A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I completely forgot to upload on Monday, and then I didn't have access to wifi on Tuesday! I'll try not to let it happen again, although I do feel happy because I got the rest of the chapters finished, so there's that!
Enjoy the chapter!
As Liv and Clive climbed into Clive's car, Clive was pulling out his phone and Rose's card. He handed both items to Liv. "Do me a favor and call Rose, would you?"
Liv nodded and dialed the number on the card. It was the same card that Rose had given her earlier, minus the personal number. Liv half wished it was Tyler's personal number on the card she's thrown away, then pushed the thought away a moment later. No incestuous fanfic...no incestuous fanfic. If she gave into Becky's thoughts and feelings about Tyler, there was no telling what might happen next.
As the Impala sat in line at a Burger King, Dean's work phone began playing the guitar riff from Smoke on the Water. Dean hit the screen's button as he pulled the car forward to the second window. "Agent Jack Rose speaking."
"Agent Rose!" A woman's voice greeted. "This is Liv Moore, from the morgue."
Dean grinned, at the same time accepting the bags of fast food from the window worker. "Of course, Liv, how could I forget such lovely lady?" Sam glanced at him with a teasing, amused smirk. Dean's grin grew wider.
"What can I do for you, Liv?"
Liv frowned. Well, for one you can stop flirting with me and two, you can hand the phone to Tyler, you womanizing pig.
"Detective Babineaux and I were wondering if we could meet up with you and Agent Tyler at the crime scene. He has this hunch that with the four of us there, we might find something the crime scene techs didn't the first time."
Clive glanced at her out of the corner of his eye with a funny expression on his face. "Why'd you tell him it was my idea?" He whispered.
"I'm the M.E.," she whispered back, covering the speaker. "They don't know that I'm your de facto partner. Why would I have this idea, as far as they know?" Clive nodded.
"So what do you say, Agent Rose?"
Dean glanced at Sam. "Liv and Babineaux want to meet us at the crime scene to look for any evidence the techs might have missed. Should we go?" Sam nodded quickly, reaching for one of the fast food bags and looking through it.
Dean pulled up into a space and started looking through the bags. "Yeah, sure. Where was she found again?"
"The alley behind a restaurant called Bella Notte on the corner of-" Liv stopped suddenly and laughed. Dean raised his eyebrows, hands stilling in their quest for pie. "What's so funny?"
Liv continued laughing. "Oh, nothing. It's just it's my favorite intersection in this entire city." Clive grinned, knowing what she was talking about.
"You have a favorite intersection?" Rose asked incredulously.
Liv nodded, though he couldn't see her. "Yes and no. It's not the intersection so much as the names of the intersecting streets."
"Okay...?"
"Bella Notte is located on the corner of Mickey and Finn."
Dean started laughing in spite of himself. "Really? The city mayor or street planner or whoever actually let that happen?" Sam looked at him curiously. Dean held up a finger.
"Yeah, so it seems." Dean could still hear Liv laughing while she spoke, though they were quieter now. She had a pretty laugh, this girl. She had a pretty face, too. In fact, Liv was just pretty in general. She was pretty awesome. Hopefully, she'd call him later for a drink or something.
Finally calming herself, Liv continued. "So can you come?"
"Yeah, we'll be able to swing it. We're grabbing some food now, so we'll meet you at the restaurant at, say, 1:30?"
Liv mouthed 1:30 at Clive, who nodded. "Okay, we'll meet you there." Liv hung up the phone and handed it and the card back to Clive. "He says he and Tyler are grabbing some food and then they'll meet us there."
Clive nodded. "I think I'll do the same. You've already eaten, obviously, but I haven't." Liv nodded. "Cool with me."
Sam pulled his burger out of the bag and unwrapped it while Dean continued searching for his pie. "So we're meeting Liv and Detective Babineaux at the crime scene?"
Dean nodded distractedly. "Yeah, you heard me. 1:30." He grumbled under his breath. "Where is it?"
Sam took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. "I wonder why Liv's coming. It's not like she's a cop or a detective or anything; she's an M.E.. And an assistant one at that." He glanced over at his brother, who seemed to be getting more and more frustrated. "...Issues?"
Dean flung the empty bag away from him, completely disregarding his fries and bacon burger. "They forgot my pie."
An hour and a half and a fight with a Burger King employee later, Agents Rose and Tyler were pulling their car up behind Clive's. The occupants of Clive's car sat waiting for the agents to arrive, one munching on a burger of his own. When the Impala pulled up behind them, neither Liv nor Clive got out, not expecting FBI agents to roll up in anything but a company car.
There was a knock on Liv's window, and she started before looking out and seeing a smiling charmingly Agent Rose waving at her. She smiled back and opened her door. "Sorry, didn't see you there." Liv glanced back at the Impala. "Guess I wasn't expecting a car like that."
Rose grinned. "S'all right. I got this deal with my boss where he lets me drive my car and I don't bother him about letting me."
Clive, who'd gotten out as well, smiled as he looked at the car. "It's nice. '67 Impala, good year, better model. This is one of my dream cars."
Liv shook her head, sharing a look with Tyler. "Shall we go?" She asked patiently.
Tyler hid a smile. "Definitely." The four crossed the street to the restaurant and stepped into the alley. There wasn't much. Two dumpsters, more than a few large metal trash cans, one cat, many, many bird droppings and endless amounts of litter.
Liv found she was slightly disgusted by the state of the alleyway. Even after dozens of detectives, unis, and techs had been through, the place was still a mess.
Looking at Tyler's grimace, she thought he might share that sentiment. Continuing along the disgusting alley, Liv looked came to the dumpster that belonged to Bella Notte. It sat beside a door that led into the back of the restaurant. There was a company logo on the dumpster, Rockbell and Rockbell, telling the looker who was renting the dumpster to Bella Notte. Above the door, there was a large printed sign that read "Bella Notte" in large, fancy letters, as if customers might come into the restaurant through the alley access.
Liv stared up at the restaurant sign, and suddenly everything around her seemed to faze out.
Becky stares at the nearly-bald man who holds her against the building by her throat. Don E, she remembers his name is. She can see the Bella Notte sign behind him, the restaurant where she'd met her "date" for the night. Below the sign, there is another, bleached blond-haired man leaning against the opposite wall of the alley, looking concerned but in no way looking to interfere.
"I know what you are," Becky whispers, barely able to get the words out. "Zombie." She pauses, almost too petrified to get the next few words out. "I know that you're selling a Utopium for a lower price, coining it as "Lucky U."
Don E smirks slightly, tracing the edge of a knife along her throat. Becky loses the ability to breathe for a moment, too afraid that the movement might result in her death. "Is that so? And just what are you going to do about it?"
"I-I have some renowned hunter friends," Becky stutters, not completely sure why she's talking. It wasn't like this guy needed to know that some powerful, angry dudes were going to come down on him and his drug operation. "They'll get rid of all the zombies in this city, every last one."
The knife is back in place, its cold metal frigid to her nearly bloodless skin. The fake-blond behind Don E moves, uncomfortable. Becky begs him with her eyes, though he doesn't seem much encouraged to try and help her.
A nearly insane grin creeps across Don E's face. "Yeah? Then I guess we'll just have to see about that, won't we?" He looks over his shoulder at the man leaning against the wall. "Blaine, go get the car. We'll be leaving."
The man, now Blaine, moves, though he doesn't go toward the street where the car was waiting. He hesitates in the center of the alley. "Are you gonna kill her, Don E?" His face and voice are unsure, hesitant. For a moment, Becky feels hope. Maybe Don E won't kill her.
Don E seems to deliberate for a moment. Then he nods. "Yup, we gotta." He slashes the knife across Becky's throat, and it's all she can do not to choke on her own blood. Not that it matters. She's going to lose it all soon, anyways.
Her body slides to the ground. Everything is fading quickly, and as her vision and hearing are phasing out, Becky hears, "She knows everything, dude. I had to gank her. We'll leave her body here for the rats and the police to find."
Blaine looks clearly horrified, though he does as Don E says, and follows his boss to the end of the alley.
Liv gasped, eyes suddenly focusing on what was actually in front of her. She wanted to place a hand on the wall to steady herself, but another look around the dump of an alleyway convinces her not to.
"Liv?" A voice asked, though it wasn't Clive's. Usually it was Clive who noticed Liv's little 'fits.' "Liv, are you alright?" It was Agent Rose, then a pair of feet walking quickly toward her.
Liv blinked rapidly, trying to clear her mind of the peri-mortem images. What the hell? Don E and Blaine? Well, more Don E than Blaine. Blaine had been more of a not-so-innocent bystander. Really, Blaine wasn't that bad of a guy when his memory was gone. Liv was almost always tempted to tell Ravi not to try to cure the amnesia. But she wouldn't do that. Everyone, no matter how evil, deserved to have their memories.
Well, maybe not everyone. But most people. Blaine hadn't been quite that evil to not deserve his memory, but still.
Oh, but hell. Becky Rosen had known about zombies, and Liv was betting she knew about a hell of a lot more than that. She looked up at Rose, seeing Tyler also looking at her concernedly.
And the thing about Becky Rosen knowing about zombies and possibly more?
Liv was almost completely certain that these "FBI agents" knew everything Becky knew.