Hi all, as some of you may or may not know, I've been hanging around the Silent Witness fandom for a while, reading and enjoying all of your stories as a sort of revision stress relief, but I've also been writing my own, from an idea I had literally 10yrs ago and rediscovered when I was clearing out a pile of old notebooks in my parents house, but I digress. I hope you enjoy.

This is set in the Harry era, between season 14 and 15. I'm not over him leaving! Therefore, I will assume that anything I mention that refers to an episode will not count as a spoiler!

Rating will be a T.

Dedicated to the two lovely friends who have been kind enough to read over my story, pick out all of my errors, and chat with me and generally fangirl over mutual love of Silent Witness. So thank you hushedgreylily and Tricki. Love to you both.


As Nikki approached the house, she mused that she always hated the burned bodies. The smell, the fact they no longer looked like humans, the way that the burned flesh stuck to everything around them; it was all just too grotesque for Nikki's liking, and brought back too many bad memories. She resented Harry and Leo for landing her with this crime scene with every step she took on the walk from her car to where the police were gathered at the front of the house, the stench of smoke getting stronger as she approached.

"Dr Nikki Alexander, forensic pathologist," she said, introducing herself to the nearest uniformed officer she could see, a young brunette woman who looked a little queasy.

"This way, Ma'am," she replied, and led Nikki to a man in a suit who was speaking to someone that Nikki assumed to be one of the firemen. The suit-wearing man was stocky and slightly balding, while his companion was tall and had dark hair with a touch of grey. Both were in their 40s and both turned as the two women approached.

"DI Johnson, this is Dr Alexander, pathologist. She's come to see the body."

Nikki nodded in thanks to the uniformed officer and said, "You'll get used to the bodies after a while," with an encouraging smile. The uniformed lady left Nikki with the Detective Inspector.

DI Johnson spoke: "Dr Alexander, hi. This is Michael Andrews, from the National Fire Protection Agency. Would you like me to show you the body?"

"Yeah, please. Fire Protection Agency? You're thinking arson then?"

Andrews glanced at Nikki. "The fire chief called us, apparently there are some unusual burn patterns he wanted me to have a look at. Haven't even been inside yet so I can't tell you any more than that."

"No time like the present, I'll show you both around the house," said DI Johnson, heading up the path, through a well-kept garden, to the front door. Nikki and the fire investigator followed him, listening as he commented on their surroundings. "Front door lock is intact, no sign of forced entry here. No broken windows at the front, but I can show you that two of the windows at the rear of the house have been smashed, both appear to have been smashed from the outside."

All three pulled on shoe covers before stepping inside, arriving in a large hallway which led to a large kitchen on the left and a living room on the right. Stairs leading upstairs were in the long hallway, towards the back of the house. Once inside, the acrid smoky smell enveloped the group, and Nikki had to fight back a cough. Andrews peered up at the ceiling through the gloom. "Smoke alarms?" he inquired.

"Already checked. No batteries," replied Johnson.

Andrews nodded, but said nothing, continuing to look around, taking in the hallway.

Johnson continued: "The firefighters who initially attended to fight the blaze are divided about where the fire started. Some are convinced that it began in here, perhaps by something alight that was posted through the letter box…" he paused and pointed to the blackened floor beneath Nikki's feet. "Other's think, from the damage upstairs, that it started up there. Shall we?" He indicated the stairs and started up them with heavy footsteps.

"The stairs are structurally sound?" Andrews asked, sharply.

"Yes, they've been checked, it's okay to head upstairs."

Nikki and Andrews glanced at each other, before following him, making sure to tread a little lighter than he did. Once on the top floor, the two followed Johnson's outstretched arm to a bedroom at the rear of the house.

"The body is in the bedroom here, where most of the damage occurred. Broken windows here, seem to have been broken from the outside but we should wait and see if the boys from forensics have anything to say about them. Not much to see otherwise, on this level. Apart from the body of course. Can't even tell if it's a he or a she, the poor thing."

Nikki took this as her cue to turn her attention to the body in question, if you could call it that, seen as it was barely recognisable as such. The face was almost obliterated and the skin over the entire body was black, aside from a couple of areas where fabric was stuck to the charred flesh, a grotesque contrast to the blackness surrounding it. It truly was a thing more suited to someone's worst nightmares.

"Not sure how much I can do for you while I am here, Detective. Will have better luck when I get him back to the lab and can do a full post mortem, although the cause of death may already be apparent. I'm assuming there's no ID yet?"

"Not yet. Registered occupants are a David and Melanie Cooper but if this is one of them, where is the other one?" He paused as if mulling the thought over in his mind. "Right, Dr Alexander, I'm going to show Mr Andrews more of the damage downstairs, can I leave you to it?"

"Of course, I will come and let you know when I am ready to move the body."

"Excellent. If you'll follow me, Mr Andrews."

Nikki glanced over her shoulder as the two men left and continued to look around downstairs, before turning her attention back to the body. In truth, there was very little she could do while still in the crime scene. She paused for a few moments, just looking at the body. Getting used to it, acclimatising herself to the figure that lay before her. It lay on, what Nikki presumed to be, the remains of a double bed. I hope they slept through all of this, Nikki mused to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone coming up the stairs. Nikki turned, expecting to see the DI or the fire investigator returning, but was instead met with an unfamiliar face.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

The intruder didn't respond as first, just stared at the remains, until Nikki stood closer to him, getting between him and the body. The man was fairly tall and slender, with unkempt brown hair and an unshaven face.

"You can't be up here, you need to leave now! This is a crime scene!"

"I'm sorry," the man stammered. "I just wanted to see her…"

"Sir, I'm really sorry, you have to leave now." Nikki made to guide him downstairs when the man started to cry.

"Why can't I see her? I love her, god dammit!"

"Sir, if that is the case, I am truly sorry, I really am. But I'm still going to have to get you to head outside because you are stopping us from finding out what happened here last night. Okay?"

She took him by the elbow and led him downstairs, tears still falling on his cheeks. "Now," she continued when they reached the front door, pointing at the police officers standing along the road. "If you go and talk to one of those officers in uniform, they will be able to talk to you about what happened today and perhaps talk to you about why you've come inside the building."

"I loved her, I really did!"

"I'm sure you did sir, but please, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

The man looked at Nikki intently as she spoke, as if seeing her for the first time, and appeared to pull himself together a little. As if seeing Nikki had changed his focus completely.

"Yes," he said, staring into her eyes. "Yes, okay. I will go now."

"Okay sir, go and talk to one of those officers, they will be able to help you. Don't come in to the building, okay? It isn't safe and it could get in the way of the investigation."

He nodded, still gazing at Nikki, glancing over his shoulder at her and hanging on her every word. He eventually headed out of the door, which Nikki shut behind him. At the same time, the two men also in the house came back into the hallway.

"Everything alright, Dr Alexander?" DI Johnson asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, just some man came wandering in, contaminating the crime scene."

"Damn!" exclaimed the detective. "Did you send him to one of my officers outside?"

"Yes, I'll expect they will invite him to the station to be interviewed?"

"Most likely. Did he seem suspicious?"

"Perhaps," mused Nikki. "I guess we'll know more once he's been interviewed. He might have been a relative of the victim. He seemed quite distraught initially."

"Indeed. I'll leave you both too it then? How long before you're ready to move the body, Doctor?"

"Now would be fine, nothing I can do here."

"Fine, I'll send someone to help you with that in a few moments, and we can get you on your way."

The detective stepped outside, closing the door behind him and leaving Nikki standing in the gloom with the fire investigator.

"What do you think, Mr Andrews? Arson? Electrical?" she asked, to fill the silence.

"Thinking of changing careers, Dr Alexander? And please, call me Mike." He awarded her a wide grin.

"Merely academic curiosity, I can assure you. To tell you the truth, I hate this type of crime scene."

"Perhaps best to stick to medical examination? I don't know if I could do your job either, seeing all those dead bodies cut up, organs everywhere…" He physically shuddered a little. "Anyway. Moving on, let me show you what I think has happened. Don't take my word for it though, I can't give you any facts until 'the forensics boys', as our colleague referred to them, have done their job. Merely conjecture at this point."

"Of course," Nikki nodded.

"So, here, Dr Alexander," he said, pointing at the floor by the front door, "is what we call the 'seat of the fire', basically where the fire started. This is where the fire burned longest and hottest. You see these 'V' shaped smoke marks on the walls? They characteristically point to the seat of the fire. The origin. You with me so far?"

Mike looked at Nikki, making sure she was following. She nodded, looking interested, so he continued.

"Next, if I show you through here," he said, pointing to the living room with one hand, and placing the other on the small of Nikki's back, guiding her through the wreckage on the floor. "You can tell me what you see."

The rear of the living room was severely damaged in the fire, with what looked to have been a sofa, near the rear French windows, now almost obliterated. There were more 'V' marks, charcoal-coloured against the magnolia walls. The windows were also smashed and Nikki was glad for the fresh air that the November chill brought with it.

"So, these 'V' marks point to the seat of the fire, which is… here? This sofa? But also in the hallway by the door?" she said, describing the scene in front of her.

"Very good, what does that imply, Doctor?"

"That there are two points where the fire started. It's actually two separate fires?"

Mike smiled at her. "That's exactly what I think it means. Actually, no, I think it was three separate fires. Did you notice a similar level of damage upstairs? And these smoke marks were present too. I think there were separate fires in the living room here, in the hallway by the door, and upstairs. Suspicious, isn't it?"

"Very strange. Why would that happen?"

"I can't think of any reason other than malicious intent, if I am honest. Off the record, I think someone really wanted to make sure this place burned."

At that moment, someone else entered the house. This time though, he was familiar to Nikki as he had come to help her recover the body.

"Dr Alexander, hi," Zak, the mortuary technician greeted her.

"Hi Zak. The deceased is just upstairs, I'll be with you in just a moment."

She turned to say her goodbye to Mike. "Thank you for that lesson, it's interesting to know what others I'm working with are looking for."

"Likewise. How are you going to identify the body? I suppose DNA won't be much good to you?"

"Dental records, most likely," replied Nikki. "Fingerprints are out of the question of course, and you're right, DNA isn't as helpful with burned remains as it is normally. I think we will assume that the deceased is one of the occupants of this house, contact whichever dentist they attend and go from there. If that doesn't work, it is possible to reconstruct an approximation of the face from the skull, to help with identification. Hopefully it will be a simple one."

"Sure. Well, nice meeting you Dr Alexander, I'm sure you're very busy."

She nodded. "Yes. Thank you. I'm sure I will be seeing you."

Mike waved as Nikki headed upstairs.

"I look forward to it," Mike said, watching her as she made her way to fetch the body, sure that she didn't hear him.

It didn't take long before Nikki was ready to head back to the lab, evidence safely packaged in the back of a police van. Nikki nodded to Mike and the Detective Inspector as she left the crime scene, and smiled at the uniformed officer who had greeted her earlier. As she climbed into her car, the strange man that had entered the crime scene didn't cross her mind; she was more focussed on the idea of a warm shower, a cup of coffee, and the company that would be awaiting her at the Lyell Centre.