A/N: This is completely AU, but some of the events of s3 still happened in the characters' pasts. This is set probably roughly ten years after they've left Roundview. Even if your favourite character doesn't appear in the first chapter, rest assured that EVERYONE (including Freds) will be in this (including future Naomily). Also a lot of research has gone into this, but some things I've had to change from what it's really like to make the story work. Part 2 will be posted next Sunday. Please Read and REVIEW!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing recognizable from Skins. That is all out of the brilliant mind of someone else. Also, I'm not profiting off of this in any way shape or form and I have no money, so please don't sue.

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It was amazing really how little effort it had actually taken. For such a big bloke, he really hadn't put up much of a fight. Then again he probably hadn't been expecting one either. Blood vessels in his eyes popping...now that had been satisfying as the pressure had built and he'd fought for air, staring back with a dumb astonished expression on his face. Of course by then it had been too late. The only thing was that it had lacked a little...flare.

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Katie and Cook exchange a look and a sigh. Another crime scene contaminated by the fucking paramedics. The man was clearly dead for fuck's sake! Nobody looked like that when they were alive!

Katie moves closer, stopping to mark potential evidence and photograph it as she picks her way carefully through the crime scene, leaving Cook to interview the first responders, not trusting herself not to yell at them.

"James watch where you're fucking going!" Katie yells, looking up just in time to see her idiotic little brother traipsing right up to the body. She pinches the bridge of her nose, trying to calm herself when James looks up sheepishly with an apologetic grin on his face. He's brand new after all. Straight out of the fucking academy! He'd learn though. Even if the only reason that he'd gotten an assignment on the Major Crimes Investigation Unit (MCIU) was because of the promise that his sisters were some of the best and brightest that the force and the crime lab had ever seen.

Katie notices a glint of something on the bottom of his boot. She approaches him carefully, watching the ground, keenly aware of her surroundings so as to not corrupt the scene any further. She looks down and notes the pool of blood distorted where James's boot had clearly dragged through it. "Fuck's sake, James! You need to watch where you're going, yeah?"

"Sorry, Katie," James mumbles.

"Those are evidence now, you realise," Katie indicates the boots.

"What? No! Come on! They're new!" James argues.

Katie shines her flashlight on them and realised that the blood doesn't look right. It's too shiny and...metallic? She bends down and examines it closer. "Glitter? What the fuck is this doing here?"

"What?" James inquires curiously, crouching down to get a better look at what his sister is seeing.

"There's fucking red glitter mixed in with the blood! What the fuck? Who bleeds glitter?" Katie turns her attention to the dead body, taking it in fully for the first time. Katie takes a stunned step back as recognition dawns. "Cook!" she bellows.

"What's up, darling? Can't handle a little blood?" Cook teases as he approaches.

Katie shoots him a glare. "Fuck you! You know I've seen plenty worse!" Katie and Cook's faces grow serious for a second as both of them flash back to more horrific cases. They've been partners for five long years no and they don't have to ask to know which nightmares they happen to be reliving.

"Well, what's up then, cupcake?" Cook breaks out of it first, shooting Katie a grin because he knows she hates when he calls her that.

"It's Doug," Katie replies, remembering why she'd called him over to begin with. "At least, I think it is," she adds because the man has gained a few pounds since the last time she's seen him and he's decidedly more...dead.

"What?" Cook looks down at the corpse in confusion, then back up at Katie with a curt nod once realisation kicks in. "Oh. From Roundview College," he states matter-of-factly.

"Seems like ages ago," Katie states blandly.

"Sorry I'm late. Traffic was a nightmare," JJ smiles.

"Better late than never, Doctor Jones," Cook grins and greets his old friend with a slap on the back.

Katie had scoffed when she'd first found out that JJ was going to become a medical examiner. She'd figured that he'd get locked on at every dead body he'd see. He'd proved her wrong. In fact, when he was at work, you could hardly tell that he had Asperger's Syndrome. His interactions were always friendly and professional, and he was nothing if not meticulous when going over a corpse. In the year that she'd been working with him, Katie had really started to respect him.

JJ pulls on his gloves and bends over the body, feeling for a pulse more because it's good practise than because he thinks that the man might still be alive. He examines the body clinically, taking in the petechiae under the eyelids, the bruising around the neck, the stab wound to the chest and the small pool of glistening blood around the body with a smear through it. "Who stepped in the blood?"

"James," Katie sighs. "Speaking of which, Cook, can you bag his boots?"

Cook nods. "Right, kid. Stand right there. I've got an extra pair of boots in the back of the car. I'll grab them for you." Cook wonders off smiling to himself. He likes James. Sees a lot of himself in the kid. Sees the potential that he thinks his sisters often overlook.

James stands patiently, not moving for fear he'll fuck up even more.

"C.O.D.?" Katie inquires.

"There's not enough blood for him to have bled out. It's got to be strangulation. See the bruising around the neck?" JJ points. "Not done by hands though. Or rope I don't think. I'll know better when I take pictures of the subdermal bruising." JJ picks up the man's hands, examining the way the fingernails look a bit distressed. "Minimal defensive wounds. Looks like he might have been trying to claw at whatever was strangling him. I'll check for fibers under the nails when we're back at the morgue."

Katie nods. "Why's there blood though? Once the heart stops beating, you stop bleeding!"

"It's possible that the suspect put enough pressure to knock the victim unconscious before stabbing him, then proceeded to finish the job with strangulation. What the purpose of that would be, I don't know," JJ sighs. "Once I examine him thoroughly back at the morgue I may have more answers for you."

"Thanks, Jay," Katie smiles at him.

"Do we have an I.D. on the vic?" JJ inquires.

Katie puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Look at him, Jay. It's Doug. From Roundview?"

JJ takes in the face for a minute, looking not at the bruising, but at the face as a whole. "Oh," he says a moment later. "Right. Well, let's get Doug back to the morgue then."

Katie leaves JJ to tend to the body. Cook has wandered back and is placing James's boots in a large evidence bag, sealing it and initialling it, as per protocol.

"I'd better get those back once they're processed," James mumbles, pulling on the spare pair of Cook's boots which are only a little big on him. "Fucking good pair of boots they are."

"Oi! Watch your mouth!" Katie slaps him upside the head. "Quit stepping in evidence, and we'll stop having to bag your boots, yeah?"

"Right," James grumbles.

"Think you can manage to work the camera?" Katie asks handing it to him. "Step where I step, ok? I tag it, you photograph it, then I'll bag it, got it?"

James nods and follows after his sister. He can tell already it's going to be a long night.

He was still so happy and chipper after all these years. Fat lot of good that had done anyone! Including him at the end. He had to be the only person in the field of education who hadn't let it jade him. Still...he could have done more. No! He should have done more! All his cheerfulness didn't help anyone out in the real world! He'd definitely had it coming.

His death had been quick...almost too quick. It had still managed to have a bit more flare, though not enough. Something was still missing.

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"What do you have for me?" the short, redheaded crime lab tech looked up brightly and smiles at her younger brother.

James sheepishly holds up his bagged boots.

Emily rolls her eyes. "Again? James!"

"I know, I know! Katie's already reamed me out, yeah? I don't need another lecture," James scowls.

"Then maybe you should be more careful at crime scenes," Emily scolds, taking the bag from him. "What else do you have?"

James hands her a small box with the other evidence bags in it. "Here you go, Em. Blood, about twenty cigarette butts, and a bunch of other rubbish most of which probably won't have anything to do with our murder," James rattles off in almost a perfect imitation of Cook when he'd handed over the box of evidence earlier.

Emily laughs, recognizing at once where the influence on James's words had come from. Her brother is still far too eager and fresh to sound so jaded. "Right, well I'll get processing everything then," Emily makes a new slit in the bag with her brother's boots in it and pulls them out gingerly over some wax paper that collect some dirt and bits of crusted blood. Emily examines them with a frown. "James? Why is there glitter on the bottom of your boots?"

"It's not from me!" James defends himself. "It was in the blood!"

Emily's brows furrow in puzzlement. "Why?"

James shrugs. "Dunno." He lingers, feels he's forgetting something.

Emily looks back up at him in a minute, swab hovering above the sole of his boots. "Is there something else?"

I think so," James admits.

Emily sighs and rests her hand on the table. "You think so? Well what is it then?"

"I don't remember," James shrugs sheepishly.

"Well what was it in relation to?"

"The victim," James remembers. "Something about who he is. I dunno why Katie wanted me to tell you anyway. His wallet's in there with his I.D. in it. I think Katie knew him or something. Cook too. A don or Dan or…It started with a D, I'm fairly certain."

Emily's curiosity is peaked so she rummages through the box of evidence, sees two wallets bagged and pulls them both out giving James a questioning glance.

"The velcro one," James nods to the navy Zoological Society of London wallet. "I mean what kind of a grown man carries a Velcro wallet for fuck's sake!"

Emily scowls. "It's not nice to speak ill of the dead, James. Especially when they're a murder victim."

"All I'm saying is that I've got a proper leather wallet, Cook's got a proper leather wallet, Dad's got a proper leather wallet…"

"Shut up, James!" Emily cuts him short. She's pulled out the license and is staring down at a familiar friendly, open face. She shakes her head sadly. "Poor Doug."

"Doug! That's it! From Roundview! That's what Katie wanted me to tell you," James smiles triumphantly, proud that he's remembered.

Emily rolls her eyes. "Yes, thanks. You've been ever so helpful, as always, James," she informs him sarcastically.

He takes it as the dismissal it is and saunters off leaving Emily staring sadly at the licensee. In another minute she pulls herself together and begins systematically processing the evidence. She's a professional after all.

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"How's my favourite ballistics specialist?" Cook inquires with a toothy grin.

Effy tucks her long brown hair behind her ear and shoots him a thin smile in return. She nods to Katie with a sly wink who nods back with a subtle smile in greeting. "Overworked and underpaid," she replies matter-of-factly. "As soon as I finish test-firing this glock, I've got to go help Em in the lab. It's ridiculous how short staffed we are! I can't believe they're threatening more budget cuts!"

"Seriously! How do they expect us to ever solve crimes," Katie sympathises.

"As long as the crimes don't directly effect them, I'm not sure they care," Effy says cynically.

"Strange crime scene tonight," Cook informs her.

"Oh?" Effy sounds almost bored, but Katie's known her long enough to catch the glimmer of interest in her piercing blue eyes.

"Vic was strangled enough to knock him unconscious, stabbed, then strangled dead before he could bleed out. That's JJ's theory at the moment anyway," Katie elaborated.

One of Effy's eyebrows shoots up in curiosity.

"We know the vic too," Cook adds.

"Oh?" Effy sounds more interested now.

"Good old Douggie from our dear alma mater, Roundview College," Cook says dryly.

Effy shakes her head. "Maybe a student finally got sick of his bonding activities."

Cook laughs, but Katie scowls.

"There's a lot of evidence, probably mostly irrelevant, but Ems will probably appreciate the help," Cook lets her know.

"K. I'll be up when I finish this," Effy nods and pulls her headphones on. Cook leaves, having said what he'd come to say. Katie lingers, pulls on headphones of her own and watches the girl shoot with an appreciative eye. "Never gets old," she grins when Effy's removed her headphones again and looks up to meet her gaze. She takes her headphones off, placing them back on the table.

She smiles back seductively. "I know what you mean. Something about a girl with a gun is just soooo sexy." She looks pointedly at the pistol holstered at Katie's waist and Katie feels herself getting hot.

"Exactly," Katie murmures.

Effy extracts the bullet and bags and tags it for later comparison. The two start to walk towards the stairs leading up to Emily's lab side by side.

"We still on for Friday night?" Katie inquires.

"Definitely,"Effy grins.

"Good." They continue walking. "Oh and I forgot to tell you the kicker! There was glitter mixed in with the blood! Why would you do that?"

Effy shrugs. "To make it sparkly!" She wiggles her hands at the last word, imitating a sparkle and laughs.

Katie chuckles despite herself. "Yeah. But why?"