Top of Your Ambitions

Acacia gestured for the red head to leave her chair and she did quickly, extremely flustered that she had to be told. The blonde detective turned off her computer screen, pursing her dried lips with her eyebrow raised. Wallace is the last person she expected to show up at her precinct.

“Can I help you, Wallace?” She cleared her throat when Wallace didn’t start talking.

Ace is pissed that not only did Wallace ruin her personal life, she is also trying to meddle in her professional life. This woman took away one of the most important aspects of her life and she never even expressed sympathy or remorse. An apology would have been nice.

“Hi, I know I am the last person you want to see right now ever since, well…”

“What do you want, Poulsen?” Ace asked, not kindly.

Wallace fidgeted in her stance, a look of worry on her extremely pale face. The detective took the time to get a good look at her and cursed herself for doing so. Zack surely did leave her for someone better looking and better off. Ace can barely scrap off enough money to pay the mortgage for her small apartment and Wallace has more than enough money to spend on leisure time.

The red head sighed loudly and opened her mouth to speak.

“I need your help on something, there’s no one else I can turn to.” She said in a small voice.

She knows that Ace is not fond of her at all. There is no way in hell Ace would be willing to help her with anything, so she is crossing her fingers and praying that she will find a compassionate bone in her body to be of assistance.

“How about Zack, your boyfriend?”

“Listen here, Kovacs…”

“No, you listen here, Wallace. Who do you think you are, stealing my boyfriend and strutting down here to ask for my help?” Ace gritted through her teeth as she leaned forward to her.

Her brown eyes narrowed at the sight of the very woman that she secretly envied.

“Ace, please, this is about justice and there is no one else I know who respects it more than you do. You are the best homicide detective in this city, and I can only depend on you to seek justice.” Wallace is pleading.

Ace personally enjoyed the sight of a desperate Wallace Poulsen. The model is desperate for her help; there is no better feeling in the world for her. Maybe it is cruel of her to feed on someone’s desperation, but Ace is too bitter towards this woman to care.

“What can I help you with, Wallace?” Ace said, kinder this time.

The red head model smiled thankfully at her and pulled out a folder with a stack of paperwork inside. She assumed that the model is trying to bring a case to her.

“Look…” She tried but was interrupted immediately.

“Please, hear me out and then decide if you want to help me, okay?”

Ace sighed but nodded. She held a hand out for the file and opened the folder as soon as it landed on her hand. The first paper showed a series of bank statements of a large sum of money being extracted from a bank account.

“Daniel Potter… who is Daniel Potter?” Acacia looked up from the bank statements.

The redhead is nearly in tears when Acacia asked the question. She noticed that whoever this guy is meant a whole deal to her.

“He-he is a friend of mine.” Wallace stuttered.

The detective gave her a curt nod.

“And what are the bank statements suppose to tell me, besides the fact that he is a huge spender?”

“The money in the bank accounts were wired to an organization that sold bomb parts underground. I think that is what it meant. But my friend Dan was wrongly accused of setting a bomb in an admiral’s home and killing his whole family.”

Ace blinked at the model in shock. She has never heard intelligent observations leave Wallace’s lips. In her defense, she has never had a decent conversation with the model who stole her boyfriend.

“Alright, so where is this Dan now?” Ace asked.

“I-I don’t know.”

She sighed in irritation.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“The-the feds are trying to find him and he is in hiding. I don’t know where to find him.”

“Then how did he contact you to start a damn crusade for him?” The blonde asked impatiently.

Wallace bit her lips.

“Please Ace, he called me through a burner phone and pleaded with me. He is an old friend and I know him. He would never do something like this! I know he was framed. Please let me know that you will get to the bottom of this.”

She did not want to help Wallace at all. The model has never done anything for her, so why is she even considering helping her?

“How do you know he is innocent, Poulsen?”

Wallace blinked at the detective several times, almost exhausted and tired of fighting for her to agree. It seems like she wants this badly and Ace likes having that control over her.

It would be nice to have Wallace depend on her for something.

“I just do. I know him.”

“Okay, Wallace. I will give this Dan Potter a good look. However, I will not promise you anything.”

Grinning widely at the detective, Wallace pulled her into a hug.

“Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Ace awkwardly hugged back before she let go. The model shot her another thankful smile.

“Oh, and can you keep all the information you find confidential?”

“Unless it is important enough to solve the case.” Ace said firmly.

“Yeah, that.”

The stoic detective gave her a curt nod.



Acacia entered her apartment, dropping her car keys on the kitchen counter as she passed. She walked into the living room to see Breck sitting there with a biology textbook resting on her lap. The teenage girl is staring intently at her work, leaving Ace really confused. It is Christmas break for her, she shouldn’t be studying during break.

“Hey.” Ace greeted.

Breck held out a hand in greeting before getting back to her reading.

“Did Rian pick you up today?” She asked her younger sister.

The teenage girl made a sound of affirmative. Ace nodded as a response and walked over to the coat rack by the sofa. She took off her red colored coat, placing it on top of the rack. After that, she walked over to her bedroom and fell face first on her bed. It is stressful enough that she has gone through a whole day of work, now she is going home to an unresponsive younger sister.

She placed a hand over her face and sighed loudly. After Wallace left the precinct, she pushed Dan Potter’s files aside in order to move in on a more pressing matter. They sat in the break room for some briefing and went right to work on a new case revolving around a murder of a store clerk.

After picking out several good suspects, the team decided to call it a night and start fresh tomorrow.

It seems like Ace has been lying there for at least an hour before several light taps on her door interrupted her exhausted thoughts. She looked over to see Rian standing by her bedroom door. He grinned at her with his perfectly white teeth and invited himself into her room.

“Hey.” She smiled weakly.

“Long day?”

“Yeah.”

“You need a break from fighting crime. I brought back some Japanese takeout, if you want to dig in, I left it in the kitchen.” Rian dropped onto the bed, right beside her.

Ace turned to her side to look at her best friend. He placed a hand on her shoulder, patting it several times in comfort.

“Okay, what happened, Ace?”

He knows her so well, a little too well.

“How do you know that something is wrong?”

“Oh please, do you really need to ask?” Rian shot her a look and she laughed.

She ran a hand through her wavy blonde hair, letting a loud sigh leave her lips again. Her entire body and mind is about to give in on her; Rian is the only reason why she is allowing herself to stay awake right now.

“Okay, Wallace dropped by the precinct today.”

Rian blinked at her.

“She what?”

“Yeah, she wants me to look into this case involving her friend.” She explained.

“Are you going to help her?”

“I agreed to do it; that’s helpful enough, right?” Ace replied.

Rian shot her a look that told her he did not buy her kindness.

“You just want her to owe you one!”

“Damn, if only knowing someone too well is a crime…”

“… Then you would’ve arrested me, detective.”

“Damn right, I would!”

Rian and Ace laughed simultaneously, allowing the sound of laughter to take over the room. They realized they’re too disruptive when Breck’s groan is heard from the living room. Both stopped laughing immediately, resorting to crooked grins.

“Speaking of favors, there is one more thing I would like to talk to you about…” Rian trailed off.

Ace chuckled.

“For Wallace, I’d hesitate; for you, I’d do anything. What is it, Ri?”

Rian’s face lit up.

“Really?”

“Yes, really!”

“You promise me you’ll agree?” Rian asked, hopeful.

Her eyebrows shot upwards in suspicion.

“Rian…?”

“What?” He laughed.

“Unless you are encouraging me to break the law or driving me into prostitution, then yes, deal sealed for a Japanese takeout deal.” Ace tried at humor.

The drummer face-palmed at his friend’s bad attempt.

“Alright, I want you to take Alex as your plus one for Lockheart’s New Years Eve party.”

Acacia shot up from her position on the bed, making a sound of protest. She left her bed and folded both arms across her chest.

“Are you fucking insane?”

“Hey, we had a deal sealed for a Japanese takeout meal, which is lying on your kitchen counter by the way.” Rian beamed at her.

Groaning in frustration, she dropped down on her bed again, this time making sure that her head collided with his stomach. Rian grunted in pain as he pushed her head off of his body.

“Isn’t that considered prostitution? I did say that we’d have a deal excluding that.” She tried.

Rian scoffed, shaking his head profusely at his friend.

“I’m asking you to accompany him, not let him pay you for sex.”

She rolled her eyes.

“He might as well!”

“Come on, Ace, Alex needs to take his mind off of all the pain he’s been going through. Might as well give him an opportunity to have a good time at the party.” He reasoned.

It is Acacia’s turn to scoff now.

“Please, I know Beckett is going to be there. He’s trying to show her that he’s moved on from her. I am not going to help that immature little twit flash that smug grin of his at my friend!”

“A deal is a deal, Acacia!” Rian got up from the bed.

Ace has never regret trusting Rian so much. He has taken advantage of her unconditional loyalty to him, but she is not angry with him. It was well played.

“You know I’m mad at him.”

“Look, he asked me to do this for him, and I couldn’t turn him down. I also can’t go back to him empty handed.”

The blonde gave her friend a look.

“Alex hates me right now, as much as I hate him—why would he want to go with me?”

“You are the only one without a plus one and with an invite.”

“Thanks Rian, you do really well for my self esteem.” She quipped sarcastically.

“I mean, how else is he going to get in the Lockheart party without you?”

The blonde shifted her position, resting her head on her hand.

“If I do this, will it make you happy?”

“It will make me very happy, Ace.”

“Fine, take me to the food.” Ace held out both hands for him.

Flashing her a crooked grin, he pulled her up from the bed and dragged her outside of the bedroom.

“To the food!”

Notes

What do you think about Wallace being at Ace's mercy?

And how do you think the Alex/Ace pairing will turn out at the New Years Eve party? WIll the two clash once again or will Alex win Beckett back?

You shall see!

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