Standard disclaimer, I don't own the rights to anything, this is done for entertainment not profit.

Chapter 1: A New Project

I get into work a few minutes late, no one notices, and if they did I'd just say the babysitter was a little late. It sounds better than I noticed a blond woman while I was driving into work and had to stop the car and stare at her for fifteen minutes, because she looked so much like Lumen. These days, my coworkers are so busy they barely have time to remember I'm around. Vince is out chasing women with even more zeal than usual, LaGuerta and Angel are still celebrating the end of their first serious fight and Deb's so happy that I've accepted her dating Quinn that she's not even trying to make the three of us spend more time together. It's like the world has moved on and I'm just a ghostly reminder of a time when everyone was angry and hurt and alone. As such, they mostly ignore me these days, I remember a time when being ignored was perfectly fine for me, isolation seemed like the most natural thing in the world to me. Before I had a taste of what it was like to truly share my life with someone.

"Dex" Deb's voice breaks me daydreaming. "We got a call, someone just reported a new crime scene, extra bloody." Deb says, sensing my mood and hoping this will brighten my spirits. My sister the thoughtful one.

XXX

I arrive a the crime scene expecting to see some unfortunate human I've never met who has been stabbed to death (Deb said it was bloody), I step out of my car into a park ready to do my thing. Just put one foot in front of the other, and I'll be in the nice, comforting, familiar land of yellow tape cordoning off the body of some poor innocent person, just another day.

I stop in shock. To be fair, I've never met this person, to me she's just the blond girl who distracted me on my way to work. Except now, she's still, her body at he bottom of a ditch, bleeding from a huge cross shaped gash carved into her now bare chest.

"Ritualistic murder, ligature marks around the neck and blood pooling indicate the victim was strangled before the cut was made." I say calmly.

"Maybe another serial killer, some kind of religious nut?" Deb asks.

Great, a serial killer who thinks he's taking his orders from God. That's original.

"No way of knowing unless another body pops up, I'm thinking Deb and I should canvass the neighborhood, try to figure out who did this before they get another chance." Angel replies.

I was preparing to leave in a few minutes, their wasn't much I could do here, and I did have paperwork to catch up on; when Angel makes me think of a case from a few years ago, what if he's already done this before?

"Since the cuts were made after she was killed, blood spatter isn't going to give us any info right now. So, I think I'll head back to the lab and catch up on some paperwork." I say as I start to leave, no one tries to stop me.

The minute I get back to the lab, I pull up the case file I'd been thinking of. Marla Stevens, blond woman, same age as the current victim, strangled two years ago, her body laid out in the shape of a cross. The suspect, Matt Connell, a divinity student, released due to lack of evidence, later sent to prison for 2-5 years for assaulting his then girlfriend with a hunting knife two weeks later. According to his file, released last week, and living three blocks from the park the victim was found in. A bit of a long shot, but still worth checking out.

"What about the kids Dexter? I thought you wanted this summer to be about spending time with them?" Harry asks, standing over me.

"I'll just check on this tonight after they go to sleep. If I'm wrong I'll drop it. If I'm right, well, Deb has wanted to spend more time with them this summer."I smile.

"This victim wasn't Lumen, Dexter, if you're just doing this because the dead girl reminds you of her, you're going to come out of this disappointed no matter what happens." Harry says.

"I know Lumen's gone. I just need a project to keep me occupied, remind me who I am, maybe then the dreams will stop." I reply.

I step out of the lab hoping I'm right about all of that.

A/N: Hi all, thanks for the reviews, adding my story to your update lists and adding me to your favorites. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.