Chapter 18
Epilogue
“Hi hon, I’m here”, Ali said softly. She leaned over the hospital bed and kissed Ashlyn lightly on the forehead. Ashlyn stirred and opened her eyes.
“Hi baby”, Ashlyn said. She tried to move, but Ali stilled her.
“Don’t move”, Ali said. “Just rest.” Ali pulled up a chair next to the bed and took Ashlyn’s hand in hers.
After the fiasco at the warehouse had started to die down, as members of various law enforcement agencies were rounding up members of both the Marano family and the Disciples, several uniformed police officers had found Ali, huddled over Ashlyn. Ashlyn had been rushed by ambulance to Cook County hospital in downtown Chicago. Ali had intended to go with her, but Wambach had appeared as Ashlyn was being loaded into the ambulance and had demanded to know what the hell had happened, so Ali had sent two uniformed police officers to accompany Ashlyn, and then she, Hope, Megan and Wambach had gone back to Wambach’s office. Ali had started from the beginning and told Wambach all about how she had met Ashlyn, how they had fallen for each other, how Ashlyn had saved her the night the Disciples had come to her apartment, and then how she had tapped Ashlyn to help with the meeting tonight, and the subsequent fallout from that. Wambach had listened at times and yelled at times. Hope had jumped in, defending Ali, and even Megan jumped in, but, after all of the talking, Wambach had told Hope and Megan to leave her office. She then had asked Ali for her badge and her gun. Ali had started to protest, but she knew that she had operated around official procedure, and Wambach was a by-the-book boss. Wambach had been apologetic, but she said she had to follow procedure. With something this big, and with an outside party like Ashlyn having been involved, internal affairs would have to open an official investigation. She would put Ali on paid leave indefinitely, until the investigation was over. Ali had sighed and turned in her badge and gun, walked out of Wambach’s office, and then had gone directly to Cook County hospital. Fortunately, the surgeons had been able to remove the bullet from Ashlyn’s shoulder without much complication. They treated her knife wounds and stitched them up. Then they took her up to recovery and put her on a morphine drip. Ali had walked in shortly after.
Ashlyn’s eyes fluttered, and she looked at Ali and smiled, then fell back asleep. Ali stayed there, holding her hand.
********
3 Months Later:
“And it is my pleasure to recognize Special Agent Ali Krieger, for representing the highest ideals of commitment, service, and honor – the founding principles of the Joint Organized Crime Taskforce.” The room erupted into applause as Ali stepped forward. Jill Ellis, Director of JOCT, turned away from the podium to smile at Ali and hand her a medal, and then the two shook hands. They looked out into the audience as people rose from their seats and cameras flashed. Ali looked at the table to the front left. Hope was standing and applauding. She had been recognized herself by the Chicago Police Department for her efforts, and she was now heading up a special enforcement unit called the Strike Team. It was an anti-gang, anti-vice crime-fighting unit, modeled after the original Strike Team from the Farmington Police Division in Los Angeles. Megan was also standing and applauding. She would be recognized by the FBI next month. Wambach was standing as well. She had also been recognized, as Ali’s supervising officer, and she had actually been the one who had largely taken care of the internal affairs investigation from Ali's side, as well as taking care of the press. Then, Ali looked at the striking blonde beauty who she was delighted to now call her girlfriend. Ashlyn was standing and applauding, and smiling proudly and radiantly. Ali looked at her and smiled even wider than she already was.
Ashlyn had been discharged from the hospital a week after the warehouse fiasco. Ali, on leave, had helped settle her back into her condo. She had stayed with Ashlyn for three days straight, and then had gone back to her own apartment to pack a suitcase. She had come back to Ashlyn’s apartment and ended up staying for another month while Ashlyn recovered. Ashlyn had recovered slowly but surely. A week out of the hospital, she had been able to function around the condo all by herself. Two weeks after that, she and Ali had started going on walks and outings to restaurants and shops. Two weeks ago, Ashlyn had said she felt almost a hundred percent. Her left shoulder still hurt a bit, but besides that she was pretty much healed. A week ago, she and Ali had gone for a jog down the lake shore path. After their jog, they had come back to Ashlyn’s, and after a long shower together, Ali had made them dinner. That night, Ashlyn had asked Ali if she would move in. Ali had said yes, and within a week, she had broken the lease on her apartment and had moved all of her belongings into Ashlyn's condo.
Right about the same time Ashlyn had been discharged from the hospital, an investigation had kicked off into the events that had lead up to the warehouse fiasco. Ali had been called in to attend a few hearings, as had Hope and Megan, but Wambach did most of the talking. As it turned out, Wambach, for all of her by-the-book tendencies, had really gone to bat for Ali. She had spun the story to Ellis, and had not only gotten Ali reinstated, but she had also put in a good word for her, enough of a good word to have Ellis honor her at the JOCT annual awards banquet. Ali was back to being Special Agent Ali Krieger of the Joint Organized Crime Taskforce.
The one outstanding complication on Ashlyn and Ali’s end had been Ashlyn’s involvement. When Internal Affairs had opened the investigation, they had dug into Ashlyn’s background, and then had gone ballistic once they discovered she was a former Army Special Forces operator. Fortunately, by that time, Wambach had been able to speak with Ellis, and Ellis had spoken with Internal Affairs. She had let them know that Ashlyn had saved Ali’s life, and that, despite having operated as a rogue assassin, there were ways in which she may be able to serve the government, and would therefore be more valuable out of prison than in it. Ellis and Internal Affairs had met with Captain McAllister, who had been the commanding officer of the Special Forces unit in which Ashlyn had served. Captain McAllister had spoken with General Flood, head of Army Special Forces, and all parties had come to an agreement that Ashlyn would avoid any trial or subsequent prison time, as long as she saw a mental health professional.
“Hon, please”, Ali had said, as they sat down to dinner one night.
“I don’t need to see anyone, baby.”
“But you do”, Ali implored softly. “Ashlyn – you’re facing prison time if you don’t.”
“I don’t need someone to help me figure out what’s right and wrong”, Ashlyn said, indignantly.
Ali looked at her and then got down on her knees. She took Ashlyn’s hands in hers and said, “Maybe you don’t. But whether you’re right or wrong, I don’t want to go through the rest of my life with you behind bars and not by my side.” She looked at Ashlyn with her beautiful brown eyes, and Ashlyn thought, well, it looks like I’m going to see the shrink. I mean, how can I say no to that face?
So, Ashlyn started seeing a mental health professional once a week. Her counselor was recommended by the army and specialized in working with ex-military personnel, especially those who had served in elite units. Ashlyn found that, despite her initial resistance, it actually did feel good to talk with someone. She spoke with her counselor about her parents’ mugging, their deaths, and how those had made her feel directionless and had also made her want revenge. She talked about how she had enrolled in the army looking for purpose in her life, and then how she had enrolled in the Special Forces with the idea of someday actually avenging her parents’ deaths. She talked about how she had met Ali, how she had fallen for her, and how she had killed four men right in front of her, and how she had felt when she had seen the look in Ali’s eyes after she had done that. She talked about how she had wondered what she had become, and if she was unfit for life in the civilian world, and especially unfit to have a normal romantic relationship, which is what she really wanted. The counselor helped her through her thoughts, and through that Ashlyn felt like she was actually adjusting to life as a civilian, although she secretly told herself that, if she saw someone committing a crime against an innocent person, she couldn’t promise that she wouldn’t do anything.
********
2 Years Later:
“Hi beautiful, how was your day?” Ashlyn asked Ali. Ali had just walked in the door from work. It was 9pm. Ashlyn was making dinner – homemade cheese ravioli with fennel sausage and a tomato and basil sauce.
“Ugh. Long”, Ali said. "Sorry I'm getting home so late." Home was now a 2-bedroom condo in Lakeview. Ashlyn and Ali had bought it together a year ago. Ashlyn had sold her condo in Lincoln Park and had stopped renewing the leases on the other apartments she had been renting, since she no longer felt like she needed them anymore, now that she wasn't actively engaging in war against criminals. Their new condo was right near Stefano’s, and Ashlyn and Ali would often walk there to have dinner.
"Baby - it's okay", Ashlyn said, understandingly. "Remember? I support what you do, and I understand that you work late sometimes."
Ali smiled. She remembered Ashlyn referencing something like that on their first date. She put down her bag, walked over to the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Ashlyn from behind. Ashlyn smiled, then leaned back and kissed Ali on the lips. “That smells wonderful, hon”, Ali said.
“Thank you”, Ashlyn said. “So, what’s happening at work?”
“You know - the same”, Ali said and sighed. She had been working on various cases involving new players in Chicago's criminal underworld. Since the demise of the heads of both the Marano family and the Chicago Disciples, new contenders had been vying for the spot as the top criminal enterprise, among them The Rose Syndicate, headed by a pyschotic street-kid-turned-criminal named Carli Lloyd Rose. Ali had been working with Hope’s Strike Team, as well as Megan and Megan's new partner, a wild rookie named Alex Morgan, to put the bad people behind bars, but it seemed like, as soon as they took someone down, someone new popped up.
“You need any help?” Ashlyn asked and shot Ali a sideways glance.
Ali looked at Ashlyn and smiled. She knew what Ashlyn meant. “No, hon, we don’t, but thank you.”
Ashlyn smiled. “I know, you don't want to break the law."
"Really, hon?" Ali raised her eyebrows at Ashlyn and smiled. "You know, I believe it was me who texted you to come to that Marano/Disciple meeting at the Clinton warehouse, remember? And it was me who begged you to go see a counselor so you wouldn't get prosecuted by the law for being a civilian who killed like over a dozen people."
"I'm just teasing you”, Ashlyn said, and she winked at Ali.
Ali smiled. She grabbed a beer out of the fridge and then said, “How did your seminar go the other day? Sorry I missed you there.”
Ashlyn turned off the stove and started serving dinner onto plates. “It was good”, she said. Ashlyn had given a self-defense seminar at JOCT headquarters. Ali had not been able to attend, since she was out at a crime scene when Ashlyn had been in the office. Since learning who she was and what she had done in Ali’s apartment, JOCT, the FBI and various police departments had all contracted Ashlyn to give self-defense seminars to their field personnel. “People always ask about the crushing-the-windpipe blow and the neck snap, but I don’t teach that", she said, shaking her head but smiling. "I mostly stick to joint locks and other crippling-but-non-lethal moves. Dinner’s ready, baby”, Ashlyn said. Ali came to the kitchen table, and they sat down to eat.
“Are you doing any computer or design work this week?” Ali asked as she started in.
“No one's contacted me yet”, Ashlyn said, and shrugged. Ashlyn had just finished up an assignment last week. She didn’t really need the money anyway, but she just liked to keep busy. They continued talking through dinner, with Ashlyn doing most of the talking, and then she refilled her wine glass, got Ali another beer, and they moved to the couch. Ashlyn half-laid on the couch, and Ali nestled into her.
“Are you okay, baby?” Ashlyn asked. “ You seemed like, preoccupied, or something, during dinner."
“Yeah, I’m fine”, Ali sighed. “It’s just like, it’s never-fucking-ending. Every time we put someone away, someone new pops up.”
Ashlyn was quiet for a second, and then said, “Are you sure you don’t need any help?” She smiled as she asked.
Ali smiled back. “No, I don’t need any help, but thank you again.” Her hand slid underneath Ashlyn’s shirt, and her palm ran along Ashlyn’s torso. She could feel the large old scar on Ashlyn’s left rib cage, and then the two new scars on Ashlyn’s stomach from the stab wounds that Dominik had inflicted. Her hand continued to roam around Ashlyn's torso, and she heard Ashlyn sigh. She looked up into Ashlyn’s eyes, smiled, and then scooched herself up a bit and gave Ashlyn a long kiss. “At least, I don’t need any help with work”, Ali said. She got up, put her beer on the coffee table, took Ashlyn's wine glass and put it on the coffee table, then took Ashlyn by the hand and led her into their bedroom.
THE END