Title: Dead Skin

Author: Officer BudBabe

Summary: Angel/CSI Crossover. Kate Lockley needed a new life. She needed to shed her dead skin and become human again. Somewhere where nobody would know her… where she could just start again. Nick/Kate

Genre: Angst/Romance/Mystery

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: This story has been written for entertainment purposes only and no Profit has been made on the Author's part. Really. I just like watching George Eads… Grin

Chapter Two – Made to Heal

XXXX

"Miss Lockley?" Kate looked up from the magazine she had been flipping through "Yes?"

"Welcome to CSI. My name is Gil Grissom; we spoke on the phone regarding your interview with Mr. Ecklie?"

"Oh yes, I remember. Hello." Kate stood and shook Gil's hand.

"Congratulations on your coming to work with us. Your references were excellent, considering…" Gil trailed off, looking embarrassed. Kate felt a small smile tugging at her lips.

"My dishonourable discharge?" She finished off for him. Gil looked at her.

"You must have gone through a lot."

"Yeah, but I'm working through it. I needed a fresh start. To be honest I was surprised the crime lab had even hired me." Gil began to lead her down the corridor.

"Well your excellent work outweighs your superiors' complaints. I have no doubt you will get through the probation period just fine. Now," Gil led Kate through a door into a clean space with tables, chairs and a small kitchenette "This is the break room and where we meet for briefing every shift." A few others loitered around the break room and Gil introduced one of them to Kate.

"Sara, this is Kate Lockley, our newest CSI." A dark haired woman with a cup of coffee smiled at Kate and put a hand out for her to shake.

"Welcome, Kate. Is it OK to call you Kate?" Kate smiled at the politeness with which she was being addressed. In L.A, nobody had done that. She had been Trevor Lockley's kid. No need for respect.

"It's fine. It's nice to meet you." She said taking the hand that had been offered. Sara looked past her and smiled as two other people came ambling through the door. Kate turned and was greeted with the sight of a gangly man with sandy hair and a tall dark skinned man.

"OK, now everyone's here, I'd like to properly introduce Kate Lockley, the newest addition to the team. Kate, you know Sara, this is Warrick Brown, Catherine Willows, Nick Stokes, Captain Jim Brass and Greg Sanders." Gil pointed at them all and in turned they waved at Kate, who smiled and nodded at them.

"Alright you guys. Catherine, Sara and Warrick, you're with me. We've got two DB's in the desert just outside Vegas. Nick, Kate and Greg you've got a DB on West Charleston Boulevard by the community college."

XXXX

The body was lain haphazardly on the pathway leading to the community college.

"It's way out in the open." Greg speculated as Nick parked the Tahoe. Police cars were already there and officers were milling about. Nick, Greg and Kate climbed out of the Tahoe and walked towards the crime scene, kits in hand.

Kneeling down by the body Kate donned a pair of gloves and began to process it. She searched his pockets for some form of identification. Upon finding his wallet, she opened it and found three hundred dollars in cash and several credit cards. Checking the ID she saw that the wallet belonged to the man.

"Carl Jacoby." She read, frowning. This didn't add up. If this man was killed for a reason, surely the dumping ground would have been more private? But if he was killed by a mugger, why was all his money and credit cards still in his wallet? She said as much to Nick, who frowned.

"Is there any other evidence on the body?" Kate shrugged and began to look.

"No cellphone, no pager. It says here he was a senior medical student." Kate gestured to Carl Jacoby's ID "Why wouldn't he have his pager or cellphone with him?"

"Maybe the killer took them." Greg suggested. Kate frowned.

"But why take those things and leave three hundred dollars in cash and several credit cards on the body? Also, why leave his ID? If the killer hadn't wanted us to identify the body as quickly as we did, they wouldn't have left it."

Kate continued to process the body. Nick went to search the surrounding area for clues while Greg lifted some shoe prints he had found. Carl Jacoby was sprawled out on his back, a good indication that he was dead before he hit the ground. His head lolled to one side and looking at him, Kate could find no immediate cause of death. His clothes were in one piece, no rips or tears anywhere. His skin was ashen, suggesting that he had been dead a while. Going to move his head so that he was facing upwards Kate caught sight of a tiny dribble of blood on his lips. Swabbing it she gently opened her mouth for traces of more. She found a few, but could find no evidence that he had been vomiting blood. The pathologist would have to decide. Something caught Kate's eye as she moved the victim's head a little.

Two tiny holes on the Victim's neck.

Kate's head began to spin 'No, No. This can't be happening again. It can't be true...'

"What else did you find?" Greg appeared at Kate's side, making her jump and tearing her from her thoughts. Not meeting Greg's eyes she quickly collected herself.

"Uh… I uh… There are two tiny holes in his neck and blood in his mouth." She stuttered, beginning to understand why the victim had blood in his mouth. Her heart sank and her face turned grey at the thought.

"Is it OK to get the coroner over here now or are you still not done?" Greg asked, looking around for the familiar face of the coroner.

"Uh… Give me a minute; I want to make sure there's nothing I've missed." Kate mumbled. Greg nodded and turned to go and find Nick. Kate exhaled and started to quickly run through her options. She could stake the victim right then and there, losing her job on the first night for tampering with a corpse and at the same time getting a reputation for being a weirdo. She still wasn't sure if all of this added up to an actual vampire killing. Maybe she was just paranoid. Maybe this was just some sicko who had seen too many Dracula movies.

Still. It would be her fault if this thing rose again and started killing people.

She would have to stay with the body until it rose. If it rose.

But she didn't know how long that would be.

But there was someone who did.

She could call Angel… and have him follow her all the way to Las Vegas, getting them tangled up in a shroud of problems again. She would have to explain to him why she took off and then it would all turn into a huge mess.

"Kate?" Nick was looking at her, concerned. Kate shook herself from her reverie and looked up at Nick "Yeah?"

"You OK?"

"Uh… Yeah. Listen," Kate thought quickly "I'm going to ride with the coroner so I can see the whole post mortem, OK?"

Nick frowned but nodded "Sure. What evidence did you get?"

Kate handed him the bags with the wallet and the swabs in. Nick took it and raised an eyebrow "No fingerprints?"

Kate was becoming a little awkward by this time, and increasingly aware that the body by her foot may wake up at any second. She shook her head "Not a single one. Not even a partial. I swabbed the wound on his neck though. There was no obvious DNA but I figured there must be something there."

That seemed to be enough for Nick. He called Greg over so they could head back to the lab. As they drove away Kate quickly got her camera out and took some pictures, an act which had eluded her after finding the holes in Carl Jacoby's neck.