(A/N: before I continue, please note that there are going to be several chapters, but they will be fairly short. That's just the way that this one is going to work. All of my other stories have long chapters, which is why I'm not going to be posting them quickly. Transferring documents between computers without a CD burner or a floppy drive gets very irksome. I hope you understand and do not mind too much. Thanks, Lexxie)

Chapter 3

"Are we going to need to stay here?" the Doctor had returned to comforting and consoling the grieving Rose.

"Yeah," Nick stepped back from the body, "We're going to need to take you two in for questioning. Standard procedure."

"I'm just getting worried about Rose," he said, hugging his companion closer, "She's not used to traveling this much."

"If you don't mind me asking, where are you two from?" Nick came closer to the pair, "Like Britain, or something?"

"Cardiff," Rose sniffed a wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her pick zip-up hoodie.

"California?" Nick asked disbelievingly, "I swear, you sound British."

"We are. Cardiff, Wales," the Doctor clarified, "She is anyway."

"Nick! Where are you?" a woman's voice carried over to them from the brightly lit street behind them.

"Back here, Sarah!" the CSI called over his shoulder.

Two more navy clad investigators appeared in the dark alley carrying flashlights.

"Whoa," the tall, dark chap set down an aluminum case and opened it, picking out a camera and a pair of tweezers, then looked up at Nick inquisitively, "Through and through?"

"I didn't get a chance to look," Nick crouched down beside Warrick, "I've been talking to the witnesses. Warrick, Sarah, this is Rose and Doctor--"

"The Doctor," the Time Lord said with a smile, "Nothing more. Just the Doctor."

"Right…" Nick returned a hesitant smile then turned back to his coworker, "Anyway, they saw the attacker running toward the Strip then turn right."

"Are you okay?" Sarah put her hand on Rose's shoulder, causing the young blonde to jump, "You look upset."

"Umm, well…" Rose stumbled over her words, still shaky and very distraught from her encounter with the deceased, "I've been better."

"Ma'am?" an officer came up behind them and tapped Sarah on the shoulder, "We need to take the witnesses downtown. Captain Brass's orders."

"Okay, you two, go with him," Sarah stepped away from the duo, "He'll see you taken care of."

She watched the Time Lord and his companion followed the officer over to an LVPD car and got in. Sarah returned to the body and began examining the wall beside and above him. Something glinted in the dim light, catching her trained eye. "I think I found our bullet." She held up a pair of tweezers and a shard of metal. "Or what's left of it anyway."

"So it was a through-and-through," Nick jogged over to her with a small envelope and held it out to catch the lead," Coroner should be here soon. I think they're sending over Dave to get him. Good thing we found this before they got here. We might never have gotten to it otherwise."

"Get that over to Ballistics once we get back to the station," Sarah said to Nick as he tucked the envelope into his shirt pocket, "I'm sure they'll love it."

(A/N: If I muck up any geographical locations, please tell me so! I'm not exactly staring at a map while writing this, so I might be a bit off. Thanks for bearing with me. --Lexx)