Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to iZombie, all rights to the CW – This is purely for entertainment purposes only.

Author's Note
I'm sorry to anyone who is still waiting for me to go back and update all of my older stuff, I promise I will get there - I am a little bit out of practice when it comes to my writing so I am trying to wean myself back in as we go - I swear it's coming!
With everything going on in the world right now, stay home and stay safe!
JustOl'Ivy

'… I scream, you scream, we all scream for her – don't even try 'cause you can't ignore her.'

Seattle - the city of absolute illusion - every man, woman and dog sweeping under the rug that the city wasn't being overrun by cost-cutting drug dealers or the infamous 'Chaos Killer' who seemed dead set on targeting the 'one-percenters,' otherwise known as Zombies. Now - not your aggressive, manic, flesh-eating Dawn of the Dead Zombies, but your casual 'normal' Zombies who could get by on the day-to-day, just as long as they had a brain, or two, kicking about the fridge. There was a hot commodity on the Seattle market, the human brain with a heavy dose of Lucky U - and where you've got a high-stakes market, you need some high-stakes business people. The Skye Gentlemen's Club held just that. The discreet downtown location echoed with the sweet sound of old 80's classics and the muffled grunts of the men paying their hard-earned cash for a good time as the neon strobes hit the sequins and glitter that covered the bodies of the dancers. The door to the club swung open for the umpteenth time that night as the bartender took in the blonde as he stepped cautiously inside, she rolled her eyes gesturing for the bouncer to let the back know their 'favourite' Team-Z player had arrived.

"What can I get ya?" She questioned laying it on as thick as she could, hiding the grimace as the man attempted to flash her the trademark lady-killer smirk, only to be met with an impatient huff. "I got people to serve blondie," She pressed on, "Beer? Vodka? Sangria?"

He smirked, "Nice dye job Red," He chuckled rubbing his hand over his mouth, "Whisky sour.. and uh - Get me that pretty boss of yours,"

"Already here..." The voice carried from the other end of the bar, the click of her heels reaching him over the hollers from the excited patrons as she passed, "Put his drink on my tab Ruby," She smiled at the woman before turning back to the man with an amused look, "Now Blaine, tell me..." She popped her tongue, "What sick, sick twist of fate brings you into my establishment on a Wednesday evening?"

"And here I thought you might be missing me El," Blaine chuckled as he let his eyes flick over the woman leaning casually beside him. The emerald dress she sported screaming out to him as it clung to her curves, he watched her intently as she brushed her fingers through her messy platinum locks, a habit that she had long started to ignore. He could understand the men hollering at her. She hopped up effortlessly onto the counter beside him, slowly kicking her leg over to cross the other keeping his attention fixated.

Imelda hummed to herself gently bringing his attention back up to her pale face, "Mhm… No - Let's try this again shall we?" She patted his arm, "What are you doing here Blaine?"

His gaze flickered around the club for a minute trying to take stock of anyone he remembered from Mr Boss' crew before stretching up a little closer to her. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, before chancing his luck and cupped her cheek. "I was worried," He told her causing her to laugh softly shaking her head as she tried to ignore the feeling of his breath on her neck, "Really El..." He pressed, "There is a killer out there,"

"That a lot of my contacts tell me might actually be you," She advised as she took a long sip from the glass of red wine that had been sat beside them. "I'm also not stupid McDonough..." He flinched, "You don't worry about anyone but yourself," She accused, "So let's try this again for the last time, and hopefully before I kick you out of here and damage your ego," She dug her nails dangerously hard into his suit jacket as her eyes burned red, almost missing the unfamiliar look of fear in his eyes, "Why. Are. You. Here?"

"I need you-"

"Is there a problem here boss?" A voice questioned interrupting Blaine's plead as one of her men appeared towering behind the blonde, his knuckles cracked ready to remove him from the building.

Imelda paused as she studied Blaine's face, for a man who was normally oozing confidence and trying to get a layer - or two - off, he looked curiously nervous and the sweat-smudged make-up building around the collar of his shirt threw her. "No," She finally spoke from behind her glass, "I don't think so." She turned to look over her shoulder at Ruby who seemed to have read her mind and had a fresh bottle of wine waiting for her, "We're taking this conversation into my office" She instructed, "Hold all calls, no disruptions and I want two bodies on the door," Her eyes flickered to Blaine, "Move..."

Blaine followed without any arguing as she led him through the rowdy club and back to her office, she gestured for him to pass by her as she stopped to watch her men move into place by the door. Once she felt the click from the lock, she set the wine aside with a gentle toss before catching Blaine by surprise as she hauled him up against the door causing the blonde to yelp, "You're human." She accused, rubbing the side of his face roughly as the pale make-up came off on her fingers. "How the hell are you human?"

"I don't know if you are aware of this but you Zombie folk are very strong..." Blaine grunted gesturing down to the iron-tight grip that she had on his arms. "Mind letting up the vice there El?" She mouthed an apology as she loosened off her grip, but still not fully letting him go. "I ran into an - issue - shall we say at Meat Cute and I seem to be playing for the opposition right now." He studied her face for a second looking for a hint of belief, "Imelda, I need your help."

She laughed, "No - What you need is to explain everything from the beginning as I drink that bottle of wine and then - and only then - will we discuss 'help,'" She shook her head, "-but first," Blaine moved to catch her hands as her fingers made quick work of unbuttoning his shirt only to have her knee jut out to meet the door between his legs, "Why would I believe you straight off the bat?" She questioned, "If you recall the last time you asked me for help I ended up tied up in the trunk of Mr Boss' car,"

Blaine sighed holding his hands up by his head as he watched her hands trace down his chest noting that - whether she would admit to it later or not - she was being a lot more gentler with him, "Checking for a wire El?" He asked as she moved to gently sweep down his back, "If you wanted me to take my clothes off, you could 'a just asked,"

She shot him a look, "Of course I'm checking for a wire," She replied, "We both know that the only one desperate to get the other's clothes off is you Blaine,"

He arched his brow at her, "Is that so?"

"Oh sweetheart," She drawled, pressing flush against him with a small smirk as his hands dropped down to circle her waist. "I don't think you are in any position to challenge me..." She warned, "Due to your little situation, I'd be more likely to break you." She shot him a wink as she reached past him to grab her bottle of wine as the blonde fought to keep control of his unravelled breathing. He cast her a glance as she took up residence in the spacious hanging chair in the corner. Her favourite spot. "Now-" She gestured for him to sit, "Explain..."

Blaine sat down across from her on the all-to-familiar red leather couch as he felt her study him almost out of curiosity, "So... Remember when I told you about the Zombie from the boat party who works in the city morgue?" She nodded, "Well, she and her boss may have found a cure to 'Zombism'" He watched her perk up at the sound of a cure, "Don't get too far ahead here El," He warned as she rolled her eyes taking a long swig from the bottle, "Like I was saying, transpires an associate of hers was snooping where he didn't need to be snooping - yada yada - I caught him and locked him in a freezer - yada yada - He killed some of my crew, I shot him, said a few choice words and she stabbed me with one of the only samples that they had," He clapped his hands gesturing to himself, "Human - That's you up to speed..."

Imelda hummed, "And now you get to the part where you need me to do something unbelievably stupid as per usual..." She prompted.

"I want to take Boss' trade," Blaine admitted as her eyes snapped to meet his like a deer caught in headlights, "Now hear me out El," He urged, "I know how fed up you are of handing over half your nights turn-around to him just to keep his men from terrorising your strip-" She arched her brow warningly at him only to watch as he held up his hands in defence, "Dancers - and I know that you would rather he didn't find out about your juice little side hustle on his supply..." She gaped, "Don-E talks."

She could feel her temper wavering, "What do you want from me Blaine?" She questioned curling her fists tightly around the bottle, "This sounds more like a blackmail than you asking for my help,"

"Tit-for-Tat," Blaine shrugged, "I want you to work for-" She growled at him warningly, "With me..." He corrected, "You help me take down Boss' - We take over his clientele, the shipments - all of it - I give you protection for the club and I supply your little side project," He offered, "You let my shipments run through the club, cover a little fee here and there -" He huffed, "Plus - I don't know... I give you a discounted rate on whatever brain tickles that devious fancy of yours from the funeral home - Same goes for Red and any other Team-Z you got on the books,"

"That sounds like a whole lotta give Blaine..." She pondered, "What's the catch...The fee?"

Blaine huffed, "25%" He opted, when in truth, he didn't want anything else from her - If she took his deal, Boss would be gone and she'd be safe - Safer than he could currently keep her in his current state. "25% of what you make from your supply in a month, I don't want the money from your club," He shrugged, "You give me the information, I keep you and your club safe."

Imelda smirked as she swung out of the hanging chair, allowing her tired feet the chance to sink into the lush rug as she padded across the office to him. "Say I agree to this..." She spoke still not buying into the 'charitable' gentlemen approach, "I'm not only putting my club into the firing line, but my girls as well..." Blaine watched her intently as she got closer to him, an almost hazed look in her eyes as she dropped gently into his lap. "These girls rely on me to keep them safe and I sure as hell don't plan on letting them down just so you can play with the big boys," He nodded as she continued, "The second that something happens to my girls or I'm no longer satisfied with the terms of our deal - We are done - Do you understand me Blaine?"

Blaine smirked as he moved to rest his hands flat on her back pushing himself to sit up a straight, their faces inches apart. "C'mon now..." He whispered, "When have I ever left you unsatisfied?"

The soft raps on her office door brought Imelda back out of her thoughts as she peaked up at the door from her spot on the couch; Blaine had long left through the back-exit knowing that by now someone would have called Boss and one of his crew would have been waiting out in the crowd. She was still trying to wrap her head around their chat. Blaine being human was one thing, one thing that neither of them had ever imagined would be a reality again and now he wanted to go up against Mr Boss. She wasn't blind. She knew the only reason he was coming to her for 'help,' was because she ran every shipment for Boss through the club so no one would bat an eye to the crates, or if any suddenly went missing- Logistically, it made sense.

"Hey Boss?" Ruby questioned as she unlocked the door to the office, casting a careful glance around the room for a sign that she should make a quick exit. She let out a sigh of relief as she caught sight of the blonde lying content on her couch, "He's gone then?" She nodded, "You've had a couple of calls - Boss asking questions, pitching a fit, the usual - I gave him the run around, bought you some time." Imelda nodded with a grateful smile. "So spill then, what did he want?"

"Come in and lock the door first Rube," She insisted as the red-head did just that, "Take a seat nosey," She waited patiently until her second-in-command took up residence on the edge of her mahogany desk. "He wants to take on Boss for the U-trade, the shipments, the drops at the club... Anything Boss has he wants." She explained, "In return for our cut of supply, protection for the club an' the girls... He's asked 25% of our U turn around each month... He doesn't want anything from the club, just informants."

"And you right?" Ruby commented with a knowing look as she grabbed hold of the 'emergency' bottle of red that she knew the blonde kept in the top drawer. "C'mon Boss... You said it yourself - He wants everything that Mr Boss has - That includes you," She explained uncorking the bottle, "He's the Joker to your Harley Boss - Face it, the weird tension has been going on for years - Long before Lucky-U."

Imelda snorted, "The Joker to my Harley?"

Ruby laughed as she handed her a full glass, "Yeah... Just like I'm your Ivy," She explained, "I'm just saying … It's getting kind of sad now, even the girls can see how desperate he is."

"First of all, I bought that red dye for me." Imelda shrugged, "Secondly, if any of the girls are really that concerned with his 'desperation,' then they can have him, I'm sure Blaine would more than welcome the attention right now." She rolled her eyes taking a sip from her glass, "I don't have an interest in Blaine,"

"Sure thing Boss," Ruby vouched, "C'mon El - Who are you trying to kid here?" She pushed, "If any of those girls so much as looked at him for a second too long - We would have a Full-Z moment on our hands..." She trailed off seeing the warning look from the blonde, "Okay...Okay..." She smiled taking a sip, "Did you take his offer?"

"I gave him our terms," She replied, "Just need to wait and see if he can live up to his side of the offer..."

Ruby frowned, "You don't think he can?"

"He's human Rube," Imelda admitted watching the red-head lower her glass confused, "He's living, breathing - He's vulnerable." She shrugged, "Someone out there is engineering a cure for Zombies and it's worked, he's completely human - I could feel his heart racing,"

The red-head sighed, "That's why he seemed so cautious when he came in here..." She deduced, "If he's so vulnerable, then I wonder why he thinks now is the best time to go against Boss." She pondered, "Although, at least if he's human you don't need to worry about him trying to get into your pants." She ducked sharply as the glass came soaring over her head, the red wine dripping down the wall on impact. "Oi!" She shrieked, "I was just messing with you El!"

"Oh and I'm sure I'm just messing that your next dye-job won't involve hair removal..." Imelda barked as she took her phone back from her. "Go home Rube," She ordered as she watched the red-head smirk knowing she had rattled her, "Night Rube!"

"Goodnight Boss!" Ruby called as she turned the lock on the office door.

3 Missed Calls from Boss

2 Missed Calls from Drake

Imelda sighed as she listened to the voicemails that had been left for her, knowing from the tone in Mr Boss' voice that she had made the right call sending Blaine out the backdoor as she listened to the older man's empty threats.

"Imelda - It's Stacey - We got a shipment due to come through you tomorrow morning 6am, sharp. Have your boys ready to collect and distribute - This is a big one and I won't have any screw ups, not now."

"Imelda. Don't push your luck with me - Why are my boys saying that DeBeers was in your club tonight? You know the rules - Don't go screwing this up just because you can't keep 'em closed,"

"I think it's time we had a little chat sweetheart - 5:30am. Don't be late Miss Isley,"

Imelda rolled her eyes dropping her phone onto her stomach as she rubbed her head. "What an absolute child," She muttered listening to her men clearing out the club for the night, Ruby having given them the order to close up early. She lay there for a second weighing up her team, Blaine's deal would mean that all her dancers would have some sort of protection - which was already pretty slim under what she had 'bought' from Boss - and her Team-Z players would have 'full-stomachs,' on the account of the funeral home. No more grave-robbing. Her phone startled her out of her thoughts as it started to buzz. "Since when do you start making house calls at this hour?" She questioned answering the call with a slight smirk on her face.

"Well, the Boss seemed pretty pissed off about your little meeting tonight and your car ain't out front," Drake chuckled, "Figured you could use a ride before he sends his guys your way." She had grown to like Drake. None of them had really kicked up much of a fuss when Boss had started sending his new muscle-man around to try keep the peace on the odd drop, the 'hunk' as her girls had dubbed him turned out to be a bit of a sweetheart, something she couldn't say for the rest of the crew.

"Look at you taking care of me," She laughed pushing herself up from the couch, "You know I can take care of myself against a few of Boss' men," She pulled on her chunky black boots that she had kept behind her desk, not feeling the necessity to force her feet back into her heels. "What's the worst they could do? Slap me on the wrists? We both know that Boss likes my face too much as it is."

"You want me to leave and you can find out?" He offered, a subtle smirk on his face as he listened to her huff knowing fine well she had rolled her eyes at him. "Just grab your purse and come out to the car El... We don't really have time for the debate"

"Yes sir," She saluted throwing her leather jacket around her shoulders, "I'll be there in two," She disconnected the line tucking her phone away into her purse. The thought of Mr Boss sending men over to her club just because Blaine had made an appearance made her uneasy, she knew that she would be absolutely fine if they caused trouble but she didn't want to take the chance of having to call a cleaning crew for the mess. She stopped to make sure all of the alarms were set in place before slipping out the backdoor. She snuck around the alleyway making sure everything was clear before she stepped out into the open, a habitual sigh leaving her as she took in Drake leaning against his car. "Thank you for this..."

"You know it's never been a bother," He told her as they both made quick work getting into the car, he watched her glance uncertainly over her shoulder to the backseat and knew she was making sure they were alone. "You think I'd sell you out?" He asked as they peeled away from the club just in time as the familiar black SUV pulled up.

"Of course I don't," She protested, "You keep me being an informant under the table and I keep the fact that you're a cop off Boss' radar - That's how this little deal works," She patted his thigh, "Unfortunately, you're stuck with me on this one Holloway,"

He chuckled casting a glance in her direction, "Y'know it could be worse," She just smiled. "You gonna tell me what was so important about this meeting?"

"Some players are making moves against Boss and they want me in on them..." She admitted as Drake nodded along moving to turn the radio down, "They offered protection for my club, the girls - and to get Boss out of the way for good but..." She trailed off hesitantly.

Drake arched his brow, "But what?" She stalled, "But what El?"

"He wants to take over the entire ring," She admitted staying as vague as she could and keeping Blaine's name far, far out of it, "It's going to get really messy, really fast." She tapped her nails on the door, the car falling into silence for the rest of the drive.

The car finally came to a stop outside her apartment complex as the pair just continued to sit in silence. Imelda rustled around in her purse for the keys whilst Drake watched the street around them for any of Boss' men considering it was no secret to those on his payroll where she lived.

"Do you want me to come up and sweep the apartment?" He offered as he cut the engine.

"Careful Drake, the cop in you is showing," She teased. "I think I will be okay," She smiled slightly thankful that Drake didn't quite know all that she was capable of. Selfishly, she found she quite appreciated the attention and concern from him, "Well... Thank you for driving me home and saving me from his men - I very much appreciate you taking the time out from your busy schedule to assist a simple businesswoman such as myself," He chuckled at her, "I'll see you bright and early for the drop?"

"For sure..." He replied, "Can't miss out on an opportunity for a simple businesswoman like yourself to bring me breakfast now can I?" He winked at her as she rolled her eyes playfully. "Just let me know if you need anything El,"

Imelda smiled as she climbed out of his car, the keys to her apartment in her hands as she walked quickly across the street to the key-code secured door. She knew that he was going to wait for her to get inside before he drove off so she quickly raised her hand to wave to him as she let herself inside. Luckily, she was greeted with an empty elevator as she hit the button for the top-floor, giving her the opportunity to avoid the pointless small talk with her neighbours as they tried to avoid asking why she was always coming home so late, although she was sure many of them had their theories. When the elevator finally came to a stop, she strolled down the corridor towards her apartment only to freeze a few feet away from the door, a bright yellow freezer bag was sat waiting for her on the door mat. She turned to look at the only other apartment on her floor, before reaching for the note.

"Please... Please don't be a hand." She muttered, "Or a foot..." She continued, "Or an ear..." She let out a sigh of relief as she opened the note fully, "Just a brain"

Consider this a sample of what's to come, Partner.
Blaine.