A/N: Hello everybody! Thank you so much for all your reviews and such, they are very encouraging. :-)

This chapter takes a bit of a gruesome turn, but I assure you, it's necessary, plot wise. It does get graphic, so those of you with a weak heart might want to skip this, and I'll give a quickie summary at the end. (Because I don't want to spoil the chapter entirely by mentioning it all here.) I bestow upon this chapter a Graphic As Fuck™ Warning.

On with it, then... Here goes...

Disclaimer: I do not own skins. I both the most awesome sugar skull money box today. But the woman who sold I handed my cash to was a sour bitch who didn't laugh at my humour and ireallythinksheneedstogetLAID.

(Emily POV)

She's unbelievable, and may actually be the death of me. Or at least, the death of my 'don't shag anyone related to an investigation' rule. Christ. I don't know what she was thinking while I was on the phone to the sergeant, who was telling me they needed me to come in because there had been a murder called in. I wasn't planning on leaving that early, but... Needs must, don't they?

If I'm honest, I don't think this friends thing is going to last between myself and Naomi. I'm too attracted to her, and it seems she is the same to me. I think it's inevitable that we will end up in bed, and that has me so bloody torn, I don't know what to do. But... I can't not see her. I just... Have to try and keep my distance. To stop me from just giving in and fucking her.

But you already know that's not going to happen, don't you?

Shut the fuck up, brain.

Luckily the restaurant Naomi took me to was close to the station, so it didn't take me long to walk there. When I got in, I headed straight for the locker room and changed into my uniform. As I was placing the chain with my badge in it around my neck, JJ came in to the locker room.

"Morning... Or evening,whichever greeting you prefer. Although technically speaking, hello would be the pref-"

"Hi, JJ." I said, stopping him from getting locked on. "Did you get called in early, too?"

"Yes. Something about an emergency?" JJ said.

"Yeah, details are sketchy so far, but they have the scene secured." I said. "Hurry up and get your stuff together, I'll meet you down in the garage." I added, grabbing my utility belt and clipping it around my waist. I shut my locker and spun the combination lock, walking out of the locker room.

I went to the situation room and grabbed myself a cup of lukewarm instant coffee, the bloody water run was on the blink again and wasn't heating properly. I wish they would hurry up and get the guy out here to fix it, or better still, invest in a decent coffee machine. Why is it the department always cheaps out on what is a necessity for some? Thankfully, as it was only warm and not piping hot, I was able to drink it quickly enough., discarding the cup in the rubbish bin.

As I was walking out, I was stopped by my inspector.

"Ah, Fitch, there you are. Thanks for coming in early, I hope I didn't interrupt anything by calling you?"

Like you'd actually give a toss, I thought. "No, not at all, sir. You said something about a murder?"

"Yes, it was called in by the neighbour of the victim." He explained, as we walked down the hallway. "It looks like it might be related to that flat break-in last night."

What?

"Oh?" I asked, trying not to give my curiosity away too much.

"Well, from the initial reports from the officers in attendance, it appears nothing was stolen, but the scene is... Rather graphic."

I felt my stomach grow cold. Oh no. I cleared my throat. "Right, well I'd better get on, then. Do you have the address details?"

He handed me a manilla folder, pursing his lips. "Good luck with this one, Fitch."

"Good luck?"

He nodded. "One of the attending officers passed out at the scene. It's not pretty."

"Christ." I muttered. "Ok, thanks, inspector."

I headed down the stairs to the garage, my mind in overdrive. I made my way to the squad car, Jones nowhere in sight yet. Trust him to run late when I'm anxious to get somewhere. I lean against the passenger side door of the car and take a read through the file the inspector handed me. It was short, just a few pages. House break in, substantial amount of blood found at scene, details about the posture of the body, and something lodged in the chest of the body. Shit. I had a strange, bad feeling that this related to Naomi and her flat break in, as well as the shooting at the Unicorn.

"Sorry, Emily. I got held up." JJ said. "The desk sergeant couldn't find the keys for this car."

"No problem, Jones. Let's get going, yeah?" I said, opening the passenger side door and getting into the car.

As we drove along, I checked the file again.

"What are we looking at?" Jones asked.

"Murder. Apparently the scene is pretty bad. One of the officers fainted. And from what I'm reading here... I wouldn't be surprised."

"Sounds awful."

"Did you expect actual police work to be all rescuing kittens and helping little old ladies across the street, Jones?" I asked, sarcastically. Careful, Emily... Don't bite the poor boy's head off, yeah? "Sorry."

"Are you ok?" Jones asked.

"Fine, fine..." I waved him off. "Just didn't sleep too well."

"Have you had any coffee?" He asked.

"Yeah, I had some this afternoon, and some in the sit room." I replied, thumbing through the file once more.

**Note found, ball point pen on paper. Name of "Candy", plus phone number. Attached to deceased.**

Oh shit. The girl Naomi slept with. Which meant... I was going to have to pay Naomi a visit, in an official capacity.

When we pulled up to the scene, JJ locked the car, and the two of us headed towards the building entrance. Johnson and Groves were standing at the door. Groves was as pale as a white bed sheet.

"Detective." Johnson said, nodding politely. "You've been briefed on the scene?"

I nodded. "Have you been in?" I asked.

Johnson shook his head. "Groves has."

I turned to Groves, who looked distraught, as well as pale. "Groves?"

He shook his head slowly. "I've seen some scenes in my time on the force, detective... But this one..." He swallowed, as thought he was trying to stop himself from vomiting. It was clearly too much for him, as his hand came up to his mouth, and he barely mumbled his excuses before moving to the nearest shrub and covering the poor plant with vomit.

"Jones? Go and get some water from the boot for Groves, please."

"Yes, detective." He said, walking back to the car.

I moved closer to Johnson. "He was the one who fainted, I take it?" I asked, quietly.

"Correct, detective."

"I see." I replied. "Right, I'm going in. When Jones comes back with the water, tell him to be prepared before he comes in. If he doesn't feel he can handle it, he is welcome to stay out here with you."

"Yes, detective." Johnson said. "The flat is on the second floor."

"Thanks." I took a deep breath to steel myself, and walked inside. I began to walk up the stairs when one of the crime scene investigators came down in the opposite direction.

"Brace yourself, love. It's pretty bad up there. I've not seen a more gruesome scene in all the years I've done this job." He said.

"Thanks." I repeated, making my way further up the stairs. In the hallway, there were a couple of residents trying to have a sticky beak. "Excuse me, please... Would you all mind going back into your homes, we have a police investigation under the way, and we need this hallway clear." I said, using my official tone, strong and no bullshit. "If we need to ask you any questions, we shall be along shortly. Thank you."

I heard a couple of random grumbles, but thankfully, they went back inside their relevant doors. Two officers were standing outside the door, which was off its hinges, with "SLUT" painted across it, in a crimson substance. Charming. A forensic investigator was taking a sample of the substance on the door. I recognise him from Naomi's that morning.

"Is that the same substance that was on the door and mirror at Miss Campbell's flat?" I asked.

"No, that turned out to be a mixture of corn syrup, food colouring and corn flour."

"Fake blood?" I asked, having used a similar recipe while in college for Halloween one year.

"Yeah, unlike this." He added, pointing to the door.

I looked a little closer. It was mostly dry, congealed, some of it darker in colour than what I now knew to be the fake blood from Naomi's flat. "Real, then?"

"I'll have to test it back at the land, but that's a safe assumption, detective."

"Ok." I said, moving inside the apartment. The sitting room had been trashed completely, television smashed, and the sofa cushions completely destroyed, with what looked to be more blood sprayed over them. A photographer was taking pictures for evidence of the damage to the cushions, and I followed the line of his leg down to the floor, where his foot was dangerously close to something red on the floor. "You...STOP!" I said. He turned to look at me. "Watch where you are walking. You will damage evidence."

He looked down at his feet, and then back at me. "Sorry, detective, I had no idea." He said, carefully stepping over to a clear area.

"And photograph those marks... I want to examine them later, and make sure forensics gets a sample of that substance." I said, noting the flash coming from the bedroom, which is where the marks on the floor were leading. I slowly moved towards the room, one of the forensics team walking past me very quickly. I caught them by the arm. "Mind how you go, please." I said, quietly. They nodded, and kept moving. I could see from their expression that they just had to get out there, so I didn't stop them. What could be so gruesome that it caused one officer, and worse, a forensics investigator to be affected that much?

I got my answer when I entered the room.

Jesus fucking Christ of the Seven Hells.

The bed was in the centre of the room, and I'm guessing it'd had better things lying on top of it. I normally had a strong stomach, but even this was causing me to feel queasy. The victim was lain in the centre of the bed, on her back, with her arms and legs spread out. As I stepped closer, I noticed the look on her face was serene, and if I didn't know she was dead, I would have thought she was asleep. The fact that she had been stabbed repeatedly, and that there was a large carving knife protruding from her chest cut that idea short, though. But there was something wrong about the way her head was sitting.

"She's been decapitated." A voice from behind said. I turned, to find Brinkley, my favourite crime scene investigator standing behind me. "That explains the positioning of the head. Good to see you, Red."

"Brinkley." I nodded. "I'll try not to be offended by that comment."

Brinkley smiled. "Wish it were under less gruesome circumstances, but what can I say, crime always brings us together." He said, attempting lightheartedness.

"You've been here longer than me... What are we looking at?" I asked, nodding towards the corpse on the bed.

"Her name is Candice Cartwright, 23 years of age. From what we can tell she worked at a café nearby. The neighbour called it in when they came home and found the front door damaged. She's been stabbed, from what we can count, at least ten times in the stomach and chest, but we'll have to get confirmation of that. We think she might have been placed in the bed post mortem, judging from the condition of the sofa, and the drag marks coming in from the sitting room."

"That's what I thought." I said. "Go on..."

"It's unclear at the moment as to whether she was decapitated first, or stabbed to death first. My assumption is from the amount of blood on the sofa, she was stabbed there, and then moved here, and then her head cut off. We're not sure what was used to cut her head off, we will have to leave that for the coroner." Brinkley explained.

"Right. I read something about something attached to the victim?"

"Yeah, there's a note has been stabbed through with a fork. A shortened form of the victim's name and a phone number. We found a journal belonging to her, and the writing on the note matches that of the journal."

"What sort of paper is the note written on?"

"White lined paper. Looks like it's been torn from a notepad of sorts."

Definitely Naomi's notepad. Fuck. My heart began to race. She's not safe. The words repeated in my mind.

Dammit, Emily! Task at hand!

"Right... Brinkley, I didn't get the time to check before I left the station... How was your team going with the evidence from last night? The Campbell flat and the nightclub?" I asked.

"Were still running database searches on the shell casings found at the club. There was also blood found on the doorframe that definitely didn't belong to the deceased. There appeared to be nothing out of place or stolen from the Campbell flat, apart from the piece of paper torn from the-" He stopped mid-sentence. "Red? You think these are related, don't you?"

I sighed. I really wished I could answer differently. "I don't like to assume until we've got all the evidence investigated, Brinks, you know that." I said, using my nickname for him. "But yeah... I have a feeling they could be. Look, bag and tag all the evidence... And then get the coroner's team in here to remove the body to the morgue. I'll see you back at the station, I have to get in contact with Miss Campbell."

I left the scene, still feeling a little queasy, and started down the stairs. I saw Jones coming up towards me. I held my hand up. "Jay, you don't want to go up there, trust me. You won't handle it. Major bobbins territory for you. Come on, we have somewhere else to be." He turned around and we descended the stairs and exited the building. We got in the car. "Right, we are going to Miss Campbell's flat. And Jay, make it quick."

I picked up the radio handset and thumbed the transmission button. "Detective Fitch to Bristol dispatch, over."

"Bristol dispatch, go ahead, Detective."

"I need two officers stationed outside the Rainbow Unicorn nightclub on Nelson street. I also want two officers stationed outside the residence of 29 Park Street. It's a block of flats, the residence is on the third floor, over."

"Copy that, Detective, I'll dispatch them immediately. Over and out."

I placed the handset back on the hook beside the radio set, and reached for my work phone. I searched the call list for the last call I had received, which was Naomi this morning to tell me her flat had been broken into. I nervously dialled the number, and waited for her to pick up.

"'Ello, Naomi speaking?"

I cleared my throat. "Miss Campbell, it's Detective Fitch." I hated having to be so formal with her, but I had no choice, I was on the clock, after all.

"Oh... Hi. What can I do for you?" She said, her tone a little seductive.

"I need to speak with you, in an official capacity." I said, using my no-nonsense tone. Please understand, Naomi.

"I see." She said, after pausing. "You have news?"

"I do, but it's not good. Are you at home right now?"

"Yes, of course."

"Good. Stay there, we are on our way. I'm not one hundred percent sure, Naomi, but you may be correct in your assumption about someone being after you. I'll explain more when I get there." I explained, without really explaining too much. "Remain calm, and don't open the door for anyone. We'll not be long."

"Alright. Uh... Effy is here, is that alright?"

"Yes. You might need some support."

"Why?" She asked.

"It's better you hear this face to face, Naomi. We will be there shortly. Just...please, remain calm." I said.

"Alright." She said, and I could hear the worry in her tone. "I'll wait."

"See you shortly." I said, before hanging up. I looked around and cursed the amount of traffic. "How fucking hard is it for people to drive in a straight fucking line? Honestly!"

"Uh..." JJ said.

"Jones, use your aggressive/defensive driving, put the fucking lights and sirens on and get these people out of our fucking way!" I snapped. Thankfully he knew better than to argue with me, and did as he was told. He was a mostly placid officer, but I knew he had done well on his driving courses, top marks in fact. It was evident when the cars surrounding us began to whizz past at a faster date. The cars up ahead thankfully did their civic duty and got out of the way quickly, which meant it took us less time to get there than if we'd sat in the traffic. Jones had barely pulled up to the kerb when I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car. The officers I asked for had not yet arrived, and I picked up my handheld radio off my utility belt, as I walked quickly up the stairs.

"Bristol dispatch, this is Detective Fitch, what's the word on those officers to Park street I asked for? Over."

"ETA is five minutes approximately, over." Dispatch replied.

"Tell them to halve it and get here...NOW. Over and out." I said. I waited a few moments and depressed the transmission button again. "Jones, the officers are nearly here. Wait for them downstairs and make sure they are posted outside the door, and let me know when they get here." I said, replacing the radio in its holster. I was halfway up the flight to Naomi's floor, and I walked quickly up the remaining steps, my footfalls remaining quick as I walked to the door. I raised my hand and knocked my usual five times, but gently. I could tell Naomi was worried, but I didn't want to scare the absolute life out of her.

After a short moment, I heard a voice behind the door. "Who is it?"

"Emi- uh... Detective Fitch." I replied, catching myself and being official.

The door opened and Naomi stood there, minus the jacket she wore while we had coffee and dinner, and barefoot. I hated the worried look that was on her face, and hated even more that I was going to make it worse. "Uh...come in." She said, standing aside to let me in. I walked in and saw her friend, from this morning sitting on the sofa.

"Hi." She said, looking at me curiously.

"Hello... Effy, isn't it?" I said.

She nodded. "And you're Emily."

I nodded also. "Yes, but at the moment, I'm afraid I'm on the clock, so it's Detective Fitch, or just Detective, ok?"

"Sure." Effy said.

I turned to Naomi. "You...might want to sit down for this." I said, gently. Naomi's expression didn't change from how worried she looked, but she did as she was told and sat down on the sofa next to Effy.

"Give it to me straight. What's happened?" The blonde asked me.

I pursed my lips before I spoke, her blue eyes gazing at me. "The emergency I got called into work for. It was a murder. A fairly gruesome one. There are similarities between that crime scene and your flat this morning."

"Oh, Christ." Naomi said, her voice almost breaking.

"There is more, I'm afraid. The victim was a Candice Cartwright. And I'm fairly certain the piece of paper attached to the body was the same one that was torn from your notepad."

"Fuck." She said, holding her head in her hands. Effy's arm slid around her shoulder to comfort her. The brunette looked at me with a passive expression, which I couldn't make out.

"Because these crimes are connected, there is a very good chance, as I told you on the phone, that you are right about your suspicions. About someone being after you." I explained. "Forensics are still examining the bullet casings found at the club, to see if we can determine which weapons they came from. Also, you'll be glad to know that the substance used to 'paint' your apartment, was only fake blood."

"Fake blood? Oh, that makes me feel much better." Naomi said. I knew this was stressful for her, so I tried not to take her sarcastic tone to heart too much. After all, this was me, the detective, doing my job. Not me, simply Emily, having a friendly conversation, here. Where Emily wanted to scoop her up in her arms, the detective had to be professional and official.

Effy squeezed Naomi slightly and then stood up, walking out to the kitchen. I knelt down and took Naomi's hands in mine. "Naomi, I've requested two officers be stationed here, and at the Unicorn for the time being. If anyone tries anything either her, or there, we'll be the first to know about it." I said, quietly. She looked into my eyes, and for the first time, I saw pain in them. Not the shock and fear I had seen last night, but actual pain. "I'm sorry." I said, and she nodded, mutely, tears sliding down her cheeks. I reached up, without thinking, and wiped the wetness off her face with my thumbs. Her eyes met mine, and I saw the gratitude in them.

The tall brunette returned with a bottle of vodka and a whisky glass. She opened it, and poured out a measure, placing it into Naomi's hands. "Drink it, and don't argue." She said, succinctly. Naomi necked the liquid, and swallowed it down, placing the glass onto the coffee table with shaking hands.

"What now?" She asked me, her voice trembling.

"The officers shouldn't be much longer. I'll wait until they get here, but unfortunately, I have to get back to the station. But as soon as I know anything, I'll be in contact, I promise." I explained. I turned to Effy. "Are you...able to-"

"Yes, I'll stay." Effy replied.

"You don't hav-" Naomi started to say.

"Yes, I do. Don't argue with me." Effy said.

Naomi sighed, seemingly in defeat and leaned against the back of the sofa. My radio then crackled into life. "Detective, the officers are here." Jones said.

I picked up the radio out of its holster and pressed the button. "Send them up to the third floor, second door on the left. Tell them to knock once they have arrived." I said, letting go of the button and placing the radio back in its place. I looked at Naomi, and placed my hand on her shoulder. She leaned her head back upwards and looked at me, the pain in her eyes mixing with confusion and fear. "Naomi, if you think of anything at all that might be helpful, I want you to call me on my work phone. You still have my card?" She nodded. "Good. If you feel you are in any danger, or something happens to those two outside, call 999 immediately and ask for the police." I said, clearly.

The knock then came on the door. I stood up and walked towards it. "Officers?"

"Yes, Detective." Came the muffled reply. I opened the door a crack to make sure, and sure enough, two officers were standing outside.

"Right, I'll just be a moment." I said, closing the door and walking back to the sofa. "Ok. Those two out there will be here all night. Depending if we get any leads tonight, I'll have them relieved in the morning. As I said... If you think of anything..." Naomi nodded. "Ok. I'll be off, now. And... I'll give you a call later when I'm on my break, and we can talk a bit then, ok?" Again, she nodded. I reached for her hand and squeezed it gently, then turned to leave.

"Emily." Naomi's voice said, in a tone that almost broke my heart. Like she was pleading with me to stay. I turned back to her. "Thank you." She said.

I nodded, and opened the door, leaving the flat, and closing it behind me. I turned to both the officers. "It is imperative that you stand watch over this door until morning. If one of you needs to take a piss, do it quickly, but the other one stays here. I want at least one of you on this door at all times, do you understand me?" I said, seriously. I may be what is referred to as pint or pocket sized, but I can mean business when I need to.

"Yes, Detective." They said, in unison.

I turned and walked down the flights of stairs and outside. I made my way to the squad car. "Open the boot, Jay." He reached for the boot release and it popped open. Thankfully there was a pack of water bottles, so I grabbed two of them. I quickly dashed back upstairs. "In case you get thirsty." I said, tossing one each at the officers. "Good luck, boys."

I went back downstairs, and got in the car.

"Back to the station, Jay. Now." I said, curtly.

I sat quietly while he drove. I didn't even register the time it took to get back until he had parked the car.

"Emily?" I heard him ask, after what felt like an hour.

I blinked. "Yeah?"

"Are you ok? That scene... Was it too much?"

I turned to him. "Jay, I've never seen a murder scene that bad. She wasn't just killed, she was almost fucking mutilated." I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Good lord." He replied. "And you think it's related to the crimes last night?"

My heart clenched at that, because I knew that I most certainly did. "I wish I didn't think that. But yeah, I do." I answered. "Can...can you give me a few minutes? I'll be up shortly, I just need a moment to think."

"Sure. Sit room?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Jay." I said.

He got out of the car, and walked off.

I leaned my head back against the headrest, and closed my eyes, feeling a tear slip out and trail down my cheek. I already had so many mixed emotions about the night. The bad feeling I'd had when I got the call had just intensified when I read through the file the inspector had given me, because I'd already begun to connect the dots in my mind. The club, Naomi's flat, and now the dead girl... She had to be central to these crimes... But why? Who? It had to have been someone she wronged for whatever reason. I made a note to ask her when she was up to talking. I knew that right now she was a mess.

I had meant what I said, that I would call her. But seeing her like that broke my resolve a bit. She looked so... Wounded. The cheekiness was completely gone from her, and her face, which was already fair, became completely pale. She became speechless, and not because she was looking at my tits, in fact it was the first time I'd seen her not try and flirt my pants off. Her eyes weren't looking at me in that way, they were looking at me, scared. She seemed so casual beforehand, sure. There was always that little voice that emanated from somewhere within her, but you didn't hear explicitly. It was saying "you know you want to." Which, oh god, I did, but this was no time to be thinking about me and her in bed, screwing each other blind.

But her eyes now just shone dimly, but ever-presently, frozen still. Like an image that had faded just so over the years, that it was noticeable, but now subtly so. They were so cold, and lifeless. It hurt me to see her eyes like that, because normally, they just radiated that Naomi loved her life, and didn't have any regrets, or qualms about how she lived her life. I was pretty open about my life, I didn't flaunt it to the point of absurd stupidity, but I was honest about it. But, Naomi made me feel free. I could be myself around her, in fact I had no choice because with that one look she would give me, I was completely pacified of all my resistance towards her. I felt so conflicted over her, because after they way she was during coffee, I couldn't resist her invitation to dinner. It was easy to spend time with her.

I knew she was keen on me. I'd have to be blind not to notice the signs. Just the way her eyes looked at me, you know? She knew how to use her body to make a woman interested, I'll give her that, it makes me wonder what moves she put in poor Candy. I think that's what was such a shock for Naomi, the fact that a girl she had slept with had turned up dead. I'm guessing that's never happened before, and I know if it were me, I'd be a fucking wreck. And the links between the three crimes. They all revolved around her, how could they not be related?

Christ.

I really wished my break would hurry up.

A/N#2: Ok, to recap for those of you who skipped due to the gruesomeness: Emily gets called away from dinner with Naomi to attend a murder scene. The victim is basically stabbed to bits and their head and neck have had a separation. Emily tells the crime scene guys to bag and tag the lot, then goes rather fucking quickly to Naomi's, because the dead girl is none other than Candy the shaggable slag from the first chapter. (No really, RIP. Such a useful plot device she turned out to be.) Naomi is visibly upset to find all this out, but Emily can't stay because she has to get back to work but promises to call later, leaving her in Effy's care, but not before stationing two officers outside her door for protection.

*phew*

OK, now before anyone gets upset at me for writing something graphic that is certainly not smut, as I said up top, it was necessary. This is a crime/mystery story, after all. I'd also like to say that I had it pictured a lot more gruesome, violent and Candy (I swear she said all her lines on cue and didn't complain once!) was much more...violated...shall we say, but I kind of like having you guys read my stuff, and wouldn't want to upset or put any of you off.

(I realise I may be overreacting, but... Nevercanbetoosure.)

The next chapter is the aftermath of this one, and decidedly less gruesome, but probably more angsty. And if anyone wonders... it'll get better. I promise there are good, good, GOOD things to come. ;-)

...and now that I've just written a good bit more, I shall post this.

Reviews? Pretty please? With (insert thing of your choice on top)? :-)

*hides*

Until next time...

~GN~ xo