AN: Thank you so much for the reviews so far! And in answer to a question in the reviews, I wanted to point out that I wrote two one-shot stories (also back in the summer of 2004) where I sort of played around a little bit with Speed's background (since none of it had been mentioned on the show, it was fair game from my POV). Those stories are Abandoned Children and Crystals, and they might answer some questions about his family. Or you can just hang in there awhile, since it'll come up later on in this story, as well...
Chapter 3
"Hey, baby, I was just about to call you," Alexx said as he walked into her autopsy room.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Mm-hm. I just now finished your guy here," she said, waving a hand at the corpse on her table.
"Really," he said, perching on a stool. "So?"
"Well, it looks like he was asphyxiated. Tox isn't back yet, so I don't know if he was helped along by anything, but the only really unusual thing was what looks like post mortem anal penetration," she said, leaning against a counter to look at him.
He frowned. "DNA?" he asked.
"Didn't find any, sorry, honey," she said.
He squinted at the body, thinking. Post-mortem penetration, no DNA…it was still familiar. "Alexx, could it have been a foreign object?", he asked absently.
She shrugged. "It's possible. I didn't find any trace other than some lubricant."
"Yeah?" he asked, more interested.
"Yes, of course, I got a sample," she said, smiling at him and holding out an evidence bag.
His lips quirked up into something that might be called a smirk as he reached out to take it. "Thanks."
"Any time, baby," she replied. He sat and watched her clean up as he considered things. Known assailant, asphyxiation, post-mortem penetration, looks like a sex thing gone bad, but it's not. He didn't know where that was coming from, but he knew it was true. "Timmy?" Alexx's voice pulled him out of his reverie.
"Hm?" he asked, blinking.
"You all right? You've been sitting there for five minutes, staring at nothing."
"Oh," he said, looking down at the evidence in his hands. "Sorry, just thinking."
"You still think that there's something familiar about this?" she asked.
He nodded. "I just don't know what."
She nodded, slowly. "I'm not coming up with anything, I'm sorry. But I see a lot more bodies than you see cases, and I don't have your memory."
His memory. Yes. "I know. It's here somewhere."
"Well, why don't you come get something to eat with me. Maybe if you stop thinking for awhile it'll come to you," she suggested.
His stomach protested at the thought of food, and he shook his head. "I'm not hungry."
Alexx gave him that searching look that always made him squirm. "You gotta eat, Timmy."
"I know, I will," he said, sliding off the stool. "Later, ok?"
She sighed and shook her head. "All right. This time. But only if you promise you'll take a break and eat something soon."
He nodded. "I will." He started out of the room before she could respond. "Thanks, Alexx," he called over his shoulder.
"You're welcome," he heard her call after him as he headed for the stairs.