inside.

In the short time he'd known her, she'd come to mean so much to him. She was a tireless smartass who achieved the impossible. She made the morgue a fun place to be, and she'd drawn him back out into the light of day, away from his work for the first time in years, back into a circle of friends. And god, he could admit it now, she was beautiful. There was something ethereal about her that had nothing to do with her pale countenance or her perfect little body. He was pretty sure she had no idea that those first weeks they'd worked together he'd gotten up every morning and practiced lame pickup lines.

Now he wished he'd had the courage to use one of them, maybe seen her laugh away his pathetic advance. Or, wonder of wonders, maybe her eyes would have dropped as she'd bitten her bottom lip (something he'd seen her do numerous times checking guys out), and maybe she would have pounced on him. He hated that he might never know.

Her chest rose for the maybe the last time, the breath rattling out of her in a labored sigh. This was it. He checked the time on his watch, glancing back up at her every thirty seconds. When they passed the time marker for the longest it had ever taken one of his rats to come back, he felt the panic begin to bubble inside of him. There had to be something he could do if this didn't work. Slam a shot of epinephrine straight into her heart and jump start it, zap her with a defibrillator… something.

He cursed her for doing this to him. He wasn't fucking prepared. There were no failsafes in place, nothing he could do but stare helplessly as the seconds ticked by. His eyes zipped across her body, looking for any sign of life. He was on the cusp of sinking into grief when he noticed it… the little round mark on her arm where she'd injected herself. The pale skin there was starting to turn almost peachy, color radiating out from the puncture.

When her eyes fluttered open, he nearly collapsed in relief, releasing a breath he'd been holding for far too long.

a/n: Thanks for Reading! Please leave a comment if you like, all feedback is greatly appreciated (I've already started the second chapter...)