Death Is Not The End
Title: Death Is Not The End
Author: tromana
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Jane/Lisbon
Summary: "I've got some bad news." Lisbon has some interesting visitors at the CBI headquarters.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Spoilers: For season three.
Notes: Written for 15genres1prompt. Genre: zombies. For sirenofodysseus, who planted the idea in my head before I even received my genres for this challenge.
Death Is Not The End
“I’ve got some bad news.”
“What, apart from the zombie apocalypse that we’re stuck in the middle of?” Lisbon quipped wryly.
Neither of them had believed that zombies had existed prior to the outbreak. Both had assumed that they were firmly stuck in the fictional realm, used for scares by horror aficionados. Lisbon in particular had very little time for the genre; humans did enough bad things to one another, without inventing monsters for cheap thrills.
Except now, it was a reality. Some bright spark of a scientist had successfully reanimated a body and that single (dead) human guinea pig had proceeded to cause an epidemic. Unsurprisingly, most the fiction lore about zombies proved to be startlingly inaccurate. Living humans had reacted badly, at first, believing that the fictional tomes were a precise representation of zombies. They’d set up safe zones, tried to kill them (again) and the like.
However, the zombies had all been mostly harmless. Of course there were a couple who were crazed psychopaths, but for the most part, they were happy to remain side by side with their living counterparts. In fact, they had even begun to win over some of the living, who had taken it upon themselves to campaign for zombie rights. After all, it was the living’s fault that the dead had become reanimated. They hadn’t asked for it. So, it was the living’s responsibility to look after them now that they were here.
Sometimes, it caused problems with cases. Lisbon never knew when a dead body would spring up and start speaking (somewhat inarticulately) once more. It was always rather disconcerting if you were examining a body and it suddenly moved. The first time it had happened, much to her embarrassment, Lisbon had screamed. Jane had teased her for weeks after that and it had taken all of her self-control to avoid punching him in the face. However, if they did become reanimated, it often made closing cases a significantly easier. Unfortunately, it also meant that the workload increased as people no longer saw death as having the finality it once had. Now, it was just a way of making sure that someone hurt like hell.
“Bosco is in the reception. He’s waiting for you there.”
“Bosco?” she scoffed and scrutinized him. “You’re joking.”
He grinned, stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. Quite obviously, he was enjoying this, far more than he should have done so. Jane didn’t appear to be messing around, but she could hope he was. Really, she knew that she should have expected that sooner or later, somebody they personally knew would come back to life. In a way, she had dreaded the concept so much that she had pushed it to one side. The reanimation of somebody she loved and cared about meant that she would have to face certain demons that she really didn’t want to.
“Please tell me that you’re joking.”
“Why would I joke about something like this?”
“Sometimes, I do wonder.”
“And I resent that statement.”
“You resent a lot of things,” she muttered under her breath as she stood.
Jane moved to one side as she exited her office. She hurried towards the elevator, only stopping to allow Van Pelt to tell her the exact same information that Jane had just barged into her office with: that Bosco was indeed waiting patiently for her in the reception. Her heart sank. Van Pelt was too nice to mess around with her in such a way. She wouldn’t lie over something like this, even if Jane tried to bribe her somehow. The youngest member of the team was too moral to behave in such a way. It took a lot to make her do something which went against her better judgment.
The first thing Lisbon noticed when the elevator doors pinged open was a wilting bunch of flowers about a meter away from her. Then, she dragged her eyes upwards. Bosco was indeed there. He looked ghostly white and his eyes were red. These were things she had expected from the moment Jane had planted the idea in her head. After all, they were features that all of the reanimated corpses seemed to share. He’d dressed himself in clothes similar to those he would have worn for work; most likely because of the concept of him being in the CBI headquarters once more. It took all of her self-restraint to avoid reaching forwards and helping him re-button the shirt. He hadn’t been able to dress himself properly. That was most likely because, like most zombies, he was trying to readjust and re-learn the motor skills he’d possessed when he’d still been alive.
Inwardly, she cursed. Why had Mandy insisted upon burying her husband? Why the hell hadn’t she decided to have him cremated instead? Then, she wouldn’t have had this problem.
“Hi Teresa,” Bosco said slowly. “Say something. Please?”
She didn’t have a chance to reply. Instead, behind him were two more zombies. Craig O’Laughlin tapped Bosco on the shoulder and moments later, Timothy Carter expertly aimed a right hook directly into his jaw. Lisbon stood back, incredulous, as an all-out brawl between the three men started in the reception area. Initially, she attempted to pull the men apart, but they practically ignored her. Instead, they were all intent on trying to pull each other to pieces, literally. And to make matters worse, from what she could gather, the reasoning for their fight was over her.
“Hello, Lisbon.”
“What do you want, Jane?” she said with a scowl.
“Only you could end up having three zombies fighting to win your heart.”
“They’re not…” she said, but she ended up trailing off.
When Jane slipped his hand into hers, she was only faintly surprised. For the most part, she told him that personal displays of affection were banned from the headquarters. Their relationship had only blossomed after the zombie apocalypse had started and as far as Lisbon was concerned, it was one of the few good things to come out of it. A few of Red John’s victims had been reanimated and with their assistance, they had been able to finally close the case. That closure had meant that Jane had finally been able to move on with his life. And much to her surprise, he had chosen that his life was to include her as well. Even more surprising was just how willingly she had given into his persistence, to his persuasion that he really could be good for her.
“Good job I know you have no interest in any of them, isn’t it?” he said in a low voice.
“Hush. I’m not sure if it’s such a good idea to let them know that right now,” she answered back. “I’ll have to break it to them gently.”
“You’re right, of course, my dear,” he replied, before leaning to whisper in her ear. “So, my place or yours tonight?”