October 14th, Tuesday. 9:23 PM

The lights flickered in the worn out bar as people moved in and out of the booths and to and from the bar. They always seemed to do that, flicker that's is, when the bar was filled over it's capacity with people. Or maybe it was the fact that the bar was old and hadn't been renovated since the 70s.

The floor was sticky and it may be because just this night every person in this place were holding onto a filled glass of any alcoholic beverage they could get their hands on, or that the excited and rowdy crowd had a hard time keeping their drinks in their glasses. It didn't matter though, the floor had probably not been mopped for a few days anyway.

"Alright, listed up!" A voice called over the loud crowd, and people slowly but surely quieted down. People started to turn towards the booth in the middle as the man who had spoken stood up on the couch he was previously seated on so everyone could see as he spoke. He cleared his throat and smiled big as he held onto his almost empty glass of beer.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate something extraordinary. Something we have worked on for years and years." He started and was interrupted by a few cheers and whistles. "Victory comes to those who work hard and never give up, and that my friends, are you. It is with pure joy and satisfaction I say these words to you guys; my family who fucking showed everyone that justice always wins. I want to raise a glass to that."

He raised his glass over his head to make it even more visible to the crowd around him. Everyone did the same before a loud "cheers!" was exclaimed by each and every single one. The bartender might even have shouted along.

As everyone had taken a gulp of their drinks and their cheers had been silenced, the man
who once spoke did so again. "And I want to give a special cheer to a special someone. Someone who made this possible and finally ended this shit all together."

He glanced down as he said so, looking directly at me with an intoxicated, yet extremely satisfied face, and smiled big. I was seated in the same booth as him, looking up at my colleague across from me and gave him a smile back. I wanted to be smug, I wanted to take the honor and the compliments, but I had a hard time doing so. This was as much of a team effort as it was me alone. They all knew that but I still couldn't bring myself to cheer with the
others as they clapped their hands and incited me to stand up as well. I laughed and shook my head, so he continued to speak.

"Ashton Irwin, you are one hell of a cop, but you are now also one hell of a fucking Narc!
LAPD could not have done this without you, and you know it." He said and this time gave me a more genuine smile. He knew I didn't like all this attention on me. "A drug trafficking case we have been working on for over a year is finally put to an end. A two fucking ton cocaine bust. Seven people in custody about to be sent to jail for a real fucking time. It's alright to gloat now Irwin, if you don't I'll do it for you."

It was a big deal. Actually it was a huge deal. The biggest thing to happen in my career and maybe the biggest thing that will ever happen. I had seen more about this bust in

newspapers and on TV than the reports on the president's resignation. And I was happy. Fuck it; I was over the moon about this! We did this. I did this, and it was okay to gloat. Just for one night.

"So let's raise our glasses once more tonight for Ashton fucking Irwin. May his name be
remembered in the history books and may he also forget about work for one night to get fucking senselessly wasted tonight. Cheers!" He spoke one last time and raised his glass with such force that some of the liquid spilled on the people next to him. They didn't seem to mind though.

I did the same, raising my beer towards him and then the crowd before taking a big gulp.
Yeah he's probably right, I deserve this right now.

"It's so funny to me that you can do about anything in this world without flinching or
questioning it, but the only time you falter is when someone gives you a compliment." Calum spoke as he had sat down on the couch again. He finished off the last of his beer before looking straight into my eyes. I smiled and shrugged.

"Not used to it I guess." I answered and finished my beer as well. Calum nodded in
satisfaction over me obeying his request. I probably would get wasted tonight. And by the looks of it, every other of my colleagues would so as well.

We did deserve this though, a night out to just let work go and celebrate our victories. I'm not sure how many hours I've spent on this case but my percentage at work is well over one hundred.

It's just what I do best. My work is my life and I love what I do. Ever since I was six years old and found an old LAPD badge in the back of one of my violent foster father's closet, I knew that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a cop, especially in LAPD. Long way to go for a poor and orphaned kid from Detroit but I guess that's why the dream became such a mission. Even though life was hell and unworthy of a young child I always knew I wanted and had to do something myself for it to change. And I wanted out, so I pursued my dream. And now I'm here.

"Don't hit me with that sad past-life answer. Even though people were shit to you when you were young doesn't mean you didn't do good then. And it definitely doesn't mean you didn't do good now." Calum said and gave me a pointed look before waving to the bartender and held up four fingers and nodded his head when silently telling the guy behind the bar what he wanted. "Take the fucking compliment. Get used to it."

His words weren't harsh, they were honest and caring. I had gotten to know Calum to be just that; brutally honest but extremely caring. He said what he wanted to say and I admired that about him. But while some people could say what they thought without thinking about how other people could perceive it, Calum was already one step ahead and had already reflected on that. It was like he could read the person he was talking to without even knowing them beforehand. It was one of the things that made him such a great cop. That was also one of the many things that made him a great friend. 

"Alright, I hear you." I said and held my hands up in defense and earned a smile from my friend. He smiled even wider when two full glasses of beer were placed in front of us once again.

We didn't go way back, Calum and I, but it felt like it. We met briefly in school when we were both 20 years old aspiring policemen. We never really talked or hung out, I just knew he was there and I remembered his name later on when we were both hired at LAPD. We were then branded the rookies that year at the department and we went through the first couple of weeks together as the rest of our colleagues hazed us like the tradition says.

But we didn't become friends until Calum forced me away from work, when I was well past 3 hours overtime just that day, and invited me to the Lakers game. I wasn't into basketball so I declined and his response was; "Do you wanna be friends or not? You're not very social, Ash, I'm doing you a favor. Me on the other hand can make friends within seconds."

At first I had frowned, but before I had time to respond to his insult I stopped and thought about it and realized that, ouch, he's actually right. I didn't have any friends. I went through life and school and work minding my own business and that was just because I was used to it. Not because I wanted to. So yes, I did want to be friends with him. So he smiled at me, knowing what my thoughts and reaction would be even before I did, and then we were friends.

My first real friend at age 21. Someone I could trust and depend on, and in a life like mine that was more than I ever thought I deserved.

It took me a while to open up though, but when I finally did I shared everything about me and my life in the past. Calum didn't think of me any less, which I stupidly took for granted that he would. According to him that was the moment that made me his best friend. The moment he became my best friend was the moment he asked me to watch the Lakers. Six years have passed, we went from rookie cops patrolling on the streets, to scouts, to now being narcotics agents. Six years and he's the only person who has ever stayed in my life that long.

"So, you have any plans for your days off?" Calum asked me as he tapped his fingers against his glass. He always did that. Didn't matter if it was a cup of coffee or a fine glass of wine, he always did it.

As the case we had been working on for 3 years was officially closed and done with, a few of the people who had the most responsibility and had worked with the case a hundred percent were handed a few days off from work. Me mostly because my hours overtime could probably give me two weeks off anyway. Calum had been workin on and off this case but was given the rest of the week off as well due to his girlfriend getting closer and closer to her due date. Three and a half weeks left until childbirth today, I knew that fully well because Calum would tick off day after day in his calendar by his desk until he reached the day that was circled in red.

I did the same, though I had the date set in my phone in big bold capital letters.

I had known Annie almost as long as I had known Calum. When Calum and I had been friends for a few months we decided to share an apartment together. We became roommates in a small and shabby apartment where he got the bed in the miniature bedroom and I got the couch in the living room. He had insisted that we should alternate and have a week each to sleep in a real bed but I assured him that the couch was more than fine for me. I had gone through a childhood of sleeping on a mattress on the floor, if I was lucky that was, so a couch in our own apartment was quite the luxury.

And it turned out it was a good thing Calum got the bedroom, because the more we lived together I found out he was quite the ladies man. I always had a pair of headphones under my pillow for the nights where the noise from the room next to me was disrupting my sleep. It used to be a different girl each weekend but then he met Annie and suddenly she had been in our apartment for the 4th weekend in a row. She even came over when Calum wasn't home and hung out with me while waiting for him. When he finally came home, instead of running away into the bedroom, she just wanted to hang out with the both of us.

So we became friends and they became a couple, and it's been us ever since. Of course they moved out and got themselves their own apartment after a while, but we still hang out just as much. Now they were about to become parents to a little girl, and I had already been branded as uncle and godfather. I had gone from no family at all to a small, warm and caring one in just a couple of years, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

"I'm not sure," I answered Calum and sighed as I leaned back in my seat. "I've worked so much over the years, I don't even think I know how to have a day off anymore."

Calum breathed out a chuckle. "That, my friend, is not a good sign. I told you years ago and I tell you now; get some fucking rest."

"I like work."

"I do too, but you don't see me hanging around the office at 2 AM to then get back again at 6 AM." he said and gave me a pointed look. "I just think you should take this time off and just breathe. Do something else that you like besides work."

I frowned and he knew what I had to say before I even had the chance to, so he spoke up again. "Dude, get yourself a hobby, and something that does not involve any police activity. Or the gym."

"It's not like I just suddenly tomorrow will join a chess club or anything." I mumbled and took a sip of my beer.

"I don't know," Calum said and shrugged. "That might actually be good for you. Just you and a bunch of old men in the park moving figures around a board for hours. Sounds soothing."

I gave him a look and he laughed. He knew fully well I couldn't sit still for that long. I continuously needed something that both my mind and body could keep busy. Chess was not it.

"I'm just playing with you." he said and moved closer to reach my head and tousled my curls jokingly. I let him. "You can join me and Annie. We're going to the hospital for a check-up and then we thought we would have lunch at the pier after buying the last stuff for baby girl."

"As fun as that sounds, I might leave you two alone for that. Annie must be tired of answering the question of 'who's the father?'." I said and chuckled.

"Yeah, you know what? I'm starting to worry about the fact that everyone automatically thinks it's you who's the father." he said and squinted his eyes at me. I laughed.

"No, I don't know what I'll do tomorrow. I'll probably be hungover if this night goes according to your plans." I held up my beer and showed him what I meant. He grinned.

"That's what I'm talking about! Let's pretend we're 21 again and get fucking wasted." he said before chucking down his beer lika a wild teenager.

"You're about to be a father." I reminded him and looked on as he wiped the alcoholic liquid off his face with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Yeah, don't tell Annie I just did that please."

—

October 15th, Wednesday. 9:02 AM

When I woke up the next day I remembered just why I never went out partying. At 27 years old you're just not built for that life anymore. 

I groaned and threw my arm over my face, cursing myself for not closing the curtains when I got home late at night. I couldn't be bothered at that time though, I only had the strength to climb the stairs up to my apartment and throw myself on the bed before I passed out. Who knew being drunk finally revealed just how tired my body was from all the hard work I had put it through. Sill wasn't worth the hangover though.

Even though I was home at 4 AM last night and was exhausted to the point where it was almost inhuman, it seemed like my body was perfectly happy with only 5 hours of sleep. And that was me sleeping in. I sighed and rolled over to avoid the sun shining through my window and looked at the wall in front of me. I still lived in the small and shabby apartment, but now I had it all to myself. To everyone else it was probably the last apartment you'd choose in LA but for me it worked. It was lonely without Cal and Annie, but it worked.

My walls were empty though and with Cal moving out most of the 'decoration', quotation marks on decoration as we were guys in our twenties and one plastic plant and a few impersonal pictures on the walls didn't really reach the definition, my apartment was now more or less an empty shell.

I had yet not grown into the thought of owning too many things in my life. I had always lived with the knowing fact that everything you own can also be lost. By owning as few things as possible you therefore couldn't lose that much if it ever were to happen. So my apartment, and life for that matter, was carefully decorated with the bare minimum. And that's why my worn out apartment suited me. It wasn't much but it was enough, and I wouldn't feel too broken about it if I were to lose it some day.

It was the same in life, that's why I had a hard time making friends or to believe they wanted to stay in my life. Most days it was me who didn't want them in my life because, as prior with the materialistic things, you couldn't lose them. But Calum stuck, and so did Annie, but that was enough for me at the moment. I depended on them too much for my own liking but I loved them too much to care. But the thought of starting my own relationship and having a kid was too much for me at this stage. I had to take life one day at a time and falling in love to then have my heart broken was a fear too great at the moment. As said; it was lonely sometimes, but nothing I hadn't already been through.

I sighed and slowly sat up in bed to stretch my arms over my head. At least I had managed to take off my shirt and jeans before crawling into bed last night, and I saw them messily thrown onto the floor beside the bed. I got out of bed and only reached for my t-shirt and put it on as I slowly got out of bed. I found a pair of sport shorts with 'LAPD' printed on the side of them and put them on as well before walking the few steps needed out from my bedroom, through the living room, and into the kitchen.

"Jesus christ." I mumbled and squinted my eyes as the sun that was shining directly into my kitchen making the white cabinets nearly blind me with their reflection of the light. I was never that great at being hungover, but turns out I was even worse at being hungover the older I got.

I put on the coffee maker as I heard my phone notification ring from the bedroom, making me know I had gotten a text. Good to know my phone had found its way back home after yesterday. I collected it and slowly went back to the kitchen as I read the text I had gotten from Calum.

U feeling on top of the clouds
this morning or what?

I'm feeling the way I deserve
to feel after a night like that

I feel like shit

So you're also feeling the
way you deserve then

Haha. An was not happy
with me when I came
home last night, that's
for sure.

I laughed at that, remembering Calum saying it multiple times in the Uber back home yesterday. Annie knew we were out celebrating and she knew Calum most likely would come home drunk, but I don't think she expected him to come home that drunk. Being eight months pregnant and having to herd your boyfriend like a dog into the bedroom was probably not very appreciated.

Can't believe she'll have
2 children to take care
off at the end of this
month

I made myself a cup of coffee as I watched the three dots appear in the chat, letting me know Calum was replying to me. I was expecting something ironic back but before Calum had time to send anything my screen showed that someone was calling me. My boss, more specifically. He knew I had a few days off now. He was the one ordering me to take them so why was he calling me at 9:15? I knew for a fact that neither me nor Calum did anything that crazy yesterday to earn a call from the head of the department. 

I frowned before answering. "Hello?"

"Irwin." my boss answered back, sounding serious as always, making it hard for me to know if this was actually a serious matter or not. "I'm sorry to disturb your day off but I was hoping that you could come into the office today?"

"Is there anything wrong?" I asked and suddenly my days off were all forgotten and I was quickly thrown into work mode once again. At least the vacation mode lasted about 12 hours.

"No everything is fine, I would just like to have a chat with you. I have a few colleagues from out of state who are interested in talking to you about your previous case before they travel back home, that's why the urgency." he answered and I once again frowned.

"Um, yeah." I said and looked around in my apartment for nothing particular and yet everything at once. "I can be there in 30 minutes?"

"Sounds great." he said before I closed my eyes and remembered that me driving into work as a police officer might not be the best thing knowing i'm probably still a bit drunk from yesterday.

"Ah, could we make that 40 minutes?" I asked and hurriedly tried to book myself an Uber.

"That's fine as well, Irwin. I'll see you soon." he said and hung up before I had the time to respond. As the call ended Calum and I's chat came into sight once again and showed his response. I barely read it before typing a text myself.

Flores just ordered me into the station. You heard anything
from him?

His response came within seconds.

No? What did he want?

To talk. Had some people
there who wanted
to speak to me as well.

Some people? Sounds sketchy.
I don't remember you
committing any crime
last night. At least not
any too bad.

But then again I was very
very drunk.

I rolled my eyes and went to get dressed. Whatever they wanted, might as well get it over with.

—

It took me well over 40 minutes to get there due to traffic and my Uber driver not knowing left from right. After guiding him like a living and breathing GPS we finally arrived at the destination.

"You in some kind of trouble, homie?" the driver joked as he studied the police station in front of us.

"I sure hope not, I am the police." I answered and gave him five stars even though the ride had been absolutely awful. I couldn't bother with the small things. I saw his eyes widening slightly at the new discovery. As he should by the way he drove me here.

"Oh." was the only thing he said before I mumbled a 'thanks' and shut the door. I hurried into the building and greeted the people I had time to greet before reaching my floor and went straight to Police Chief Flores' office. I took a deep breath before knocking.

"Come in." was heard from the other side and I did as told. I was met with three pairs of eyes instead of the one pair I expected. I looked at the three men all seated around Flores' desk before locking eyes with my boss.

"I'm sorry I'm late. Turns out Uber isn't as effective as it's branded to be." I said and stood still by the door. I didn't know what else to do.

"No worries, Irwin." Flores said and waved a hand in dismissal. He stood up from his seat and the others did so as well. "Gentlemen, this is Ashton Irwin. The one in charge of The Cano Operation."

I took a few steps into the room and shook hands with everyone. As soon as I shook the first hand of the man closest to me I noticed the three white letters printed on his chest at the upper left corner. FBI.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Irwin." the last one said, Agent Wilhelm Kay I believe he introduced himself as, before he sat down once again. I stood still, not knowing where to sit. "It was quite the operation you pulled off."

"It's Ashton," I said and smiled hastily before speaking again, "And I couldn't have done it without all of my colleagues."

If Calum was here he would have rolled his eyes at that.

"Of course not," another one of them said, "but it's a difference between a leader and a follower. Also, your brainpower makes you stick out. You have the right mind for this job."

"Thank you, sir" I answered, feeling that uneasy feeling I always got when someone gave me compliments. 

"Sit." Flores said and stood up from his seat and showed that he wanted me to take his place.

What the hell is going on? The FBI complimenting me and the police chief giving me his seat is more than suspicious even on a normal day. It's even more suspicious on a day when I'm hungover as hell.

I did as told though and sat down. I had all three FBI agents in front of me and they looked at me without once letting their eyes leave my face. I felt small and almost frightened. I can't believe anyone could keep the truth away from the FBI, I would tell them my whole life story if they kept looking at me like that. I cleared my throat uncomfortably to tell them to go on.

"I know you are wondering what this is about and to calm your nerves; you have done nothing wrong." Agent Kay spoke and I think I visibly relaxed because he chuckled slightly before speaking again. "We are here though because we wanted to talk to you about something."

"Talk to me about what?"

"Well," he started and leaned forward in his seat to look me intensely in the eye, "Let's call it a job proposition."

My eyebrows rose in surprise as I analyzed his words. Me, working for the FBI? Six year old me would jump up and down in joy right at this moment. The 27 year old me was glued to the chair and kept completely quiet.

"Irwin," Flores started and made me turn to look at him. "Agent Key called me yesterday after we closed the case. He asked me a few questions about the operation but also about you. I answered some of the questions but I knew it was better for you to meet in person."

"We are working on a classified case that is similar to the one you just closed, only this one is massively bigger and more complicated." Agent Kay said and looked at his fellow agents beside him. "We took over it from Miami PD two years ago and the more we work on it and the more we find out, the more we realize that we are way behind. We need to change our strategies to solve this case."

"So, you want me to help with the investigation?" I asked and felt some kind of pride within me, knowing the actual FBI needed me to help them on a case.

"Not really," he answered. Oh, I thought and my pride was suddenly long gone. "But we do need your help, just maybe not in the way you think.Though it's all in the end up to you if you want to do it or not."

I looked at him and then at Flores. My boss looked at me intensely and I knew he knew something I didn't. I turned back at Agent Kay again.

"What is this about?"

"We saw how you handled the Cano case, we saw your potential and we saw how keen you were with your work and your ambitions. You are a great investigator and an even greater cop, which is even more impressive knowing just how young you are." he started and instead of focusing on the compliments he was giving me, I just nodded my head for him to continue.

"From what I have heard from Chief Flores you are extremely dedicated to your job, which is such a person we need in the position we have to offer you." he once again leaned forward to make me know what he was about to say was serious. "We also need someone who is unknown."

"Excuse me?" I asked, having no idea where this was going.

"There is not much on you, Irwin. Your history and your track records are nearly nonexistent. It's like you started living when you started school. Your family tree is as incognito as if they more or less does not exist and your first ever health check-up was when you studied to become a cop. Your one and only address is the one you're living in today, and LAPD is your first and only employer."

"I was an orphan, sir. I had no legal guardian and the violent foster parents I briefly lived with took care of twelve other children at the same time. They didn't even notice when I ran away. I don't think they had papers for me. I mostly went through life sleeping in the homeless shelters that had a place for me that night. I never had an address. I never knew my family. My mother was an addict without any papers and I have no idea who my father is. My life started when I got to Los Angeles." I said, feeling like I had to defend myself even though my life was not a glorious story to tell. "What is this about, sir?"

"We need an infiltrator." Agent Kay said finally, understanding that I wanted just simple answers.

"Infiltrator?"

"We need someone who can play the part. Someone who can get us into a closed circle. At the moment we are too far off and we can't do much more without them knowing we are following their tracks. They already know they have the police following their drug traffic, but we believe there is something much bigger than that. We need eyes and ears that can find out what that is."

"So," I started and looked between all of them. Their eyes were boring into mine like they tried to persuade me into doing it without saying it. "You want me to join a drug cartel?"

"More so that we want you to invest in a drug cartel." another one of them spoke and agent Kay nodded his head. I raised an eyebrow at that.

"We want you to do business with one of the most powerful criminal minds in Cuba. Emiliano Ayala is the biggest drug lord in the southeastern region of America, located in Miami at the time but is originally from Cuba. Meaning his connections reach far further than just Florida as a state. He's one of the richest men in the southeastern region today, and even though cocaine has a turnover of millions of dollars, we believe that's not his only running business."

Agent Kay stood up from his seat and walked over to the desk I was seated by. He looked down at me, his eyes stern yet understanding of the fact that this was a whole lot of information thrown at me all at once. "What we want, Ashton, is for you to work your way up to be his companion. His right hand. To earn his respect and his trust."

"So..?" I asked, feeling like there was something more he wanted to tell me.

"So, we don't want you to join a drug cartel, Ashton. We want you to run it."

______________

a n:
welcome back to me hi how are ya a new lashton fic is in making and this is just a prequel to you all in the feels of what this is about. it's boring and a slow start but you know we gotta start somewhere

so this involves cop ashton and bad boy luke how about that hm? a change of scenery from EGL but still keeping the criminal romance novel feel to it which excites me quite a lot

i hope to see you here in the future to follow along on this journey, please don't be shy to comment any feedback or thought right now and along the way.

bye, ily see you soon hopefully