Top of Your Ambitions

“I cannot believe that we got a two-month suspension…” Ace breathed out in disbelief.

Ace, Rian, and Iverson walked out of the precinct, all wide-eyed and shaken up. The two detectives shot each other disappointing looks at the realization that they will be unemployed for an entire two months.

“Well, that’s what we get for doing cases off-the-books, right?” James chuckled, tightening his grip around the heavy cardboard box.

“And you did point a gun in that witness’ face inside the interrogation room…”

“In my defense, I was trying to find you!”

The two laughed at each other, despite their situation. They stopped talking and continued to walk down the steps.

Rian reached over inside the box in Ace’s hands and pulled out the solid sign that has Det. Kovacs sprawled across the surface. He frowned at it and dropped it back in. A few seconds later, he pulled out that framed picture of the blonde detective and Zack. He grinned at the picture and held it out for the pair to see.

“Put that thing back inside.” Ace scolded.

Chuckling, Rian dropped the framed picture back inside the box.

“Okay, since I am denied the right to finalize the reports for my cases, whatever happened with Lily Segat?” She turned to Iverson.

“Well, her sentence has been reduced to ten years for being an accomplice to murder. And we figured out a way to connect Rian to all of this…”

Ace turned to her best friend, clutching against her box tightly. Her eyebrow perked up at him.

“So I just recently remembered this but once when Ryland was like eleven, he stole a very important flash drive from his father. It has data and all the financial transactions from his businesses, and I caught him with the flash drive. So I confiscated it. He had Lily Phantom ransack the loft in search of it.” Rian explained.

The blonde bit her lips, nodding slowly as she processed the information.

“Where is this flash drive now?”

“Ryland thought I still had it because I promised him I wouldn’t tell Conrad that he took the drive. Actually, I did tell Conrad. I returned the flash drive, years and years ago. So Phantom didn’t find jack shit.”

“Great!”

“And Jack’s guitar was at our loft at the time, and she managed to take the clear fingerprint from the guitar. She was about to frame me, but found a better print of Jack’s so the murder of Conrad Lockheart was pinned on Jack last year.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah.” Rian chuckled.

The trio made their way to the precinct parking lot and stepped back several steps when another vehicle brushed past them. Rian took Ace’s box from her hands, deciding to hold it for her instead. She shot him a thankful look before turning her attention back to the vehicle that drove past them.

“Alright, I’m going to head home and explain to my wife why I am taking her to Europe for two months.” Iverson balanced the box on his stomach and used a free hand to wave at the other two.

“I’m sorry Iverson, I got you into this mess.” Ace said apologetically to her partner.

“You didn’t get me into anything; I simply did my job and you as well! I’ll see you when we get back to work, okay?” Iverson grabbed his car keys from his coat pocket and opened the trunk of his car.

Acacia said her final goodbye to her partner and followed Rian to the backseat of his car. He opened the trunk and placed her box gently inside. She noticed two figures emerge from the car that brushed by them, squinting to identify the figures. Just as Rian closed the trunk, the figures got closer.

“Detective Kovacs?”

“Maxwell?”

The freelance photographer who gave her the tip on Ryland Lockheart appeared in front of her and Rian. However, the surprising part of this encounter is Loki standing beside the photographer.

“Loki.” Rian greeted.

“Hey Dawson.”

“Thank you so much for solving the case.” Maxwell pushed his dark-framed glasses closer to his face and grinned at the detective graciously.

Ace smiled.

“Of course, thanks for the tip!”

Loki placed a hand on Maxwell’s shoulder and patted it several times.

“This man truly saved my life. Who knows what Ryland would’ve done to me and the company?”

Ace’s dark brown eyes traveled from the freelance photographer to the CEO. She remembered Maxwell mentioning that Loki made his life better; she has no idea why. It is a story that she wants to hear about.

“So Maxwell, how is your relationship with Loki?”

The photographer glanced at the blonde man and grinned.

“Well, I was literally just a scrap off the streets, taking pictures of random landscape and of random people on the street.”

“You were brilliant though…” Loki added.

“I was an amateur. My life was going nowhere because photography is my life and my talent had not been discovered. So one day, I coincidentally ran into Dale Levine, she was like seventeen at the time. Anyways, I post all my photography online. Loki came across my work and actually contacted me.”

“That shot of Dale was perfection.” The blonde man remarked.

“Yeah, so Loki got me a job as an assistant photographer in the company. He begged his father and managed to land me a job. For that, I am forever thankful. But eventually, I decided that if I am to be a photographer for Lockheart, I needed outside experience. So I’ve been training myself with freelance.”

Ace and Rian both nodded along, glad to be hearing this happy story. Loki is such a fascinating person. He truly believes in people who have yet to meet their potential and helps nurture it. This guy is amazing to Ace’s eyes and thinks Beckett to be a lucky woman, despite all her unlucky breakups.

“And we are here because I need to thank the captain for solving this case and arresting my half-brother. Speaking of thanking people, I want to thank you and your team for being so dedicated to the case. And if Raphael was still alive right now, Ace, he would be very thankful.” Loki placed a hand on her shoulder.

She smiled at him and nodded.

“It was my partner that figured out Raphie’s real killer. But I am sorry that you have to find out something completely different than you had wanted to think.”

“Either way, our family owes your precinct everything.”

Rian turned to Maxwell.

“And what about you?”

“I actually want to apply for a job to be part of CSU, but as a photographer.” He scratched at the back of his head modestly.

“Great! Hope you enjoy taking pictures of dead bodies!” Rian said teasingly.

Shaking her head at Rian, Ace shoved him toward the driver’s seat of the car. She waved at the other two before walking over to the passenger’s seat.

“I’ll see you guys around!”



“Welcome to the single’s club, gentlemen!” Jack grumbled to the group.

Ace raised an eyebrow at the group as she placed large bowls of snacks on the coffee table. Alex shook his head at his friend, dropping his head on the guitarist’s shoulder.

“What happened to your relationship, Jack?” She sat down between Rian and Alex.

Sighing loudly, Jack shoved his friend’s head off of his shoulder.

“Dale broke up with me.”

“I’m so sorry, Jacko!” She said sympathetically.

The guitarist shrugged at her and managed a small smile on his face.

“After finding out that she was meant to be the target instead of Raphael, she just lost it. She told me the bandage of her old wound has been ripped wide open. I told her that I respected that. I gave her the space she needs.”

“Are you okay though, Jack?” She furrowed her eyebrows at him.

He smiled at her, nodding.

“Yeah, I think I’ll be fine. I just hope that she is going to recover from this in good spirit.”

“With Loki and Kaya by her side, she’ll be fine.” Ace responded.

Alex turned to Zack, gesturing toward him with a hand.

“So Zack, how’s the breakup with Wallace? I’m sorry I took part in that, but I did oh-so-intentionally, so I’m not that sorry.” Alex flashed a small smile.

Rolling her eyes, Ace playfully shoved his side.

“Alex… I was shocked you’d do something like that, man!” Zack spoke.

Ace turned to look at the bassist, giving him a crooked grin. His hazel eyes landed on her and returned the smile.

“Oh Rian, why’d Carol break up with you?” Jack reverted the topic over to the drummer.

Two days ago, Carol broke up with Rian over the phone. It bummed him out, but he is not as upset as Ace expected him to be. Lately, their relationship had been hard to keep up with. They are not even living in the same state, so it is hard to get a grasp of what is going on in each other’s lives.

“Her insecurity.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked.

Rian pulled out his phone and touched at the screen several times before turning the device around for everyone else to see. Everyone leaned toward the device.

“Damn, it wasn’t even passionate…” Jack trailed off.

Confused, Ace decided to take a peek at the screen as well.

“Whoa, when the hell did this happen?” She scratched at her head as she eyed the picture of herself kissing her best friend at the crime scene.

Alex chuckled, playfully shoving her upper arm.

“Carol always thought that Ace was going to steal me away from her. That is never the case. Ace will not steal me away from anyone. No offense, girl!”

Laughing, Ace leaned back against the sofa cushion.

“Don’t worry, I take no offense in that, Ri!”

It is an understanding between the two that there will never be anything romantic between them. Their friendship is one of the strongest, but it is as far as their relationship will go.

Ace turned her head toward Zack, flashing him another one of her small smiles.

“What about you two? Getting back together or what…?”

Both Zack and Ace looked at Jack with mock glares on their faces. Neither of the two knows where they stand at this point. Ace agreed to let Zack decide for himself. She is to give him time to decide, but is unsure of how long he will need to make that decision.

“It’s a work in progress, Barakat.” Ace said.

“Cool, make it work guys!” Jack winked at Zack.

The group sat down and chatted for about half an hour before Ace got up from her seat. She decided that she has to start heading home. Since she is basically jobless for two whole months, she is going to have to go home and take care of Breck, who is now back at their repaired apartment.

“I’ll see you guys!” She turned and waved at them.

Just as her hand landed on the doorknob, footsteps trailed after.

“Hey Ace, let me walk you to your car.”

The blonde opened the front door and walked out, holding the open door for Zack. He grinned at her and appeared beside her instantly as the door closed behind the pair. The pair walked down the steps and slowly made their way to her car.

“So we are going on tour in a week…” He started.

Sighing, Acacia turned to the bass player. She placed a hand on his cheek.

“Where is this going, Zack?” She whispered, internally frightened and confused.

She is scared to get her hopes up that Zack is willing to give their relationship another try. He is unsure about everything at this point, and there might even be a good chance that he will turn her down. She cannot bear to think about what will happen to her if he does.

He looked down her, placing his hand over hers.

“I just want to point out that this is the first time in a while that I can go out on the road in a peaceful state of mind.”

Ace’s eyebrows furrowed.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You are not going to be in the field until early April, and boy, am I relieved. I know it sounds selfish, but it is so hard for me to think of you being back on the field again. You are a cop and you encounter immense amount of danger everyday. I always worry for you, especially when we were together. I remember thinking; what if she doesn’t make it home? What if something happened to her?”

“Zack…”

“Ace, I cannot bear to lose you. Countless things can happen to you in your profession. It is very hard for me mentally to date a homicide detective. I fear for your life and your wellbeing everyday… and sometimes I feel emotionally too weak to be able to handle it.”

“Wow…” She breathed out.

“Especially after what we’ve just gone through not a week ago, I learned to never take you for granted. I made a stupid decision to let you go, and I shouldn’t even deserve a second chance with you. But then here you are, being so patient with me. I’m not asking you to wait for me forever, but if you can give me time to think this through during my time on tour, it would mean the world to me.”

Smiling, she nodded profusely.

“Zack, I love you and I will wait as long as it takes to get you back.” She internally cringed at herself when her voice shook.

“Okay, so drive safely!” He held out his arms.

Making a sound of affirmative, she walked into him for a hug. Her arms wrapped around him just as his did the same.

“Be safe all day everyday okay?”

Laughing, she pulled away from him.

“Yeah sure!”

Notes

One more chapter, what's the verdict going to be?

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