I See You

After a long day of helping Clive interview suspects in his latest murder case, Liv was looking forward to unwinding with Ravi and Major. The front door was locked when she got to their apartment, but when she raised her fist to knock; it flew open so suddenly that she almost hit Ravi in the face. "Finally," she began in exasperation, but the tone switched abruptly when she found herself face to face with her boss, sporting reddened fingerprint marks across his cheek. "Dude, what the hell happened?"

"It's the brain," Ravi shrugged helplessly. "Major came by the morgue after you left to help Clive this morning, totally ravenous he was. The only relatively harmless brain I had was this kid who was killed in a hit-and-run."

"A kid's brain made Major slap you?" Liv marveled. "Damn, do I want to go up there?"

"I think he's beginning to understand how crappy the side effects of some meals can be. By the time I came downstairs he was trying to throw it up already."

"Is the kid bulimic too? Bad choice, man, bad choice." Liv placed her bags of takeout on the kitchen counter with a sigh. "He really hit you?"

"I don't think the kid is actually violent," Ravi mused. "He wasn't really talkative before holing up in the bathroom earlier, but I think it's about some skill the kid is lacking. I couldn't figure out what it was though."

"Our resident Batman wins this one judging by your face," said Liv before she could stop herself and even the act of scowling made Ravi wince. "I'll talk to him, okay? Why don't you eat something before we douse the food with hot sauce?"

"I wish you luck," Ravi muttered and moved to load a plate with Chinese fried rice and noodles. With a little wave over her shoulder, Liv started up the stairs. Sure enough, the bathroom door was shut when she reached the top, but Liv's superior hearing could pick up the groans of frustration on the other side.

"Major?" Liv called, banging on the door with as human an amount of force as she could manage. "It's me, what's going on in there?"

"It's open," said Major's voice faintly and frowning in confusion, Liv barged into the bathroom Ravi and Major shared. Her ex was leaning against the shower cabin in the far corner of the room, looking as pale as the first time he took Utopium what felt like a lifetime ago.

"You didn't even lock the door?" said Liv skeptically, assessing the sight before her. "That's already a step better than the brain of that teenage girl a while back, then."

"Don't remind me," Major groaned, shifting slightly so that there was room for her on the floor beside him. "I didn't see the point in locking it, Ravi's less persistent than you are."

"No he's not," said Liv. "He probably just backed off because you hit him. Why would you do that?" The guilt swirled like a visible force in Major's dark blue eyes, and when he looked away, she took his hand firmly. "I'm a zombie, dude, not a mind-reader…well, kind of, anyway. Talk!"

"I'm sorry I got mad at you the last time we tried to be together," he said slowly. "For trying to explain that the brain becomes a part of you. I get it now…it really sucks."

"What is it about this kid?" she pressed sympathetically. "Is all this drama is over an identity crisis?"

"I still hate it," said Major grimly. "The only upside is that I don't kill them myself. This one was so young."

"Yeah," Liv agreed; "thank goodness for Ravi." He could tell that she was still very confused; "So, besides being tragically young what's wrong with this brain? I would have thought you'd love it; you boys behave like five-year-olds anyway."

"Rude," Major protested, but he still wasn't smiling. There was a long silence and just when Liv was certain he wouldn't confide in her after all, he finally spoke. "He can't skate."

"He can't skate?" she echoed in disbelief; "That's seriously what all this is about?" She would have laughed if he didn't look so completely miserable. "What's so terrible about that?" she asked instead. "I don't get it."

"Being good at hockey is my thing, Liv. I'm not smart like you, but on the ice, I was unbeatable all through college. If I can't skate, what's the point?"

"Who says you're not smart?" Liv demanded, but she wasn't surprised when he raised his eyebrows skeptically. "Okay, granted you've done some crazy things in the past year, but so much of it was because of my secret. I didn't see anybody else hanging upside down from an elevator shaft to shoot at a zombie recently." Major was still looking disbelieving, so she inched closer to him in emphasis. "The effects of the brains are temporary, remember? Our hearts make us as much as our brains do and yours is one of the most caring ones I know. You keep me safe even better than you play hockey."

"That's a good line," he admitted grudgingly. "You're not on some sappy motivational speaker brain again, are you?"

"Hey, the original Liv has her moments. Give me some credit, buddy," she laughed, and when she looked down at their comfortably entwined hands, it gave her a brainwave. Hastily she tugged him to his feet and dragged him out of the bathroom. "I have an idea, come with me!" He watched in confusion as she darted into his bedroom and began to rummage around in the sliding drawer under his bed where he kept his sports gear. "Do you still have my skates around here?" she asked impatiently, after unearthing his roller-skates and a pair of helmets.

"Yes, but…" he began, trailing off when she found her own skates deeper in the drawer and pulled them out triumphantly. "Liv, I told you this brain can't handle skates. I'm gonna fall and look like an idiot."

"Then we'll look like idiots together," she said simply, grinning slyly at him. Ignoring the reluctance all over his face, she tossed the skates and helmets into one of his sports bags and tugged him down the stairs.

Ravi peered out of the kitchen at the sound of her thundering purposefully down the stairs. "You were successful I take it?" he remarked dryly, taking her excitement in stride; "Where are you going at this hour?"

"The park," said Liv, pausing impatiently by the door when Major halted in his tracks. "Keep up, chicken!"

"Her latest brain is definitely a little hyper, I don't care how much she denies it," he told Ravi, but his eyes hovered over the fading red mark on his friend's cheek. "Dude, I'm really sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," the doctor shrugged. "You're not as tough as you think, Lilywhite. I can barely feel it already. You know you can talk to me about the brain stuff, right? I understand better than you think. Obviously, something Liv said made an impact, I'm glad." Liv's impatience was palpable throughout the exchange, and he turned to watch her rattling her keys in amusement. "Clearly she has a plan, you better get going. Have fun, you two." He didn't miss the way Major visibly shuddered and let his friends leave with his own curiosity aroused. There was never a dull moment when your two best friends essentially had multiple personalities.

In what felt like no time at all, Liv and Major arrived at the park. She plonked the bag down on one of the benches along the wide paved walkway and switched her sneakers for one of the pairs of skates. She was strapping on her helmet before Major had even budged and eyed him in amazement. It was almost comical, seeing her strapping ex-fiancé looking so traumatized at the prospect of skating. She patted the space beside her on the bench encouragingly, and he finally sat down and picked up a skate, eyeing it nervously without putting it on. "This is a really bad idea. Why would we do the one thing this personality so clearly can't?"

"Because when it comes down to it, you are not this poor kid," said Liv firmly. "And the man I love loves to skate. Dig deep; you'll find the nerve in there somewhere!" But instead Major's eyes widened slightly, and she frowned when he stared at her for a full minute with shock in his eyes. "What did I say?"

"Did you just say 'love'?" he asked faintly and her surprised nod was enough to make him strap on the skates with fresh determination.

"Hold on!" Liv grabbed his arm so hard he had no choice but to look her in the eyes again. "How can that be so surprising to you?"

"I don't know," Major shrugged; "I guess I just thought…the break up at Christmas, all our issues…"

"Was all me trying to protect you from this life," Liv pointed out sternly. "Kind of why you became the Chaos Killer, too."

"Well when you put it like that," he sighed. "Even both of us being zombies doesn't make this much simpler, does it?"

"I don't think love ever is," she said thoughtfully. She resisted the subtle pull of his arm dragging her closer to him. "Hey, we came to skate, remember?"

"I was hoping you'd forgotten about that," he groaned, and she rose to her feet with a smirk and held out both hands to him.

"Not a chance!" She squeezed his shaking hands gently and backed slowly away from the bench. "You'll be fine, I promise. It's just like the time you were on Utopium and even high as a kite you swore to protect me."

"Yeah, because people wanting you dead is exactly the same as skating," Major gasped sarcastically, the fear visible in his eyes.

"The promise is the same," said Liv casually and pointed at a tree a little way in the distance without letting go of his hand. "If you can make it to that tree you'll get a reward," she promised, and he eyed her in disbelief. "One foot in front of the other, let's go!" She kept facing him and skated backwards along the path, mostly deserted in the dusk, spouting encouragements to counter his palpable tension all the way. "Keep going; you've got this, buddy!"

With every inch they progressed, Major relaxed slightly and eventually; he didn't even protest when Liv let go of one of his hands. The other one stayed clasped around his and gliding along side by side it felt achingly like any other date night in the park. "Instinct must be taking over," he said, beaming in relief at the realization. "Good thing too, I so didn't want to fall on you."

"Dude, I'm a zombie now, it's not like you could just crush me that easily." Liv's eyes sparkled in amusement, and for the first time in ages, he saw past how scary they could look in full on zombie mode.

"Yeah, today you're definitely not the one who needs protection," he conceded and was so busy memorizing every detail of the smile he had loved for so many years that Liv rammed into the tree she had pointed out as his benchmark. "Crap! You okay?"

"Zombie versus tree, I so win," she laughed dismissively and dragged him closer to the tree trunk. She spun around so that he was the one pinned securely to the tree. "How about that reward now?" she suggested seductively. "A good zombie never goes back on her word. I knew you could do it!"

"What…?" he began in confusion, but the rest of the question was swallowed by the force with which she kissed him. "Liv," he said faintly when she pulled back for air; "are you sure about this?"

She nodded seriously; "Look, we've both learned that love is never simple. But the reason I dumped you was that you couldn't understand the mood swings as the different brains took effect. Now that's not an obstacle anymore. Like you said last Christmas, someday Ravi will find a cure. And in the meantime, I'm going to be grateful to have someone who always sees the real me…behind the brains, I mean. I'll always know the real you that way too, you know. Is that a good enough reason to try again?"

"Works for me," said Major softly after staring at her in a combination of stunned and adoring silence for a moment. Leaning safely against the sturdy tree trunk, he pulled her into his arms as if she would vanish if he even dared blink. Neither of them possessed a heartbeat or pulse anymore, but the love surged like a force between them. When their lips met with hunger and need for each other, it was more powerful than any temporary personality traits would ever be.

A/N Really enjoyed writing this, wish they would get back together! Enjoy xx