Chapter 10

"What happened?" was Daryan's first question when Ema pushed past him and stormed out of the office unannounced, her ears deaf to her surroundings. It was when he finally caught up with her that he noticed that dejected look in her eyes, the slump of her shoulders and he knew the outcome of their discussion.

"I was officially dismissed from the case-"she finally forced herself to say as her eyes remained rooted to the ground. "Actually from any hands-on investigation until further notice."

"What exactly did he say?" Daryan asked again.

"He said I am reassigned to the bank robbery case. We both know what that means," she shuffled her feet uncomfortably against the marble floor, "…it's a desk job," She muttered bitterly as her eyes met his for the first time since they both left Klavier's office. "I mean, the culprit was already apprehended!"

Daryan's expression immediately softened. "Let me talk to Klav, maybe he will –"

"No, it's fine, I deserved this. I couldn't even find a reason to argue back. I…" Ema took a heavy breath and turned around, "- I am sorry, I needed some time out. Alone."

"No, let me."

So when Daryan dragged her all the way back to Klavier's office, she felt exceedingly foolish for standing by the doorway; her arms hanging limply by her sides. The only thing that kept her from turning tail and leaving was Daryan's muffled yet determined voice exploding from the other side of the door, an argument she wished not to be a part of. She knew of his temper from her colleagues but had never being the receiving end of it; hence to bear witness of it personally, even through a wooden barrier, was daunting enough to make her heart thumped in terror. She waited silently by the door until the argument died down and stared apologetically at the black-head emerging from the opposite side of it.

"How… how did it go?" She asked uncertainly.

His expression was conflicted, and although she could not quite shake off the dread in her stomach, her eyes continued to roam about his face for an answer. Before she could open her mouth again, strong grip on her wrist confirmed her doubt as Daryan took the opportunity to lead her away from the prosecutor's office, sparing no glances at the ensuing chaos.

"Let's go."

"Wait – What?" Ema looked hugely startled by her friend's bold action as she trudged along helplessly down the hallway, not entirely sure what relevance lied within his words, or why Klavier was shouting angrily at the opposite end of the corridor seconds after they left.

"Crescend!" Klavier's voice continued to thunder down the corridor, causing heads to turn as the source of his aggravation marched past many curious eyes.

"The fop…!" Ema cried frantically as her superior's voice began to thin out by the distance.

"Ignore him, he's sometimes too stubborn for his own good." Daryan replied sullenly; his voice completely devoid of his usual humour.

"What did you say to him?" Ema tried again. The anger and venom spilled from the usually happy-go-lucky man was certainly disturbing and she was forcibly reminded once more that this man before her was also known as the "Shark" in the force for his explosive temper. There was no reply to her question this time. He had proven to be a man of steel conviction when caught in a state of fury, thus Ema could only allow herself be escorted down the hallway in a subdued manner. It was when Daryan's phone rang for the fifth time that she finally found the courage to speak up to the towering detective.

"Wait, Daryan, your phone - !"

"What the hell," Abruptly, Daryan halted in his track and answered his mobile with a sneer. "What do you want?"

Ema quickly unfastened her hand from his and drew a few steps back warily. Her gaze involuntarily fell upon that fuming face of his and she felt an aching realization of the crime she had just unwillingly committed – she had just turned two best mates against each other! She turned away in horror, feeling foolish from the unnecessary outburst she had earlier with Klavier which had led to this unfaithful turn of events. Unbeknownst to her, his hand reached out at that very moment and caught her left wrist, as if he had just read her mind; subjugating her to the spot and declining her the only possible option she was left with which was to run away.

"Ema...," His voice still retained some hint of temper and she turned on her heel to regard him timidly. "I have to get back to the Shangri-La case right now. The boys have managed to dig up more evidence that may possibly prove my theory was right all along. I'm sorry I couldn't convince Klavier either…" he mouthed apologetically as his expression began to clear up. "I'll drop you back first before I head down to the scene of crime."

Somehow she found herself jerking away from his grip out of fear which he responded with a lazy shrug and subsequently released her. "No, it's fine," she replied earnestly and dropped her gaze onto the floor. "I don't want to go back to the empty apartment right now. I… I think I'll stay and catch up with some work."

"Are you sure? It's not that far away, I can –"

"No, no. You've done enough and I insist." Ema forced a smile. "Just promise me one thing; you will fill me in with the details later. Even if I am banished from the case, I still want to see it through till the end." She shuffled her feet bashfully before continuing. "I feel like it's my responsibility, you know?"

Daryan smiled at her last sentence. "You have my word."

Ema lifted her gaze from the ground and nodded graciously. "Thank you."

The rest of the afternoon went passed in mind-numbing slowness. Ema had taken the liberty to construct her new working area in an empty room on the seventh floor, away from all the hustle and bustle of the always hectic Criminal Affairs Department. She had all her favorite things spread out in a mess before her as she reluctantly began her new assignment by sorting the documents and information thrown to her in an organized order but as soon as she was done with section W, her mind had wondered back to the little leathery book she found lying next to Daryan's unconscious body a week ago. It wasn't an intentional move when she had forgotten to return the said piece of evidence to her friend. On her defense, Daryan did not ask for it. Nevertheless, Ema knew it would be foolish to let this opportunity slip past her and decided it would be best to investigate it secretly before him or Klavier get a hold on it.

Rising to her feet, Ema abandoned her previous work and reached out for the little booklet in her bag. She felt the rubbery surface and flipped the book cover open, only to baffle at the alien texts. Everything in the book was written in a chicken scratch, something she clearly frowned at. She had spent many nights in the hospital ward trying to decipher the gibberish writings but without her handy tools, she could only manage to make out the letter 'f' and 'r'. At this point of time, she wasn't even sure if it was English anymore.

Perhaps this is the key to unlocking the secret behind the message?

She decided to scan the journal into digital texts and looked for identical keywords via the search engines accessible only by the detectives. A blue screen pop itself up before her and her gaze immediately fell onto the first matching keyword – Shambala. Maybe she is closer to the truth now…

"Detective Skye?"

Ema's head shot up from the computer screen and she slammed as the laptop shut as a habit of reflex.

"De-Detective Gumshoe. What a pleasant surprise." She lied through her teeth.

The older man scratched his head and gave her a beefy smile.

"Welcome back," He replied sincerely, his tone of voice reflected the smile from his face. Ema felt a little affectionate at his gesture. She was mortified when Daryan had stormed out of her boss's office this morning with her hot on his heels, almost believing that no one in the whole precinct would ever talk to her ever again.

"Thank you," Ema answered earnestly and stepped away from her work desk. "How are things with you?"

Gumshoe sighed dejectedly before settling down on a comfy looking armchair in the corner of the room.

"Not good, not good at all pal." Ema could see the stress lining the edges of his brows. "Things are very hectic and we are short on staffs, I wish I can somehow split myself into three parts and that would certainly smoothen the operation," Gumshoe continued whilst massaging his temples. Ema's eyes instantly twinkled at his words and a smile slowly crept to the edge of her lips.

"What if – and this is just a suggestion, you let me help you out with whatever that you are working on right now?"

Her senior's head shot up at her offer.

"I mean, I just got discharged and if the words have already spread, I was just dismissed from the previous case by the fo – Prosecutor Gavin. I was reassigned to the S021 case but there's nothing much to follow up with. So if you would just let me –" Ema paused to allow Gumshoe ample time to decide if he would take up her suggestion before sealing up the deal intelligently with the same tone of voice she used on Lana whenever she wanted something, "- You don't even have to let me handle the investigations, I would be grateful if you would just let me follow you around and learn a little thing or two from you. After all, I have heard so much about you!"

She could not miss the appreciative twinkle in his eyes.

And the next thing she knows, she was standing, for the second time, in front of Klavier who was eyeing her with an unfathomable expression, as she half-listened to Detective Gumshoe's proposal of having her as his personal assistant and half thinking perhaps this wasn't such a brilliant idea after all. She could feel his gaze burning on the right side of her cheek as she shifted uncomfortably on her spot and shot occasional look at Detective Gumshoe.

"I believe Detective Skye would be the best person to help me out for the time being," Gumshoe finished up his explanation admirably, nodding approvingly at Ema's direction in which she returned with a polite nod. Her heart swelled up at his supportive comments and braved herself to look at her supervisor squarely in his face. If anything, Klavier's glare only intensified.

Ema tried her very best to remain indifferent.

"If you could please consider this," she said.

Klavier seemed to contemplate on their proposal for a long moment. He leaned back against his black leather chair and started shuffling a pen with his right fingers, but his eyes never once left hers. Ema waited with counted breaths, not breaking their eye contacts as if daring him to do his worse.

And worse he did.

"No."

She slammed both her hands on the table. "Why?" How dare he!

"Detektiv if you may give us a moment?"

"Er, certainly." Gumshoe shot the brunette an almost perplexed look but eventually retreated out of the room to grant them both the privacy they needed.

"So why?" Ema tried again, this time her words were brimming with disdain and wrath.

Klavier merely heaved a sigh. "Mein libeling, why are you so keen on piling this much work on yourself when you have yet to even start on the task your kind superior has just gave you?"

"I've finished them." She literally chucked the documents she had organized before onto his desk.

He cocked his head as he reached out for the papers, a smile quirked his lips. "I don't believe this was all there was there to it?"

Ema's eyes narrowed grudgingly at her superior. "No but I don't think I am hired to do this sort of task. I believe there is a position known as clerk who sorts out this nonsense for you."

"I have never seen a more outspoken lady such as yourself fräulein." Klavier gave a sharp back of laughter before the warmth disappeared from his blue eyes and his gaze hardened. "Since you obviously like to work yourself to the point of exertion, I'll reassign you to be my personal assistant. Your job scope includes providing support in crime scenes or legal proceedings and managing my work schedules. This obviously does sometimes extend beyond work hours. I expect to see you here on Monday, eight o'clock sharp."

Klavier did not wait for Ema's reply. Instead he sauntered out of the room swiftly before the female detective could rebut any of his propositions.

A/N: I am so sorry to have completely abandoned this story. Now that I am back, I have totally forgotten the plot I had for it. Now I am attempting to start from where I left behind and work my way from there. I have the ending in my head; I just need to string everything together. Thank you for all your support! If it wasn't for all the reviews and favourites that kept popping up in my mail, I wouldn't have gotten back at all!