Author's notes:

Thanks to my reviewers. I appreciate the comments. Please keep them coming. Sorry this was long in coming. Busy at work, busy at home, no time for me!

The DNA results finally came in and confirmed that the blood found in the warehouse did belong to Flack. Fingerprints recovered matched to Paul Walker. There had also been a set of prints that came back unknown. This was also the case with the cigarette. No DNA match available. Detectives were out searching for Walker, hoping to gain information on the location of their missing colleague.

Danny hung his lab coat on the hook and walked out of the lab. He needed a coffee and hoped that someone had made some. He opened the door and heard tense voices. He eased the door shut, but the muffled conversation was still audible.

"How could he have been so stupid? You never pursue without your back-up knowing where you are going!"

"Don, think about it. He's your son. He's only doing what he knows his father would have done."

"Bullshit Vanessa. You know as well as I do that if I said go right, he'd go to the left just to spite me; Even when he went to college instead of going into the military. I told him that a service record would look better going into the academy. But no, he went ahead and did it his way. Hell, the only thing he's ever done that I wanted was becoming a cop."

Danny felt guilty but couldn't bring himself to stop listening, gaining insight on the family dynamics of his good friend. "Guess we both have fathers who don't see eye to eye with us." He turned and headed to Mac's office, coffee postponed. He could see Mac talking animatedly to someone on the phone, so he waited outside the door. Mac turned and noticed him and motioned for him to enter.

"Get back to me as soon as you know something more. We'll meet you there." Hanging up, Mac spoke to Danny. "A body was found. It looks like it might be Walker."

"What about Flack?" Danny felt as if the ability to breathe had been knocked from him.

Shaking his head, Mac continued. "The cop who found the body didn't see anyone else around. We need to grab our stuff and get over there. I don't want to lose anything that might give us an idea of where Flack it."

"The Flacks are in the break room," Danny jerking his head in that direction. "Are you going to tell them we've got a lead?"

"No, I want to wait until we have something solid. No use getting their hopes up." Mac grabbed his jacket and headed to the door. "Grab your kit and meet me at the car."

He felt a little better after having taken a shower. Ashley had taken him to the Mission. No. Not Ashley, Ash. She had already taken him to task for not calling her by her nickname. While he had showered Ash had also went to the room that served as a free clothing closet for the poor and homeless. She had found a clean t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants for him to change into. His head was still throbbing slightly; he had gingerly felt the large lump on the back of his head. Looking down at the filthy clothes he had taken off he decided to toss them into the trash. They didn't seem worth saving.

"Hey, are you done in there? There's not going to be any food left if we don't hurry." Ash's voice cut through his thoughts. "Hurry up Danny."

"I'm coming." He opened the door and looked at the young woman lounging near the door. She had taken the opportunity to shower as well. She now sported purple jeans with rhinestones and a black long-sleeved t-shirt with the Ramones on it. Taking a second glance at the jeans, he snorted with amusement, his sarcastic personality not diminished even with his current mental state "Nice, looks like you're a refugee from a disco."

"Thanks. You would think that even the homeless would have some fashion standard, but unfortunately it is a case of if it fits and it's clean, wear it! I hope you appreciate the effort I went to finding you clothes that matched." Ash gave the man she now knew as Danny a grin, letting him know that she took no offense at his comment. "Come on, let's get some chow."

The meal was typical of free meal sites, nothing fancy, but lots of starches to fill a person up. Ash filled up her tray to capacity. She caught his look and grinned. "Didn't get lunch today and you never can tell about breakfast." Noticing that he wasn't asking for much on his tray, Ash raised an eyebrow. "Hey a big guy like you can't live on that. Fill up."

He shook his head. Bad idea, the headache was still hanging with him. "I'm not really hungry."

"Suit yourself, but grab dessert. There's only one per customer and if you won't eat it I will."

Ash led the way to a small table that was at the back of the room. Getting settled, Ash attacked her food with a vengeance while he picked at the meat that had claimed to be chicken. While quickly eating her meal, Ash finally took time to survey the man across from her. He was still slightly pale and he would occasionally close his eyes and appear to be thinking. When his eyes opened she noticed that he had the prettiest blue eyes she had ever seen, but she could also see there was confusion and uncertainty there. "Head still hurting Danny?" He nodded slightly. "Let me go and see if I can round up some aspirin for you. I'll be right back."

Ash went over to the kitchen door; volunteers were doing dishes and putting away the extras. Spotting the mission's supervisor, Ash called out to him. "Hey Father Joseph, do you have a couple of aspirins?"

A slight man with balding grey hair turned around. A smile crossed his face as he recognized the girl. "Ashley Marie, how good to see you again. Where have you been? I haven't seen you in weeks."

"Father Joseph," she admonished him, "call me Ash. Ashley Marie was a girl who lived somewhere else."

Smiling gently he laid a hand on her shoulder, "But I'm sure she could return."

Shaking her head savagely she replied, "No she can't. Let's not go into that now." She made an effort to visibly brighten. "Do you have some aspirin I could have?"

"Not feeling well?" Father Joseph looked concerned.

"No, it's not for me. I've got a new friend who's got a headache."

"Ahhh, and this new friend is the reason you haven't been to see me?"

Ash blushed, "No, I had other things going on. I just met Danny today. He's in a rough spot and," looking around to see if anyone was listening in. Seeing no one paying them any attention, she continued. "I think he got jumped or something. He might be in trouble with the cops, he's not sure. I think he's having a blackout, because he doesn't remember anything. He even had trouble thinking of his own name. I know I've done some things when I was drinking that I don't remember."

Father Joseph looked worried. "Ash, you can't just go around trusting everyone. He's not one of the stray cats you feed with the food you sneak out of here."

Ash flushed guiltily, she didn't know that anyone had seen her pocketing bits of food. "Father, he's ok. I can tell these things. I've been on the streets enough to know the good ones from the bad." She placed a reassuring hand up. "I swear nothing will happen."

"Alright, let me get some aspirin for your friend, but I want to meet him. I can't have one of my flock associating with a wolf." He left the room and returned quickly with several aspirin packets. "Here, if he's on a bender he'll need more than one. Now let's go see this fine young man."

He sat with his head cupped in his hands. While his head still hurt what was worrying him more was the fact that he couldn't remember anything. It hadn't seemed to worry Ash; she had told him that this happened to her all the time when she had been drinking. He had remembered his name, but there was nothing else that was really coming back to him. Well, one thing had. He remembered hearing a gun shot and then coming too on the dirty pavement of the alley. He wasn't sure, but the possibility was there that he had killed the man.

"Danny? How are you doing? This is Father Joseph." Ash's voice was tinged with concern.

He opened his eyes to see Ash and a man he had seen in the food line standing beside him. He pushed back his chair and stood up, faltering a little, but recovering to reach out and offer his hand. "Fine thanks, nice to meet you Father Joseph."

Taking his hand, Father Joseph quickly appraised the dark hair man. It looked as if a breeze would knock him over. "Please sit down." Father Joseph pulled up an extra chair and sat also. "Danny, Ash tells me that you're having some trouble remembering."

"Trouble? Father, I'm afraid trouble doesn't begin to cover it." The tall man's shoulders drooped a little. "I guess I'm lucky to remember my name."

"I've seen this happen before son, be patient and in a day or two things will come back. I would offer you a bed here tonight, but we are filled already and the Fire Marshall will have my permit if I get caught breaking the number limit again." The older man's eyes spoke of his regret.

"Don't worry Father; I'll let him crash at my place." Ash piped in, looking at "Danny" for approval.

"I don't want to put you out, I'll be fine." He weakly protested.

"You haven't seen my place yet, so don't worry. It's not the Ritz-Carlton." Ash laughed lightly. "Come on, take a few of these aspirin and let's get going. Father Joseph needs to get his kitchen cleaned up so we can be back for supper tomorrow night." She stood and reached for "Danny's" arm.

He allowed himself to be led from the Mission. Several blocks later they stopped in front of an old building. A heavy chain barred the gate and a sign stated that the store was out of business. Ash went to the other end of the gate and with a quick look around to check for anyone watching, she pulled on the portion that was attached to the wall. The lower half pulled away leaving a gap. Ash reached around and opened the door and stepped through the opening into the building. Ducking to follow he was suddenly taken with a sense of déjá vu. Stopping in his tracks, he tried to place the memory.

"Hey, hurry up." Ash's voice was slightly irritated. "I don't want anyone knowing that this place is accessible."

Stepping inside, his eyes slowly adjusted to the dim interior. Ash concealed the opening and shut the door. "Welcome to my place!"

Mac and Danny approached the alley and ducked under the yellow crime scene tape. Several officers were standing around a lump that was unmistakably a body. Mac knelt down. "Who put this over the body?" The responding officer replied it was there when he found the body and he had only lifted it to check. Mac pulled back the jacket covering the body's face. He looked over to Danny, "Looks like we've found Walker. The shooter must have left the jacket."

Danny stared down at the jacket in Mac's hand. A tie stuck out of the pocket. He recognized it. "Mac, this is Flack's. He was here."