A Matter of Perspective
Where Do We Go From Here
So, when I originally wrote the first chapter to this fic I had something else in mind but it fell to the wayside and I'm not even sure what it was anymore. I just got caught up on the show yesterday though and this idea for a post-finale scene just came to mind. I'm not exactly sure how it came out, but it is what it is. Blaine has recovered his normal personality in this because I really didn't like what they did to him in the show and I hope he goes back to himself next season. I was listening to These Hard Times by Matchbox Twenty while writing this.
What do you do when you find out that the world you thought you knew is actually nothing like you thought it was? You can't continue to live under the illusions that you held previously, but it's not like you can just jump headfirst into the new reality that easily either.
At the beginning this whole being a zombie thing had been strange, frightening even, but she had managed. She had Ravi and her job and that had been more than enough for a while. Then the whole thing with Clive had started and it had given her a purpose again, instead of focusing on all of the bad parts of her situation she could use her newly acquired abilities to actually help people. It had all been relatively simple back then, get a case, eat the victim's brain, get some visions, and eventually it was boom case solved. The whole thing with Max Rager had just made her life complicated in ways she wasn't even sure she could fully comprehend at the moment.
"If it isn't Team Z's fearless leader," a familiar voice drew her eyes up from the beakers she had been rinsing out in the sink. "Long time no see."
"In case you haven't noticed I've been busy," she said. "No thanks to you."
"That hurts, it really does," he said with a show of mock indignation. "I've been nothing but a humble zombie trying to make his way in the world, no criminal activity whatsoever, scout's honor."
"Forgive me if I don't take your word for it," she said.
"I have noticed," he said.
"The you being busy part," he added at her look of confusion. "That was a hell of a job you pulled at Max Rager."
"I didn't do it alone," she said shifting her foot nervously.
"No of course not, a job like that doesn't go smoothly with only one person," he said. "Rumor has it that a certain morally ambiguous paramilitary group even showed up to help clear the place out, but I'm sure those are just rumors."
The shocked expression on her face only functioned to widen his smirk.
"Oh yes a little birdie told me all about it in fact," he said, smirk unwavering. "Now even I have to admit that Vivian Stoll is a hard woman to track down, but I have my ways."
"You have no idea what you're dealing with," he continued after a pause.
"And you do," the response was out of her mouth before she could help it.
"She's dangerous, ruthless even," he said. "There's not much more for a person like me to be concerned about."
"You on the other hand," he said waving absently in her direction. "Could end up getting hurt very badly if you decided to do the tango with her."
"I can handle myself just fine thank you very much," she said.
"You don't understand," he said moving in closer to her.
Once he was thoroughly inside of her personal space he continued, "People like her, they're not like me, Hell they're not even like Vaughn Du Clark, they're a different breed of dangerous and evil and you will end up getting hurt if you decide to get in the way of what she wants; it might not be a physical kind of hurt but you won't walk away from the experience the same."
"And when exactly did what happens to me matter to you," she said in what she hoped was an angry tone. "It never did before."
"Au contraire mon ami," he said. "What happens to you has always mattered to me."
For a brief moment she thought she saw something genuine flash across his face but it was gone as soon as it came.
"And it's not just me who cares about what happens to you," he said putting the mask back on. "It's all of those zombies you saved, all of those zombies out there that view you as a hero now after what you did at Max Rager; the one that saved them from Max Rager's experiments and the Chaos Killer at large."
"When I call you the leader of Team Z, that's not just hyperbole," he continued. "Even if I think that there's someone out there far more handsome who could take up the mantle."
She suppressed the desire to break out laughing at that and briefly wondered if he was on some sort of psychic brain. These were exactly the kinds of things that were running through her head before he distracted her.
"I didn't do it alone," she repeated less confidently than before.
"Doesn't matter," he said. "You're the one they remember."
"So trust me when I say that you better think long and hard about what you do next, because it's not just about you anymore," he said. "We all rise and fall with the tide that is Liv Moore."
"I never thought of you as one to actually care about the bigger picture," she said.
"Look, I know I haven't exactly given you reason to think very highly of me, in fact you're probably perfectly justified to have thoughts about my gruesome death on a regular basis," he said. "I really am trying now though, you have to believe that; the whole amnesia thing really opened my eyes."
"It's not that simple," she said.
"No it's not," he said. "But that's what it is."
"Just take care of yourself," he continued. "Whatever comes next, it's going to be big."
With that he turned and left without another word, leaving her with more questions than answers. She never set out to be this hero that the other zombies apparently believe her to be and she never asked for any of this stuff with Vivian Stoll, but it was what it was. And then there was Blaine, post-amnesia he seemed to be a lot more in touch with his heart and morality. She couldn't bring herself to completely believe that he was some sort of new person, he had fooled them all too many times already for that, but he had seemed genuine enough and she could at least put his words to thought before she made any rash decisions. She only hoped that she was doing right by all these people that apparently now looked up to her.
Maybe it isn't so much about jumping into the new reality as it is taking the reality you already knew and adjusting it to fit a new course. It can get lonely at the top, but it doesn't have to be. The burden doesn't have to be shouldered alone.
If I can maintain the right inspiration I'll probably write some more Bliv in the near future because I still don't like Major though now it's for different reasons. I also may take up writing some stuff about Rita, maybe not necessarily her and Liv together though I think they could have had a similar dynamic to Liv and Blaine, but just in general because I don't think she deserved to die. So keep a look out for that if you're interested. I hope you liked this.