Thanks for the amazing reviews! I don't own Ashes at all... :'(


Catherine watched as the look on Hunt's face turned from one of sympathy, to anxiety, to relief. What had he found in the fingerprints? He looked up, as if just noticing she was still there.

"Can I see that picture?"

Hunt just nodded, too happy to speak. He handed her the picture. It was of a woman with brunette flipped-back hair. She was wearing an oversized green sweater and black skinny jeans, tucked into white boots. Over the sweater she wore a white leather jacket. That jacket looked familiar to Catherine, but again, she couldn't recall if she had actually seen it before or not. What drew Catherine was the woman's face. It looked exactly like hers. The woman had the same eye-shape, same mouth, nose everything. Every single detail was the same, even the unusual eye colour.

Catherine stared at the picture in shock. "It can't be."

Gene looked at her, eyes full of pity. "Looks exactly like you don't she?" He handed her the sheet with the fingerprints on it.

"No. This isn't possible."

"Fingerprints don't lie, love."

"I...I am Alex Drake?" Her voice was breaking.

"Yes."

"Why can't I remember? Why wouldn't I know my name? Why would Matt lie to me?!" she asked in anguish.

"I don't know." Gene's voice was quiet. Catherine sat in the chair sobbing uncontrollably. Annie moved over to comfort her.

"Guv, go take care of something else. I'm going to calm her down."

"Wait, Annie. Talk to me out in the office."

"What about her?"

Gene opened his door.

"Shaz! Come in here, and sit with Al... Catherine!"

"Yes, Guv." Shaz quickly stood and walked into the office, where she immediately sat next to Catherine. Gene and Annie moved to the break room.

"What do you think Annie? Is Alex still there?"

"Did you notice any of her quirks when you talked to her?"

"She tried to put her hands in her back pocket when I was yelling at her, but she didn't have any. Alex would always stand like that. Also, when she stormed out of the office, she did it exactly like Alex used to. She jutted her chin out, turned on one heel, and slammed the door. And then, like I told you earlier, she fiddled with that pencil on the desk. What do you think Annie? That's all I really noticed, but I may have missed something. Is she still there? Do you think she'll come back?" Gene was pleading.

Annie thought. "Honestly, Guv, I do think she's still there. As far as coming back, if you introduce her to her old life, maybe she will come back. There isn't a guarantee on that, but if she goes through her old life again, it's possible that something will trigger her memory."

"No guarantee?"

"In cases like this, there never is."

"Why do you think her memory is gone, Annie?"

"My guess is that she was tortured very badly. She would have placed the blame on many people for this, from herself for walking down the alley, to her abductors, to you even for not finding her. Eventually, it got so bad that she decided, most likely subconsciously-that's like instincts- that it would be better for her to forget everything than to go through the pain. She said something about a severe case of the flu. That could be how she forgot too."

"But why forget?" Gene was having trouble wrapping his head around this.

"Again, it probably wasn't intentional. But somewhere she snapped and forgot everything that, in her mind, caused the pain. Since she was going to work when she was kidnapped, she thought going to work caused the pain. So she forgot about CID, and everyone in it. She may have thought she was singled out, so she forgot her identity too. She forgot Alex Drake and everything to do with her, just to escape pain."

"I'm gonna get that bastard life."

"Guv, remember this is all speculation. It could be that she hit her head just right or something."

"Yes, but he still took her in and filled her head with those lies." He looked at her. "It's 50/50 she comes back then?"

"Yes, Guv."

"I'm gonna make sure she remembers."

"Guv, it isn't that easy..."

"Annie, I thought I found Alex this morning. But it turns out; I found her body, which someone else inhabits. Alex is still missing. I'm got to find Alex."


TBC! I hope your enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it (although I'm enjoying writing this too much... that homework stack is getting larger!) :O