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Phoenix every movement suddenly came to a stop as the last words left the witness lips and Miles tensed.
“Hold it! You saw the defendant stab the victim through the front window, you say?”
Oh no.
“Uh- yes.”
Oh god. Miles slumped forward as he realized the same thing that gave Phoenix that smug expression.
“How interesting, Mrs. Unifa.”
Mrs. Unifa eyes widened as she realized her mistake, but Phoenix was already stating her error to the court.
“The victim was stabbed in the supply closet and then moved to the front desk. I didn’t know you had X rays vision, Mrs. Unifa--”
“Objection! The witness could have seen the moment the body was moved and mistook it for the moment of the stabbing!”
“Objection! The witness clearly stated she saw the moment the stabbing happened in detail in her testimony.”
“Objection-!”
Silence.
“I object!” Phoenix smiled at him. He was about to protest when the witness spoke again.
“But I saw it, I really did- there is a small window in the supply closet door-” Phoenix looked at her, it’s true there was one, a small one, but there was. Miles frowned at his witness as he saw her trembling, eyes wide. “I saw Britney Cicada stab her with those scissors!”
Oh not again .
“Hold it!” Even Athena, right next to Phoenix as always, was smiling. “Funny you mention scissors… when the murder weapon was a letter opener.”
Mrs. Unifa gasped, her hand flew to her mouth. Miles- before the weight of defeat settled, quickly casted a suspicious glance towards his witness. Phoenix stern glare towards her showed him Phoenix was thinking the same as he was.
This witness was way more than a testimony.
“Mrs. Unifa, why would you mention the scissors?”
“I- I thought they were scissors, I really did! I couldn’t see it well through the small window.”
Miles saw Athena reach Phoenix and tell him something. Phoenix frown deepened as he looked at the papers on his table. He swore he could see the second things clicked in his mind.
“Mrs. Unifa, I don’t believe you said scissors just because you weren’t seeing clearly, actually, it’s because you saw things way too clearly.”
“What-!”
“It wasn’t through the window you saw the murder, it was right inside the supply room that you saw, because you are the murderer!”
A loud chorus of gasps reckoned around the courtroom at the same time Miles' eyes widened. He heard the judge pounding his gavel as he asked for order.
“Order! I will have Order!” he exclaimed, his shout was muffled by the gossiping in the crowd. “Mr. Wright! Do you have any evidence to support your grave accusation?”
“Yes I do, your honor-” Miles frowned at him, not sure if he was bluffing or not. No wonder he was good at poker. “Back in the scene of the crime everything was perfectly ordered, no wonder with the compulsive order disorder Mrs. Unifa has, yet two things seemed to be missing from their usual spot in the wall hangers. The supposed murder weapon, the letter opener, which was at the time in the body of the victim, and a pair of scissors, which were at the bathroom sink. At the time we didn’t think much of it, yet we found it odd.”
“Objection! Scissors not being in their spot does not make the witness a murderer.” Miles knew his objection was useless, Phoenix wasn’t done.
“Maybe not just like that, but if we take in account the facts; the defendant was arrested because the murder weapon was their personal letter opener.”
“And her prints were on the weapon”
“Yes- But, why would a letter opener be in the supply room?” Phoenix questioned. “The murder weapon conveniently had an owner and because of that, her prints. It’s a possibility Mrs. Unifa moved the body in order to frame the defendant!”
“Objection!” Miles slammed his hands against the bench. “Wright, we’ve talked about this- Speculation is never ending, back up your claim!”
“That I will, Edgeworth- Right here!” Phoenix raised a piece of paper. An empty envelope. Miles frowned trying to make out what it said. “It’s the mail from the morning of the murder!”
“What?” Miles knew Phoenix had a brain- He wondered sometimes if he used it. “That makes the use of the murder weapon way more obvious-”
“But this letter is addressed to the witness, meaning, she used it!”
“Her prints weren’t there!”
“Yes!” the courtroom stayed in silence. “...oh shit.”
“Mr. Wright, Language!” Exclaimed the judge.
“Come back to your point, Wright. You already lost me.” Sighed Miles as he shook his head.
“Um, yes. My point… I did have one-” Bluffing it was. Miles wondered sometimes how Phoenix reasoning worked.
“Mr. Wright, remember what you said to me before? About the victim?” Athena chipped in, as Phoenix clearly forgot what his previous point was, or mixed the right answer with the wrong one, Miles wasn’t sure.
“Go back to the beginning, you were going somewhere,” Miles added.
“Stop babysitting me, you two!” Miles would have laughed if he weren’t madly curious about Phoenix’s trail of thought. “The victim was stabbed with a letter opener in the supply room, then moved to the front desk-- If the defendant stabbed him with his own card opener, why would the victim's prints be there too...?” He murmured before jumping. “Because the victim opened the witness’ letter!”
Phoenix raised an accusatory finger towards the witness stand.
“Whatever was inside made him go confront you. You were in the office that morning, weren’t you?” Mrs. Unifa gasped. “Mr. Merian wouldn’t have opened this letter without your permission. The witness was there inside the supply room, once the victim went to confront you, you used the scissors to stab him!”
The crowd went wild once again, Miles was pretty sure some people only came to see Phoenix Wright trials to see which of his crazy theories came true.
“She then stabbed him again with the letter opener found on the scene so that she could frame Mrs. Cicada, probably holding it with something so as to not leave prints. Went to wash the scissors and dispose of the letter to erase the evidence of her presence that morning and escaped, leaving the defendant to find the body, making her the only possible culprit!”
Mrs. Unifa's gaze was low. Miles wanted to object but Phoenix wasn’t done.
“Had the defendant killed Mr. Merian, she would have no reason to dispose of the letter, nor would the scissor be gone from its place before she even got there given you tidy the office every night, this theory also explains why the autopsy report mentions two stab wounds.”
The witness's shoulders began to tremble.
“You knew Mrs. Cicada and your boss didn’t get along well, and how he had a tendency to compare her abilities to yours which angered her. People have been killed for less. You didn’t hesitate to frame her, but in your frenzy you missed this, found under Mr. Merian's desk.” Phoenix lifted the empty envelope. “Had you not been in the office that morning this letter would never have been opened in the first place because it's illegal to open someone else's mail,”
Miles couldn’t make out the expression on Mrs. Unifa face, but she wasn’t happy.
“Your honor! The defense requests a search for the missing letter and an analysis of the scissors for traces of blood and fingerprints!”
“What is the prosecution opinion on the matter, Mr. Edgeworth?”
“The prosecution agrees with the defense. May there be fingerprints or blood found on the weapon, would prove the defense’s theory, and the letter is needed to establish motive, your honor.”
“Very well, Bailiff! Send a party to the crime scene and look for these two things!” He exclaimed to the guard in the entrance, who quickly left the room. “Until then, the court will adjourn for thirty minutes in order for the analysis of the weapon to be made, I’ll leave it to you, Mr. Edgeworth.”
“Yes, your honor.” responded Miles with a small bow. Years ago Miles would be fuming, even consider some not so respectable things in order to make sure the defendant got charged as guilty. Miles looked at the man on the defense bench, who was laughing at something the other defense attorney was excitedly saying before wincing and rubbing his stomach.
What a stupid, stupid man could do when he had the heart in the right place.
Everyone stood to leave as the recess was stated.
The witness, who was about to be taken away, slammed her hand on the witness stand once claiming everyone’s attention.
“I’m tired of men getting between my dreams, Mr. Wright."
Wright looked at her seriously.
“Your own actions stood between your dreams, Mrs. Unifa.” he answered calmly, which made the witness frown.
“If i’m going to jail…”
Everything happened in what felt like a second.
The witness raised her hand from were it was in her purse.
Miles heard the elevator doors shut, oxygen running thin.
“Let it be for a good reason, then.”
She pulled the trigger.
BANG!
Screams.
“Phoenix!”
Chaos.
Miles didn’t want to say he didn’t like hospitals.
It was cliché and overused.
He wasn’t fond of the reason one went to the hospital. Didn’t enjoy waiting to hear if your life just got better or your world crushed and burned.
He disliked the idea of leaving his life on the hands of someone else.
He disliked the idea of leaving his life on the hands of someone else.
Miles closed his eyes.
He remembers rushing towards the defense bench feeling lightheaded. The screams behind him were nothing but a soft hum compared to the ringing in his own ears.
God, there was so much blood.
“Phoenix!” Miles didn’t know how he was still moving, he wasn’t sure how he could even be talking, even if it was just the same name over and over again. He kneeled down and his hands moved to push on the wound. There was a rib there- “Phoenix- Phoenix!”
It seemed he forgot any other word besides that one.
The second he pushed his trembling hands onto the bleeding spot a loud, horrible groan left the man under him. Miles felt the urge to let go, but didn’t.
Phoenix tried opening his eyes with a whisper.
“...thena…?”
“I’m right here Mr. Wright! I’m okay! Oh god- Bailiff! Call for help!”
Miles only then realized the presence of the other girl- if he thought he was trembling, then Athena had her own private earthquake going on.
No . No earthquakes. No elevators. No karma. No death-
“Oh god, Mr. Wright- Please don’t- Why…?” Athena murmured to herself as thick tears fell from her face. “He moved in front of me, why would you do that-” she sobbed, Miles, were he not holding Phoenix together with his own two hands would have tried to comfort her.
And of course the stupid, brave, stupid, stupid man himself moved his hand over Athena’s knee and smiled .
“...’m glad you’re okay…” Athena left a shriek as she covered her ears with her hands.
“No, no stop- Mr. Wright, don't be happy you were shot!” She sobbed desperately. “Bailiff, please!”
Miles couldn’t do anything, his seconds of bravery lasted him enough to secure the gunshot wound, now that it was gone all he felt was stone cold panic- Why was everything so dark? Why couldn’t he breathe ?
Damn.
Five things you see
Athena crying, people running, hands trembling, blood flowing, Phoenix dying--
Four thing you can touch
Warm blood, damp clothes, hard floor, cold tiles,
Three things you heard
Sobbing, screaming, gunshot’s ringing
Two things you can smell
Blood, blood-
One thing you can taste
Metalic-
He was biting his lip.
Where were the medics for heaven’s sake-? He tried to scream. His throat was dry.
Not a word came out.
“...Miles…”
Although that did the trick.
“I swear to god, Phoenix Wright, that if you die I’ll go to hell to prosecute you staying there--”
Phoenix scoffed a laugh that soon turned in a cough and then there was even more blood that splattered from his lips.
“Oh shut up, just shut up for once-” his voice started to tremble. Or maybe had been all this time, he wasn’t sure.
“...uce- Trucy…” Phoenix raspy voice let out as more coughs attacked him and Miles just wanted this man to shut up because this all felt a lot like a checklist of things to do before--
No.
“She is fine, and she will be fine because her father still has years and years to come and tell her awful, terrible jokes-- Now, please, Phoenix- Shut. Up.”
“You have to-... Miles…”
“No.”
“...Miles I-”
“Whatever you are going to say, tell her yourself-” He hissed back.
“Move aside! Emergency unit, Make way!” Finally, “Sir, I’m nurse Emilia, I’m going to take over, please when I say so lift your hands.”
The nurse in a second managed to skillfully take his place. Miles, now holding his bloodied hands up, found that he had no idea what else to do but sit there, watching as a team of four moved Phoenix to a stretcher and put him an oxygen mask
Clumsily, he stood, he felt himself wobble as he took the first step, until someone, (a nurse? Everything was so dizzy) held him up.
“Sir, are you hurt anywhere?” Miles looked at her for a second, slowly processing her words, and shook his head. The nurse sensing his numbness took a towel and gave it to him before going towards Athena, who was still a sobbing mess. He was on autopilot as he tried to clean the blood off, it was futile without water, but Miles felt that one more step would mean his doom.
He looked up towards Phoenix. The man’s eyes were closed as a frown dominated his expression. Miles felt a knot form in his throat as he saw him.
He took one step forward as Phoenix opened his eyes.
“Don’t you dare die, Wright.”
He saw the second Phoenix blue eyes turned opaque.
And then with a shout they started rolling him away.
So, no.
Miles Edgeworth did not like hospitals.
How long has he been seated here? It seemed like hours.
He looked at his watch. 27 minutes. He slumped forward once again, face between his hands. He sneakily threw a glance towards the younger defense attorney seated next to him. He guessed she must have stopped crying some minutes ago judging by her still red puffy eyes and running nose.
Or the fact that he knew, because he had spent the last 27 minutes watching her, clueless as to how to make her feel better.
He wasn’t much well off anyways.
With a sigh he straightened up and slowly (awkwardly) pressed a hand to Athena’s back, which made her jump.
Great start.
“Miss Cykes.” He said, voice raspy. He hasn’t used his voice since they arrived. Athena straightened up and for a second her eyes widened slightly, Miles remembered Phoenix mentioning his whole office was really intimidated by him. He tried to ease the frown he was sure wearing. “I hope you do not feel accountable in any way by what happened.”
Athena bottom lip began to tremble and Miles saw her eyes flood again like water in a fountain.
Ah, it seems he hit the nail on the head.
He resisted the pressing urge of running away. He wished he were Phoenix right now.
“This is in no way your fault, Miss Cykes. And I’m not saying it to be nice, quite literally- The bullet was meant to him.” What, was he saying, oh god. “This man has a serious tendency of getting himself in dangerous situations, and do not think for a second that it doesn’t have its benefits-” Athena eyes widened in horror, her mouth agape, Miles saw her widget turn a mix of yellow and red. “He will be using this as an excuse to not do toilet cleaning duties, and you cannot let him.”
Athena burst out laughing as the tears in her eyes finally fell, having been hit completely unexpectedly by Edgeworth’s joke. Miles smiled to himself, spending time with Trucy has made him better at it. Athena covered her mouth with her hand as a mix of laughter and sobs shook her frame. A few minutes passed before she spoke.
“I know it’s not my fault.” She said, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. “I know it, deep down, I know it. I still feel bad.” She sighed. Then suddenly she slapped her two face cheeks. “But you are right! He still uses the toilet, he has to clean it!”
Miles smiled back at her. Athena shyly looked back at him.
“I can hear you, Mr. Edgeworth. I… I could hear you then, it was so- weird.” She mentioned touching her widget. Her face was red because of the slaps, but he could tell that wasn’t all of it. “There’s stuff... you two haven’t said. Isn’t there?”
Miles stiffened, and Athena winced as if she heard a sharp noise. Her hand went to cover her ear.
“Sorry… I can’t help it.” Athena sighed. “Mr. Edgeworth, I just want Mr. Wright to be happy,” She added in a whisper. He saw her widget turn a pastel pink as she turned to look at him. “and he always sounds his happiest when he’s with you.”
Miles felt his whole face burn and worry clutched his heart hard.
He has never told him.
There’s always something- A trial, a continent, a disbarment, an adoption- something .
And Wright is dying and he never told him-
A hand surrounded his.
He looked at Athena.
“He’ll be alright.” She smiled and the clutch lessened.
He squeezed her hand once in answer.
They stayed in silence for a couple of minutes until they heard a couple of footsteps approaching.
“ Herr Forehead- the waiting room is over here!”
“I- I knew that!”
Miles saw the pointy brunette spikes of hair before he recognized the person attached to them. Apollo Justice came running towards them, Miles was surprised, (but not really), when he saw Klavier Gavin trailing close behind.
The pair stopped rather comically before the two of them, completely out of breath. Klavier tried to mask his labored breathing by fixing his hair, while Apollo committed to the intensity leaning against his knees.
“Apollo…!”
“We…” He let out between pants, “...found out right after our trial ended…” Apollo looked up, he raised a hand to his hair pulling his bangs back. “...we came as fast… as we could…”
Apollo looked at the two of them, his gaze stayed on the girl.
“Thena, how are you?” He said opening his arms, Athena quickly stood and hugged him.
“He took a bullet for me, ‘Pollo…” Apollo hugged her back tightly.
“Of course he did, that dramatic old man…” He said, and aside from the mocking tone, Miles saw Apollo frown painfully before facing him. “How is he?”
“He is still in the ward. It’s still early but they did mention a fractured rib and taking out bullet fragments.” Apollo winced. “It’s going to be a long day.” Edgeworth finished.
Apollo pulled Athena back and cleaned her newly found tears.
“He is going to be fine, Thena, you’ll see. Knowing him the bullet will end up giving him foot pain and that’s it.” He smiled at her as she giggled sadly, looking down. “We can’t let this shake our spirit, so, Athena Cykes, how are you?”
Athena shut her eyes tight and took a deep breath.
“I’m… I’m Athena Cykes, and I’m FINE!” she exclaimed to the air. It looked like an odd interaction, but Klavier just smiled fondly at it so it seemed it was a thing between the Wright Anything Agency Edgeworth didn’t know about.
“Atta, girl!” Apollo smiled back.
“ Fräulein , we brought ice cream too!” Klavier chipped in once the moment between the two defense attorneys was over. “But you can only have it once you’ve gone wash your face, here Schatz, Hold onto it while I accompany our Fräulein to the restroom.” he said, giving the bag to Apollo. The two shared a look as Klavier took Athena’s hand to lead her away.
The second the two of them were out of sight, Apollo's whole demeanor changed, Edgeworth noted rather amused how even his hair seemed to fall as he slumped back against the chair Athena once sat on.
“Oh my god, Oh my god-” Miles heard Apollo chant, the words muffled by the hands against the Attorney face. “Mr. Wright got shot- Oh my god, oh my god-”
Apollo seemed to come to a stop in his speech. Miles looked at him quizzically. Then suddenly, a low scream that made him jump came from the shorter man.
“Mr. Edgeworth, Mr. Wright was SHOT!”
Miles was stunned in silence. He blinked at the man, clueless as how to respond.
“Um… yes, I was there.” he ended up saying.
Apollo seemed to have an intense internal monologue, Miles could swear he saw the attorney’s thoughts through his eyes. The brunette looked forward, and came full circle in his motions when his face met his hands again as he began to chant.
“Oh god, please be okay. Please, be okay…”
Miles panicked when he saw a single tear fall from between Apollo’s fingers. He felt the urge to throw his hands to the air.
What was it about that damn chair that made people wanna cry? Couldn’t it have been the chair through the corner of the room, the one furthest away from him so that he could respectfully ignore the sobbing person on it and could just blame the distance?
Goddamnit. He sighed.
A warm feeling made its way over the panic while thinking about it.
The thought of Phoenix having people who loved him made him smile.
“Mr. Justice.” He called and Apollo jumped. “Mr. Wright is too much of an idiot to die.”
“I know!” He exclaimed back way too loud. Chords of steel Phoenix has called it once. “I know- this is just the adrenaline wearing off… Athena is so shaken about it, I can’t let her see me panic this bad- I’m just winding down, it was quite the shock-…”
Miles was about to respond when Apollo beat him to it.
“Oh my god-” He said standing up and looking at him, eyes wide. “Mr. Edgeworth- you were there when it happened too-- you tried to stop the bleeding,”
“How… how do you know?” Miles stuttered, Apollo would have been in court by that time, then how…?
“Everybody knows! When court was adjourned everyone in every corner of the court house was talking about it, the shooting!” He answered, was he excited or terrified as he recalled Miles wasn’t sure. “Klav and I heard of it the second we stepped out, about the Chief Prosecutor helping the defense attorney stay alive after a witness went mad and started a shooting. Then I remembered you are the Chief Prosecutor and that you only prosecute cases were Mr. Wright defends so we put two and two together-” Apollo kept rambling on and on but one part of his testimony stayed with Miles.
You only prosecute cases were Mr. Wright defends
He said it so… nonchalantly . It’s true that as Chief Prosecutor he could not take cases as he did before, and yes, coincidentally Phoenix was always the defense Attorney of the cases he did take, but that didn’t mean--
“...Of course I handled it like a champ, and told Klavier we had to come to the hospital right away,” It seemed that Apollo kept chattering unaware of Miles' internal conflict. The words from the younger attorney kept repeating inside his head “...okay?”
“Hm?” Questioned Miles as he had been ignoring the brunette.
“I wanted to ask you if you were okay, Mr. Edgeworth.”
He stalled a bit as if shocked by the question. He blinked twice before he looked away.
“Yes, of course I’m fine.” He answered, by his peripheral he saw Apollo reach for his bracelet.
Damn Wright Anything Agency and all of its lie detectors-slash-employees.
“Mr. Edgeworth. You saw Mr. Wright get shot right before your eyes, it’s okay to be a bit shaken up.” Apollo said, sitting back down. “You of all people…” He murmured, had Edgeworth not been on edge and attentive he would have missed it.
Edgeworth's head quickly turned towards the younger man.
“Eeek! I mean- You tried to stop his bleeding, that’s not a nice experience, if Klav- or any prosecutor really, were shot before me I’d be trembling around crazy and…” He looked down towards Miles hands were he was pricking the skin under his nails. He hadn’t realized he was doing it until now. “...and you and Mr. Wright are… Friends.” Apollo finished, his last word sounding more like a question than a closing statement.
Was the kid trying to comfort him? Wasn’t Miles doing just that seconds ago? Does everyone who comes in contact with Phoenix Wright obtain the ability of performing turnabouts?
How exhausting it must be, being Phoenix Wright. He sighed,
He was sighing a lot lately
“...my hands were covered in blood. I got most of it off but…” Some of his nails still looked dirty underneath, no matter how hard he scrubbed. “...he was bleeding so much, I was… afraid of losing him.”
Apollo hummed something that sounded like understanding.
“Losing someone happens very fast.” Apollo said back. Miles looked at him, Apollo’s eyes were glossy, no wonder remembering his own loss. His face gave in to a bittersweet smile. “I decided to get rid of anything I could regret.” The clouds in his eyes made way to light as he looked at him “I hope you don’t have anything you regret, Mr. Edgeworth.”
Miles sighed.
“I still have some things to get rid of, it seems.”
“Then don’t waste any more time, sir.” Apollo grinned back.
Phoenix employees were something else. With a chuckle he laid back against his chair.
“ Herr Cravat, Herr forehead, I hope you haven’t eaten your ice creams without us yet.” Questioned Klavier once he came back with Athena, who looked much more put together. Her hair was down now, instead of her usual side ponytail, she was running her fingers through the locks trying to get rid of all the knots. Klavier went to reach for the forgotten bag Apollo left on the seat beside him, and quickly distributed the goods before seating. “Strawberry cream for the Fräulein, ChocoRocks for Herr forehead… Here, Herr Edgeworth- Crazy Ice Cream, Raspberry flavor.”
Miles took it surprised, something Apollo noticed.
“Come on, Mr. Edgeworth. I’ve been in charge of enough Ice cream retrieving missions to not know your favourite store Ice cream. Mr. Wright always insists on reminding me anyways.”
“...Thank you.”
The four of them sat eating their ice cream with idle chat and moments of silence. Clearly the three of them talking with far more ease than Miles, given that they knew each other way better.
Almost one hour had gotten by since they arrived. Klavier was on his way to throw the ice cream packages when suddenly Miles remembered something crucial.
“Trucy!” He exclaimed standing up. “Oh god, I forgot to tell her-”
“Oh, don’t worry Mr. Edgeworth.” Apollo quickly interrupted. “Before leaving the courthouse we ran into Ema and Simon. They offered to pick her up because Ema wasn’t going to allow Trucy getting on Klav’s motorcycle. They had to finish their trial and then they’d go pick her up. They wanted to check on Mr. Wright too, anyways,”
“Did you inform her school?”
“I vaguely explained the situation so she could leave early. I didn’t explicitly say what happened, I didn’t want to cause a panic.”
“Good. That reminds me I should call Maya too. If you could excuse me for a second.”
With a nod Miles walked to the other side of the room near the window. The sun was high in the sky, it was a little past twelve after all. Miles felt as if he had been ages here inside these white walls.
He took out his phone which had been forgotten inside his coat pocket and was surprised with the chain of messages that went unnoticed.
Franziska
Miles Edgeworth
How is the fool?
11:23 a.m.
Franziska
I heard you were right there when it happened.
You weren’t hurt were you?
11:24 a.m.
Franziska
A wonder he hasn’t gotten shot before with how much he usually runs his mouth
11:25 a.m.
Franziska
That last message was insensitive. I apologize.
How is he?
11:29 a.m.
Franziska
How are you, little brother?
11:33 a.m.
Why was everybody so worried about him? Phoenix was the one that got shot.
(He knew why.)
Miles
He is in the ward.
Still no news
12:48 p.m.
He sighed. His fingers were trembling again. A response came right away.
Franziska
Update me as soon as you know.
Drink some water.
12:48 p.m.
Miles
I will
For whatever reason Phoenix employees are headstrong in following his example trying to make me feel better.
12:49 p.m.
Franziska
Of course they are.
He is your fool, after all.
12:49 p.m.
Miles debated for a minute and decided that, as nice as it sounded, throwing his phone though the window wasn’t the best route to take. When no further message came from his sister he decided to go on with his original intention.
It took three rings before she picked up.
“Miles! Hi!” The medium answered chirpily. There was a strong wind wherever she was. “I received your pendrive with the Platinum Samurai new episodes but I haven’t had the time to watch all of them because of my-”
“No, no. It’s alright Maya. I’m not calling you for that.”
“Oh?” There was a pause were Miles could only hear strong wind. “--orry, sorry, I’m at the top of a mountain at the moment- What happened? It’s not like you to call me this early anyways.” They usually video called twice a month to talk about the new Platinum Samurai spin-off over dinner.
“We… are at the hospital.”
“...” More wind “...What? What happened?”
“Phoenix got shot by a witness this morning…”
“WHAT!?” Maya screamed and it made Miles wince. “Oh spirits, I’m on my way- I’m gonna take a while but Pearly and I- PEARLY, WE GOTTA GO- are on our way!” He could hear her starting to run, somewhere. “Use the walkie talkie, we gotta go!”
“Mystic Maya…?” Could be heard in the distance.
“Call sister Bikini so she can pick us up,” Maya told Pearl. “How is he?”
“They are still operating. He was shot straight on the chest. We don’t know anything else besides a broken rib and a shattered bullet.”
“How long ago was this?” she said between pants, she was still running. There was a car honk on the other side of the call.
“It happened around eleven o'clock, she was my first witness…” He answered quietly, the clutch on his heart he felt earlier making a reappearance “It seems she wasn’t checked throughout fully, she had a gun in her purse. She was the killer, obviously. Phoenix caught her lying and she went… mad.”
He heard what seemed like a car door shutting and the wind stopped.
“Alright, it will take us about a half an hour to get there probably.” Miles could hear Pearl’s voice insisting to know what happened and Maya telling her she would explain later. “Miles. This wasn’t your fault.”
“...” He didn’t know how to answer that. “I… know.”
“I mean it. She was your witness, but you had no way to know she would do something like that. The fact that you brought her to court does not give you any responsibility over this, alright?”
Miles felt his throat close up.
“... I should have checked her.” He whispered back.
“No. The bailiff should have done his job. You prepare what witnesses say, nothing else. You had no way of knowing she was a psycho ready to shoot someone. I bet she didn’t even intend to use the gun unless she was discovered as the murderer. Nothing about this was your fault.”
Miles stayed quiet. He heard Maya sigh.
“I swear to my mom, Miles Edgeworth, that if you go back to your turtle ways and retreat to your shell because of this I’m gonna beat you out of it.” She said rather intensely, “You two have never been better. Take this as a mystic sign Miles. Stop wasting time you could easily run out of.”
Miles made a face he was glad Maya couldn’t see.
“Why does it feel as if each one of you has a different speech about this prepared?” He sighed with a smile. “Was this shooting staged? Should I be worried?”
“Ah, Miles, You know a magician never reveals her tricks.” She giggled back, “Oh right! What about Trucy? How is she?”
“She is still at school. Ema Skye went to pick her up.”
“Alright, I’ll leave her to you, then. Call me as soon as you know anything. I’ll see you in a bit, Love you!”
“Uh… yes. Likewise.” Miles' whole face turned red. Maya always laughed at his constipated expression whenever she said that, this time was no different. With a laugh she hung up the phone.
With an exhale, Miles came back to the group, he noticed Klavier was also on the Phone.
“Yes, Fräulein , seventh floor. Alright.” He said before hanging up.
“Ema?” Questioned Apollo who was seated next to the prosecutor, Klavier nodded.
“They are parking the car downstairs.” Klavier said. Miles saw the blonde prosecutor's arm linked with the brunette. His hand idly toying with the attorney’s bracelet. Apollo kept sneaking glances to Athena, who was lost in thought, still brushing her hair with her fingers even though there were no knots anymore.
“Miss Cykes, how are you?” Miles asked which brought her out of his trance.
“Oh, I’m alright… My ears hurt a bit. Hospitals are so… Noisy.” She said, looking to the floor.
“Everyone’s so sad!” Exclaimed Athena’s widget while turning blue. Athena squeaked as her hands went to cover it.
“Sorry, but yeah… It’s so much.” Apollo frowned, probably feeling as helpless as Miles felt. Suddenly Athena straightened up, her face turning towards the elevators. Miles wondered just how good Athena’s hearing was, because only after she turned, did the bell of the elevator sound, announcing its arrival.
The doors opened and a blur of a blue cape came running towards them.
“Uncle Miles! Athena!” exclaimed Trucy as she jumped towards Miles. He quickly opened his arms expecting the impact. The girl squeezed him hard once and then let go towards Athena and did the same. “Polly! Klavier! You two are here! Why didn’t you come pick me right away?”
“Ema said three people on a motorcycle was pushing it way too far!” Apollo tried to defend to which Trucy just pouted.
“Hmm… I guess, but you owe me a motorcycle ride, then!” She said pointing at Klavier.
“As you wish Fräulein, ” Klavier answered with a smile.
“Athena?” A deep voice called out.
Athena shoulders rose. From the same elevator Trucy came out, the dark figure of Simon Blackquill followed. He quickly scanned the room until he saw the redhead seating there. He made way in what seemed like three long strides and kneeled before her. He raised a hand to her head and softly, so unlike him, petted her head as if she were made of glass.
“Simon…” Athena whispered, choking in the end. The samurai smiled softly, almost bittersweet. Simon reached into his pocket and opened his palm before her. There were a pair of earplugs in a plastic envelope and some type of ipod with earpods. Athena’s widget turned green as she untangled the earpods and put them on. Simon moved to sit beside her and Athena laid her head on his shoulder, pressing play on whatever audio the ipod had.
Miles saw the way Athena shoulders relaxed instantly, and in a minute it seemed almost as if she had fallen asleep. Apollo gave Simon a small smile to which the other just nodded.
“Mr. Edgeworth, sir.” Ema Skye said behind the group, her entrance rather ignored when compared to the other two people who accompanied her. “I just wanted to say Mrs. Unifa has been arrested. The scissors analysis showed traces of blood, and the letter was retrieved from the bathroom bin. I brought the report, in case you wanted to read it. Her confession is in there too. Detective Gumshoe came in just to make her talk. Her trial is in two days, if you were interested in it.” Ema said, extending the report towards him. “The judge suspended the trial for today, the verdict of Mrs. Cicada will be handled tomorrow morning,”
Miles' eyes narrowed as he took the file. Taking his glasses from his front pocket, he put them on. The heat he felt at the back of his head by just seeing the witness-turned-murderer mugshot made him decide to read it later.
“Prosecutor Blackquill. I understand your trial ended today?”
“A guilty verdict was reached, Edgeworth-dono, yes.” Miles offered the files in his hand towards him. Simon accepted it.
“If you could see it that this person never sees the light of day again,” Simon smiled darkly as he read the first few lines of the document. He then looked back at the Chief Prosecutor curiously. “Prosecutor Gavin. I’m so sorry to ask you this, but I was wondering if you could inform Prosecutor Payne he will have to take over tomorrow’s trial to receive Mrs. Britney Cicada’s Not Guilty verdict.” Klavier mimicked Simon’s quizzled expression.
“Edgeworth-dono, wouldn’t you like to be the one to send this criminal to jail…?”
“I’m afraid I have a conflict of interests, besides, I’ll be taking some vacation days. I wouldn’t trust that dumb man taking care of himself.” Miles said, his voice fond. Klavier smiled at his words.
“Ah, I’ll be sure to tell Herr Payne, I’m sure he’ll be delighted. Do not fret about it, Herr Chief Prosecutor, he’ll be there tomorrow to take your place.” He said with a dashing smile, Apollo laughed and said;.
“Is there a possibility I could join Prosecutor Blackquill in the trial two days from now?”
Simon raised an eyebrow at the attorney.
“Thinking of a career change, Justice-dono?”
“Let’s call it momentary weakness,” Apollo said with a smirk, “Besides, I’ve heard tales from the past were one certain prosecutor acted as a defense attorney once… I wonder if that was true…” He smugly added.
Miles looked the other way, a blush on his face.
“Nonsense. Tell Maya she is speaking gibberish.” Miles said while everyone around laughed.
Miles noticed; Everyone but…
“Trucy? Are you alright?” Miles asked, turning to the younger girl who had been awfully quiet as the trial was discussed. As if a spell was broken, the teen shook her head quickly, a perfect smile forming on her face.
“Oh, yes! I’m fine,” She said beaming. Miles frowned at her. “Actually I’m a bit thirsty now that I think about it, I think there should be a bending machine a few hallways over.” She said, finger on her chin, “Uncle Miles can you come with me? I don’t have any money,” She smiled, tongue peaking from her lips.
“Uh, yes, of course.” The second he answered Trucy hands when to clutch his arm, pulling him forwards with her.
“We’ll be right back.” He said to the group as Trucy pulled him forward.
They walked silently through the hallways until Miles spotted a bending machine right next to a bench. He pulled his arm out of Trucy grasp and quickly eyed the overpriced contents.
“You prefer water or soda, Truce-?” He began to ask until he looked at her.
Her back was towards him but he saw the way her shoulders began to tremble.
He was so far from the chair- This shouldn't be happening.
Miles started to suspect, maybe it wasn’t the chair
Maybe, it was him.
“Trucy?”
“I’m sorry! I just…” she jumped with a sniffle “I can’t help it-” More sniffles. He saw her raise a hand to wipe her eyes. “I didn’t want them to see- I just… Give me a minute-”
“Trucy…” Miles whispered. He channeled every single memory he had of Phoenix comforting Trucy from the last eight years, which were not many, given Trucy was truly an exceptional and mature child. His heart ached watching her, remembering all those times he felt so hopelessly sad as a child, yet had no one to turn to.
He didn’t want her to feel like that, ever.
“Trucy, listen to me.” He said, holding her shoulders and turning her around. Miles couldn’t get a look of her face because of her hat, but he noticed her tilting her face downward in a further attempt to hide her tears. He gently removed her hat laying it on the nearby bench and went to rest his palm on her cheek, using his thumb to wipe her tears. “It’s okay to be scared in a situation like this.” Trucy sniffed, a frown on her face.
“But- I’m stronger than this… Daddy’s been through worse, I know he’ll be better. I don't know why I’m so-” A hiccup escaped her as she leaned into Miles’ hand. With a whisper she managed to break Miles heart. “Why did it have to be… Why did it have to be a gun…?”
Miles remembered Phoenix faintly mentioning Trucy’s mom. It made him act weird so Miles never pressed on the matter, but he knew about the Gramarye Troupe.
He knew Trucy didn’t use pistols on her show.
“Ema only told me Daddy’s got shot after I insisted to know what happened and I just couldn’t help remembering… I know it’s different but this just feels… worse.” He saw her angrily wipe her tears with her gloved hands. “I don’t cry, I’m not weak- I have to be strong… why can’t I be strong now?”
“Trucy, being scared doesn’t make you weaker.” He answered back. He saw her lip tremble. “Shading tears every once in a while is not a sign of weakness. Your Dad is hurt and you are worried for his well being. It’s only natural you feel like this. A showman may never let their smile down but, Trucy, you are also a child. It’s okay to cry.”
Trucy finally lifted her eyes to look at him, and as soon as she did a sob shook her whole body. Miles' body moved on autopilot as she crashed against him, small quiet sobs muffled against his chest, his arms quickly surrounding her small trembling body.
“I don’t want Daddy to die… I can’t lose him, not again…!” Miles tightened his grip, one of his hands moved to the back of her head, threading his fingers through her soft hair in a soothing manner. If the fire he felt in his gut was just a fraction of what Phoenix felt every time Zak Gramarye was brought up he didn’t blame the attorney for the foul words he sometimes used to describe him. “He is always telling me I’m the best thing that ever happened to him, even when I cause him so much trouble all the time. I don’t think I’ve ever told him he is the best thing that ever happened to me too-” Trucy barely managed to say before her voice broke.
Miles noticed the way Trucy's head was plastered to his chest. He remembered when she first met her she wouldn’t even reach his hip.
“When it happened, one of the only things he managed to say was your name.” He felt her shoulders tense, a sign she had heard him. “He didn’t manage to tell me what he wanted. I told him he should tell you himself once he is better, because he will be.”
Miles pushed her from his body so he could look at her in the eyes.
“Never doubt for a second that he knows how much you love him. Never doubt the fact that he’d do anything for you, and that he would fight tooth and nail to get back to you.”
Trucy closed her eyes as Miles tried wiping her tears. She let a breath out before she started speaking again.
“This was just… so sudden. It felt like a punch in the gut. I’m so used to him being there. I know he’d never leave me but this made me realize it’s so easy for someone else to take him from me…” she told him with a frown. “This morning he kissed me goodbye and I brushed him off because I was in a hurry to catch the bus. I don’t even remember if I told him I love him back. What if that was the last time I saw him?”
Trucy, thankfully wasn’t looking at his face, else she would have noticed Miles' stunned expression.
“Have I taken him for granted?” she added and it felt like a blow. Miles couldn’t get the words out of his mouth. He felt Trucy gaze shifting towards him and only then he managed to snap out of it.
“I… I believe we have.” He said softly. Trucy managed to hide her surprise at his words, quickly forming a smile that fell much more real than the ones before.
“Then we have to fix that.”
Miles felt as if the only thing holding him together was the girl before him. The dark panic he would have felt had this realization happened with anyone else but this tiny girl before him was dissipated by the bright light she was. Her hands moved to cover his own still on Trucy’s face.
“No more taking him for granted. No more waiting for it, Uncle Miles.” Trucy eyes were still watery, but she let the tears fall free this time, Miles felt his own eyes water at her words. “Stop hesitating. Daddy loves you, tell him you love him back.”
Miles felt a chuckle escape him as he tried keeping his emotions at bay.
“Last time I checked, I was the one consoling you, not the other way around- Hmph!” Trucy attacked him with a tight hug.
“I’ll tell him I love him, you better do the same. Your official entrance to the Wright family is long overdue, Papa.”
Miles' whole face burned as it turned cherry red. He playfully planted his hand over Trucy’s face and pushed her away from him uselessly, as she only tightened her grip around him.
“Stop that, it seems you are really dehydrated, you are talking nonsense. My name is Miles, a girl your age should know how to pronounce that.” Even as he said that he felt a smile forming on his face as he felt on his palm the way Trucy burst out laughing.
“Nah-ah, not anymore, and I’m not dehydrated!” She laughed, pushing against Miles' palm. “I’m tired of waiting for you two to finally do something about it, I’ve been waiting to call you that for ages,” Trucy said, seemingly unaware of the way that those words made Miles feel. “I refuse to wait any longer. You better do something about it else Daddy will know how you feel from me!” She said against his palm.
Miles looked at the magician and felt a surge of affection. He remembered the first time they met, the way her smile was the only thing that pierced the darkness that surrounded Phoenix during those seven long years. She was the reason Phoenix was the way he was now, and he would be forever in her debt.
“You truly are exceptional, Trucy.” Miles said, making the girl blush with a smile. “Very well, once you’ve told your father everything we’ve talked about, I’ll do too.”
Trucy's smile was blinding. She hugged him tight once again. Miles bowed down to kiss the top of her head before picking up her hat and putting it back on the magician’s head.
Remembering their previous mission and Franziska’s message, Miles took his wallet and gave it to Trucy so she could buy some bottles of water to share. While they were watching the last bottle fall to the gate, a loud attorney came running towards them.
“Mr. Edgeworth! Trucy!” Exclaimed Apollo after seeing them, “Miss Maya is here- and a nurse was looking for you… Huff-” Miles' heart soared and so did Trucy’s, if her little surprised jump was anything to go by.
With Trucy holding the bottles, the three of them ran towards the waiting room, in the distance Miles could see Maya and Pearl talking to a nurse, far from the group of attorneys. Cold dread spread through his body as he saw Maya raise her hands over her mouth, covering her expression of shock.
What could that nurse be telling her? What if something happened during the operation and Phoenix was--
And then Maya burst out laughing.
Miles would have seen the shocking expressions on every single face in the waiting room had he not been too shocked to do so.
“Ma… Maya?” Miles managed to get out between the shock and exhaustion. He felt a bit of consolation at the fact that the nurse wasn’t offended by Maya’s reaction. Pearl besides her was covering her face with her hands. Her shoulders were shaking slightly.
“Mi-Miles… Oh spirits-” Maya managed to say between laughs. Miles heard the rest of the group get closer to the commotion trying to understand what happened. “He was- He was shot and- BAHA!” Maya was so crouched over a simple push would throw her off balance, and if she didn’t speak soon Miles was going to consider doing it. “I’m sorry just- This is such a Nick thing-!”
“Maya, I swear to god--”
“Mr. Miles, is it? I’m Nurse Klara, maybe I could tell you about it seeing that Miss Fey seems to be… Unable to do so at the moment.” The nurse said, rather amused at the woman before her.
“Please!” exclaimed Athena, who was up and recovered from before, her widget an angry shade of red. Apollo and Trucy, besides her, were nodding, their hands clasped together.
“Mr. Wright Bullet removal procedure went perfectly fine, he is stable now.”
…
Miles felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. His relief was interrupted by another thought.
“Wait- That can’t be why Maya almost choked laughing.” Besides him Maya was still catching his breath.
“Well, the procedure went as expected, it will take almost two weeks for the wound to heal, the broken rib will also need rest. The main problem we are worried about is…” The nurse hesitated as she took an X-ray from the file in her hands. “When we took this to see the damage the bullet caused to his organs we happened to notice how inflamed his appendix was.”
Miles uselessly took the X-ray being offered to him and looked at it even though he had no idea what he was seeing. Narrowing his eyes he looked back to the nurse.
“Phoenix has… Appendicitis?”
“Uh, yes.”
Maya wheezed like a balloon being let free.
“Nick got shot and the doctor is more worried about a useless piece of his organism!” Maya bursted with another wave of laughter.
“Um, he still got shot, which is very serious, but the stage of his appendicitis is really worrying so the surgeon in charge suggested an immediate appendectomy. We had to check with the dean whether or not to do so and with Mr. Wright emergency contact, as he still is under anesthesia and not in the state of making medical decisions.”
“So, he is still in the ward,”
“The surgeon is ready to go, we are waiting on your signature on the consent forms. I presume you are Mr. Miles Edgeworth?”
“Yes, I am.” The nurse passed him a chart and a pen were his name was written in bold letters, he eyed every paragraph with ease, as he knew signing something without reading it was highly irresponsible, and when he didn’t find anything out of the usual he looked at the nurse. “Are there any risks I should be aware of?” Miles asked warily- everything was so sudden. He still couldn’t believe Phoenix was alright. Sort of.
“The risks of an appendectomy are much less severe than the risks of an untreated appendicitis. You could wait a day or two, but Mr. Wright is already on the operation table, it would be useless to do so. I came on behalf of Doctor Pelion in order to keep the area sterile. The procedure will go smoothly as we’ll use the same incision from the bullet removal to take the appendix as they are close enough.”
Miles eyed the chart once more, and truly, he wasn’t an expert, but there wasn’t much else he could do. He did want to spare the other man as much pain as he could. He quickly signed the three spots were his signature was required and passed the chart back to the nurse.
“Alright, operate away- and please keep us updated.”
“Of course we will.” She said putting papers in order. “The procedure shouldn’t last more than an hour.”
And with no more words the nurse left.
Miles sighed as he stumbled backwards onto the nearest chair. Maya, still chuckling moved to sit besides him, her head falling to rest on his shoulders.
Maya little chuckles quickly turned into small sniffles. Honestly, by that point Miles was already expecting it.
“Oh spirits… I was so worried. I can’t believe that jerk. I’m so glad he is okay…” She said softly.
Miles, who felt all of his energy drain at once, hummed in response, moving his hand to the back of the medium’s back, giving her a squeeze.
He saw Trucy jump as she noticed Pearl was there too, tackling her in a hug. The two stayed there, tangled in each other for a minute or two. Pearl soothingly rubbing Trucy’s back. Miles smiled at them. Athena and Apollo had their hands clutched as the older attorney was telling him something to the redhead. Klavier, right next to Apollo, flicked him on his forehead while saying something smugly. The red attorney turned beet red and moved to shove the prosecutor, seconds later the two of them were laughing. Simon, who had probably not uttered a word in a long while, just moved his hand to pet Athena’s head with a smile before turning towards the detective, who was eating a bag of Snackoos, and whispered something that made her laugh.
Miles threw his head back. Although the whole thing wasn’t over, Miles felt that the worst had already passed.
Phoenix was alright. He felt his eyes sting. He quickly raised his hand to wipe them dry, his fingers stumbling with his glasses in the action.
“Aw, growing soft on me, Edgeworth ?” The girl besides him mocked. He smiled turning towards her.
“Like you are one to say, Miss Fey .”
She giggled as she grabbed his hand.
“Our idiot is okay.”
Miles exhaled with a smile while squeezing Maya’s hand.
“Yes, he is.”
Maya once again began laughing, trying to muffle it with her other hand to no avail.
“He has appendicitis.”
Miles couldn’t help it as her laugh rubbed on him. Closing his eyes he tried to stifle the laugh dangerously close to escaping him, but it was no use.
“He got shot and the doctor was more worried about his appendix.” Miles whispered back, turning towards her. Maya's hand was aggressively pressing against her mouth, her face was red.
And Miles… Miles didn’t care anymore.
The pair burst out laughing, Maya leaning towards him, Miles holding her hand tighter. While Miles' laughter seemed way more subtle, for anyone who knew him it was borderline indecent the way his chuckles resonated around the room. This explosion captured the attention of the rest of the group, who for a second were way too shocked to do anything but stare. Miles was sure Trucy took out her phone to take a picture, but the relief of knowing Phoenix was alright was enough to make him not care at all.
Wiping away his tears, (tears of laughter, what a concept) Miles settled back, a chuckle or two still in his system. Maya was humming the last of the laughter away as the rest of the group approached the two.
Trucy jumped to sit beside him, taking the hand that wasn’t still on Maya’s hold into hers.
“What are we laughing at?” She asked excitedly.
“Your Daddy’s inability to enter a hospital with one condition without leaving with another.” Maya smiled.
Trucy giggled remembering past visits to the hospital where the same happened.
“When i told Athena that the car crash that made his head fly against a light pole resulted in a sprained ankle she didn’t believe me.” Apollo sighed with a smile.
“Try to beat falling from a bridge and getting a cold, newbie.” Maya said excitedly besides him. The group laughed, no doubt knowing that famous story of one of Phoenix’s 'most famous trials. “The nurse did mention how they were awed in the ward, saying Nick was two days away from the worst stomach ache of his life.”
“Oh my god! Mr. Wright did mention during the trial how his stomach hurt so badly he didn’t manage to even take a bite of his breakfast!” Athena chipped in, unlocking Miles memory from the trial earlier were he faintly remembered the man rubbing his side. What a distant memory that was, it felt like centuries ago.
Maya was about to open her mouth when Miles interrupted.
“Please refrain from saying Phoenix getting shot was a good thing.”
Maya mouth closed shut. Trucy giggled before starting to play with Miles fingers.
“I want to see him.” She said to herself. Miles squeezed her hand.
“Soon.”
She beamed back.
“Soon.”
The wait until the nurse came back felt eternal yet faster than any other hour before. Miles managed to read the file on Mrs. Unifa until a headache overtook his attention.
He had sent Franziska a text once they all settled down to which she reacted accordingly.
Franziska
Appendicitis?
Hadn’t he been shot?
Did he bluff his way out of the bullet removal surgery?
1:38 p.m.
Franziska
I want to be mad, but I’m rather impressed.
That fool is indeed very weird.
Send me the hospital room number once he is admitted.
1:39 p.m.
Franziska
I’m sending Trucy some chocolates as a consolation for having to deal with this man every day of her life.
1:40 p.m.
Franziska
Yours will be arriving accordingly once you stop being a coward.
1:41 p.m.
Miles
Thx auntie franny:))
love uuu<33
1:41 p.m
Franziska
<33
1:42 p.m.
At one point he had turned towards Maya curiously.
“You were on a mountain. How did you get here so fast?”
“Oh, right-” Maya said wincing, he had seen that look before. He didn’t like it. “You will be paying some speeding tickets, Miles. Whatever Sister bikini did, it couldn’t have been legal, she-”
“Alright, alright-- Actually, I don’t want to know about it.”
“But-”
“No. Shut it.” He said, shutting his eyes and resting his head over Maya's who just pouted.
God, time passed so slow.
Ema and Klavier were having some sort of competition that consisted in throwing Snackoos into the two defense attorney’s mouths from a distance while Simon seemed to judge the accuracy of the throws and whether the Attorneys moved from their designated spots. Pearl and Trucy were playing some complex clapping game that Miles was two seconds away from cracking when a doctor came through the doors followed by Nurse Klara. Miles and Maya jumped from their seats in anticipation, the rest of the group shut anything else they were doing.
“Mr. Miles Edgeworth?”
“Yes.” He answered before the Doctor even finished saying his name.
“I’m Doctor Pelion, I’m glad to inform you everything went just fine, Mr. Wright is being moved to his room.”
Miles' heart skipped a beat. He could hear behind him the gasps of relief and cheers. Maya’s hand, who hadn’t left his for a second, held tighter.
“When can we see him?” Maya asked.
“Right now he is still coming out of the effects of anesthesia, so he is not really responsive. It will take a while, but by all means you can go as soon as he is settled. Although I’ll ask you to let him rest.”
“Of course, of course.”
“ Herr Forehead, Fräulein Cykes, you two should go ahead, Simon and Fräulein Skye and I will be waiting out here. We don't want to overwhelm Herr Wright.” Klavier said to the two defense attorneys.
“But-” Apollo said, reaching for Klavier’s hand. The prosecutor only smiled.
“It’s fine, Apollo. We wanted to discuss Mrs. Unifa between us anyways. We’ll visit him together later. You two should go and see him.”
With a nod the group followed Nurse Klara through the hallways. Miles started to feel nervous for some reason. The words exchanged between him and the different people he shared a moment with today hitting him full force.
There’s stuff... you two haven’t said. Isn’t there?
What could he say?
and he always sounds his happiest when he’s with you.
What assured him anything was going to change?
Then don’t waste any more time, sir.
He felt his steps slowing down, his hand slipping from Maya’s hold, the medium too deep in thought to notice.
He is your fool, after all.
All the confidence he had during the day started slipping through his fingers dangerously fast.
Stop wasting time you could easily run out of
His body was moving on auto pilot, he wondered were his mind had run off to.
Deep inside his thoughts he stopped in his tracks. A soft voice burst his little bubble.
“Mr. Edgeworth?” Pearl asked besides him. Miles blinked twice as he looked at the tiny, she was only a bit smaller than Trucy now, he seemed to forget that from time to time, girl “Are you okay? Your face turned pale.” she asked timidly.
“I…” Miles began, but his throat was dry. No words came out. The brunette waited patiently. “I seem to be… a little overwhelmed all of a sudden.”
Pearl looked at him, eyes widening. With a small ‘o’ shaped mouth she nodded at him.
“Oh I see! I get it. I remember I felt like that once. Trucy asked me to be her assistant to one of her shows. Right before I got on stage I felt as if the whole world was spinning and I didn’t want to do it anymore.” She said with a finger on her chin recalling that night, something she must have picked up from the magician no doubt.
Miles looked at her as she blushed and moved her hands to cover her face.
“I didn’t want to embarrass myself, I went completely blank… But then Trucy noticed, and she held my hand during most of it. It messed with some of her tricks, but she told me it was okay because she loved me more than she loved her show.” She finished with a shy smile. She then raised her head with a gaze of determination and offered her hand to him.
“I’m not Mr. Nick but… hopefully I could try to make you feel better?”
Miles' spiral of thoughts settled down as he took Pearl’s hand.
Stop hesitating. Daddy loves you, tell him you love him back.
“You are enough, Pearls. Thank you.”
The teen smiled at him.
“Alrighty then! Let’s go see Mr. Nick!” She said pulling him forward. Thankfully their conversation didn’t last long enough to lose the group, they easily reached them as they arrived outside room 714. Nurse Klara asked them to wait until she called them in. “I have to say, Mr. Edgeworth, I’m glad you still feel nervous whenever you have to see Mr. Nick.”
The whole group turned towards the two as a furious blush overtook Miles' whole face.
“Wha- what are you talking about?”
“Well, didn’t you say you were nervous about seeing him just now? Isn’t it good that you still get butterflies when you see your special someone?” Pearl said blushing, her free hand automatically moving to cover her face.
Miles felt betrayed as he heard the rest of the group laughing at the blushing duo.
He wanted to argue, he really did.
He sighed instead.
“I guess so…” He answered, defeated. He heard Trucy squeak a laugh as he glared at her, or tried to, Trucy was very much immune to the stare that used to make killers confess.
The door opened and their attention quickly shifted towards the nurse. Trucy's hand moved to clutch his sleeve as she held her breath.
“You may come in. Quietly please, he is still a bit dosed up.”
They made way towards the big (Miles had made sure) room. A heartbeat could be heard on the monitor. They immediately came in view with the bed.
He was there.
Miles forgot how to breathe.
Pearl squeezed his hand and he came back. The two teens pulled him forward until they reached Phoenix, who had his eyes closed.
Maya, Apollo and Athena went to the other side of the bed. They were all really quiet, none of them wanting to wake the man up.“...Daddy?” Trucy asked softly, and that was enough to stir him awake.
“...Oh god-” Phoenix said hoarsely. “I had a nightmare.”
They all blinked, stunned.
“Mr. Wright, it wasn’t a nightmare.” Athena added softly, nervously brushing her hair.
Phoenix eyes widened looking at her. He opened his mouth slightly, as if fighting the words.
“...the monkeys are still there, then?” He said in the most serious tone Miles had ever heard the man use.
Miles made eye contact with Maya as she leaned on Apollo, who was equally as bad at hiding the bomb of laughter that was threatening to come out.
The ridiculousness won in the end. The whole group started laughing in spite of Phoenix’s confusion.
“Oh no, Mr. Wright. That was definitely a nightmare.” Athena said between giggles.
Phoenix, who seconds ago seemed ready to cry, relaxed instantly.
“Oh, thank god.” He said closing his eyes.
The nurse, who had been awfully quiet since they entered softly giggled as she said.
“We had to dose up his anesthesia for the double procedure, so this is normal.” She seemed to check something in the IV bag before she added; “I’m going to make sure they bring him some water, it'll help to clear his mind, if you excuse me.”
Left alone once again, Maya tried talking to him again.
“Nick,” She said, taking his hand softly.
“Maya, Oh… Hey…” He said smiling. Miles saw him pout. “You look so pretty… You are so big…”
“Oh no, I think this will be useless, he is high as a kite.” Maya said smiling at Phoenix, who didn’t seem to notice the words weren’t meant for him. Apollo laughed besides her.
“Yup, it doesn’t seem it will be much use, whatever we tell him he will forget.” He said looking at Miles. “I’ll text Klavier and ask him to bring us lunch to all of us.” he took his phone out of his pocket and turned the screen on.
Miles looked at the drugged defense attorney and smiled as the man turned and made eye contact with him. Phoenix blushed furiously as he saw him.
“Miles! Hi, what are you doing here?” he asked dumbfounded. He saw Maya wince as Phoenix squeezed her hand tight. Miles felt a smile forming on his face.
“I’m here to see you. Obviously.” Those six words seemed to end Phoenix every trail of thought as the man turned even redder.
“Uh- Thank you,” He stuttered. Miles thought that maybe this is how vindication felt. Seeing the man so flustered was a nice change of pace for the day. Feeling brave, he took Phoenix’s hand.
“I’m glad you are okay, Phoenix.” Phoenix made a strained noise at the back of his throat.
“Papa, I think you are going to kill him.” Trucy whispered, low, so that none other in the room could hear, but high and malicious enough so that Phoenix did .
“Papa-!” Phoenix let out in a gasp.
“Alright, alright you two, that’s enough-” Maya said between laughs, seemingly aware of Trucy’s devil horns. “You are going to give him a heart attack.”
Miles hadn’t noticed the monitor beeping rapidly. He wondered how fast he could manage to make Phoenix heart race. Miles was aware his new found confidence was only there because he knew Phoenix would probably forget all of this, still.
The Nurse came into the room with a tray with three cups of water. They made way for her and she saw Phoenix still red face.
“Oh, Mr. Wright, you didn’t catch a fever, did you?”
The group burst into laughs as Phoenix groaned.
It was some hours later that Nurse Klara sent Miles a message that Phoenix was back to normal, anesthesia already gone from his system. The whole group had gathered in the Hospital cafe downstairs to eat something. Phoenix had slept for two sound hours before he had the first lucid conversation.
As the room was rather big, table and couches all provided, courtesy of Von Karma’s heritage money, the whole group had been allowed in to see Phoenix.
Athena was shyly in a corner as everyone asked Phoenix if he remembered what happened.
“Mrs. Unifa, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. She confessed after the test results came back positive and the letter was found.” Miles, seating right besides Phoenix in a chair answered. Simon, who had the file in his hand, searched for the page in question.
“The scissors, was it?” Phoenix said, accepting the paper from Simon. It was a photocopy of the letter Phoenix had guessed about. It had clearly been wrinkled to the max, the lines could be seen even in the copy.
“Yes. Mr. Merian had opened the letter with Mrs. Unifa permission, it seemed she didn’t realize it was an acceptance letter to another job. Mr. Merian was really mad as he hadn’t known Mrs. Unifa wanted to leave, he seemed to get physical with her, so she used the scissors she had in hand. She took the letter and threw it away so no one could connect her to the murder, and pretended to arrive later.” Miles continued. “It was exactly as you said.”
“Man, I hate when that happens…” Phoenix whispered. The three prosecutors in the room turned as if they had been burned. Phoenix jumped at their glares. “No, no, I don’t mean getting it right- That part is great! I meant- When the victim was clearly a nasty guy too. Mrs. Unifa just wanted to get away from him.”
Phoenix Wright was an exasperatedly good man.
“Phoenix, the woman shot you.” Miles deadpanned.
“I know but-”
Apollo, having heard the whole story interrupted.
“Nah, nah- No buts.” He said standing up. “This woman woke up today, chose violence as she put a gun in her purse and shot you. She doesn’t get ‘buts’” Apollo said to which every person in the room nodded. Phoenix, feeling he wasn’t going to win this time, shut his mouth. He stared at his fingers as he played with the white clip that took his pulse. He raised his head a second later as he remembered something.
“Athena.” He said soundly. The redhead jumped as she looked at Phoenix. “Are you alright?”
Athena bit her lip as she took a step forward. Her widget turned an electric shade of blue as she whispered;
“You said the same thing when it happened. You… you were shot and you worried about me.” Her words came out in a tremble. Phoenix reached out his hand and Athena hesitated before she took it.
“Of course I worry, you are my friend.” He said softly, Athena lip trembled. “I’m glad you are okay.”
Her eyes were glossy with tears as she held onto Phoenix's hand tightly.
“I’m so glad you are okay too, Boss.” Athena let out the tears she’d been holding since the morning and Phoenix smiled. Athena sniffed as she added; “Mr. Edgeworth already left it clear you can’t use this as an excuse to not do toilet duty, by the way.”
“What! I took a bullet for my subordinate-!” Phoenix argued turning towards Miles.
“Oh shut up, Daddy-- It stops being cool when you gloat about it.” Trucy objected next to him to which Phoenix just pouted.
“Wait-” The attorney interrupted. “It’s the middle of a Wednesday. Don’t you people have jobs to do?”
Instantly, two figures tensed up.
“Shoot, Klav- The detention center closes in an hour.” Apollo said looking at the time on his phone. The blonde gasped as he checked his own phone.
“Oh no- the investigation ,”
“We have a trial tomorrow-! We got to go!” Apollo exclaimed, picking up his things. Ema just sighed as the two frantically ordered everything they disturbed. Apollo's hand was on the door handle when he stopped in his tracks. He turned and took five big strides across the room until he reached the bed. His face turned red and he took a deep breath as he aggressively yet gently, something only Apollo could manage to achieve, hugged Phoenix.
“I’m very glad you didn’t die, Boss!” he exclaimed into Phoenix 'ear, who winced slightly at the volume, but soon smiled and returned the hug. The younger lawyer squeezed once more before he straightened. “Please never take a bullet for me.” he said with a nod.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” Phoenix answered, which earned him a slap on the arm from Trucy.
With no further words Apollo made way to the door, seemingly propelled by the steam leaving his ears. Before he closed the door, he exchanged a look with Miles, nodded and left.
After that, slowly one after the other started leaving. Ema left him two whole packets of Snackoos to which Phoenix was pretty grateful. Simon left with Athena, with the promise of putting Mrs. Unifa behind bars. The young defense attorney reassured her boss about the trial tomorrow, saying it was just receiving a verdict, and promised to talk to the defendant to assure her of her freedom.
Maya, once she finished illustrating her painful, and somehow illegal sounding training, rose from her side of the bed she had been laying on and with a stretch announced;
“Alright, we are going to get some burgers to celebrate the fact that Nick didn’t die. I’m going to smuggle them in with some Platinum Samurai episodes to pass the time!” She sang, Pearl and Trucy jumped excitedly. “You two will be my partners in crime so come with me.”
“Okay!” The two teens exclaimed. Trucy let go of Pearl’s hand.
“I wanted to say something to Daddy before we leave, or else I’ll forget.”
“Okay, we’ll be right outside,” Said Maya, Pearl trailing right behind.
Miles turned to leave as well, but Trucy stopped him by his sleeve asking him to stay.
“Daddy…” Trucy began slowly. Her now gloveless hands moved to hold his face. Phoenix looked straight at her, his bottom lip slightly out as she squished his face softly. “You know-” Trucy seemed to choke on the words, Phoenix eyebrows furrowed. She cleared her throat. “You know you are the best thing that happened to me, right?” She asked, her voice breaking slightly at the end.
Phoenix eyebrows arched painfully, his eyes started watering in a second.
“Truce- Come on…” He said with a smile. He moved his hands to her waist, Miles saw the way his grip tightened on her. He opened his mouth but it seemed he couldn’t get the words out. He chuckled. “Of course I do-” He pursed his lips together as he cleared his throat. Trucy eyes seemed to water just by seeing the expression on her Dad’s face. “You are the best thing that happened to me too, come on- what brought this on?”
Trucy shook her head as she just hummed, her thumb caressing her dad’s cheek.
“Nothing I- I just wanted to make sure you knew… I just-” Trucy breathed through her nose and looked up, trying to get her emotions at bay, and failing. “I just love you so much, I wanted you to know that-” She managed to say before a sob shook her whole body.
Phoenix couldn’t hold back the tears anymore as he pulled his little girl into his arms and squeezed the life out of her. Trucy arms moved around his shoulders as she sobbed. Phoenix buried his face in Trucy’s hair as he repeated on and on;
“I love you so much too, Truce- You don’t know how much,”
Miles, who was watching from a respectful distance, felt like crying too. Such a crazy emotional day. He looked at the father and daughter and felt a weight in his heart.
It was a few minutes of silently sobbing before the two broke apart. Looking at each other’s mess of a face they laughed. Phoenix joined his forehead to hers and smiled happily.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Daddy.”
Miles took that as his cue to bring closer the box of tissues from the nightstand. The both of them took one to blow their noses and they giggled at the coordinated sniffle. Cleaning her face Trucy stood up and picked her hat, putting it on.
“Alright, the burgers await!” She exclaimed, reaching for the door. Before she did leave, she came back and hugged Miles tightly, who smiled and patted her head.
As the door clicked shut, Miles heard Phoenix groan.
“Oh man- That was wild.” He said, hands over his face. He heard him sniffle once as he ran his hands over his face. Phoenix had thrown himself back onto the bed, laying down completely. Miles chuckled as he offered another kleenex which Phoenix took gratefully before blowing his nose again. “Oh man I wasn’t expecting Trucy to hit me with the- Feels train. Your honor, I wasn’t ready,” He laughed scrunching the tissue into a ball before throwing it straight into the trash can.
Miles smiled as the man before him settled down, closing his eyes.
“She’s such a good girl, I’m glad she finally let some of those emotions out.” Phoenix smiled. He whispered to himself. “I really don’t deserve her--”
“You do.” Miles' words left his lips before he even thought them. Despite the surprise, he realized he knew what he wanted to say. “You are an extraordinary, selfless, honest man, it’s only natural you’d have an extraordinary, selfless, honest daughter.” Miles finished seating back down on his chair next to Phoenix.
The man himself was just staring at him, blinking, for a minute before he blushed. His forearm moved to cover his face as he smiled.
“Jeez, Miles. Not you too. You are in the splash zone, just so you know.”
Phoenix blush reminded him of the rush of confidence he felt earlier which now he lacked. He could feel his chest tightening with panic but he remembered the weight of Pearl’s hand on his own and forced himself to calm down.
“I do mean it. Today was…” Chaotic, crazy, adrenalinic “...An eventful day.”
“Oh yeah you could say that,” Phoenix said, backing up the bed to sit properly. “We were on a trial together. I got shot for it--”
Miles smiled.
“You had appendicitis.”
Phoenix let out a laugh at it.
“Oh god, please don't remind me, Maya will never stop laughing about it.” He chuckled and then winced. His hand moved to his lower abdomen were the incision was. Miles rose to ground him, quite uselessly as he didn’t have a clear idea of how to help, but the intention was there. “It's okay. Too much movement, I’ll stay like this for a while,” He said laying back onto the pile of pillows.
Miles slowly backtracked his movements as he fixed the glasses he still had on. He would put them back in the front pocket of the jacket he took off earlier, but he irrationally felt like the glasses provided him with a barrier between him and the other man.
“Phoenix.” Miles said, cutting off the silence to which the attorney answered with a hum. “It was a scary day, today.” He rephrased his past statement. “In the courthouse- When it happened I… and then talking with all of your-” Miles frowned as he realized he wasn’t making any sense.
Phoenix looked at him expectantly, Miles tried to search for the right words.
“Each time I tried to comfort one of them, they seemed to turn it back around and...” He sighed. “They made so much sense they made me realize, had fate taken a different turn, how much-”
How much I would regret.
“Yeah, those kids are quite wise for their age aren’t they?” Phoenix smiled rubbing the back of his neck as he saw Miles struggling with the last part of his sentence. “I don’t know how I managed to hook them in, honestly,” The man before him kept rambling as if he were a hurricane cut loose, if his nervous blush was anything to go by, Miles was sure he felt equally vulnerable as him. “I continue to be impressed by everything they achieve and-”
“Phoenix.”
“-huh?”
“Shut up.”
“Wha-” Miles rose from his seat taking the Attorney face between his hands and pulled him in crushing their lips together. “Hmph!” Phoenix shoulders tensed for a second as he felt Miles’ lips on his, but the surprise was short-lived as the next second he tangled his fingers in Miles hair pulling him even closer.
Miles felt a groan against his lips as his tongue graced Phoenix bottom lip. The defense attorney opened his mouth and Miles was quick to follow the invitation. The prosecutor stood from his chair and sat on the bed by the insistence of the other man and the way the hands on his scalp pulled him impossibly closer.
Phoenix lips moved fervently against his in desperation, years and years of repressed feeling coming out to meet his own in a heated dance. Miles followed as Phoenix laid back on his bed, the lawyer's hands moving from his scalp down to his neck. Miles bit Phoenix bottom lip which earned him a delicious moan from the back of his throat.
Miles palms moved down to hold Phoenix's jaw tightly, lifting his face as his tongue caressed the roof Phoenix’s mouth. Afraid that the space between them would multiply by the second, Phoenix hands returned to the back of Miles’s head, were he fisted and pulled his hair deliciously, earning himself a mewl.
It wasn’t the best kiss, nor the cleanest or romantic, but it was Phoenix he was kissing and that was enough to make it perfect.
Miles felt the desperate need of moving closer, of pressing and breaking open. He was aware he’d need to break their connection because of annoying things like oxygen, but he dreaded the second when he wouldn’t be touching the other man.
God, how had he lived the last 34 years without the clear newly found other half of him?
Breaking their kiss slightly, Miles' lips traveled slightly, allowing them both to breathe. He heard the labored breathing from the other man and the gasp that overtook him once his lips touched his jaw and lower.
“Miles…” He heard the defense attorney gasp, and the wreck in his voice seduced Miles into kissing him again, a messy clash of tongues and teeth and closer-
“Oi, Nick! Look what Fran sent-” Maya said bursting the door open. The pair jumped slightly at the intrusion, separating with a nasty wet sound and turning their heads to the new person in the room “-you…” Maya's mouth hung open as she stared at her two beet red friends.
“There was another box outside, Mystic-” Pearl began before shutting up too.
The two men laid petrified, one over the other, not really sure how to proceed.
Then of course;
“Oh my god, Daddy!” Trucy exclaimed as she saw the two men. Miles was sure he heard the ‘click!’ of a picture getting taken. The sound seemed to shake Maya out of her shock as she shook her head quickly.
“Fran sent you this, Nick. I’ll just leave it… here.” She said tossing two boxes on the nearby table. “Alright girls- move, move, let’s get the burgers.” Said Maya shooing them away from the room. “Ugh, come on…” Trucy tried to fight Maya’s shoving, Miles recognized the sheer excitement in her eyes. “Get on with whatever you two were doing,” Maya said with a smirk, Miles moved his hand from were it still was on Phoenix's face to fix his crooked glasses he forgot were still there.
“Er… thank you, Maya,” With two thumbs up the medium closed the door back up.
Miles closed his eyes in embarrassment and then he heard a sudden exhale from the other man. Miles turned his face to capture the exact moment his friend (???) burst out laughing.
Miles couldn’t have stopped the grin from forming even if he’d wanted to.
“Oh man, how much blackmail content is Maya going to get today?” Phoenix howled moving his hands to cover his face. Miles laughed while shaking his head at the other man.
“Phoenix Wright, as long as you exist there will always be something to blackmail you with,”
“Hey! Miles- What’s that supposed to mean?” Phoenix barked at him to which Miles just laughed. Phoenix seemed hypnotized by his smile. His hands moved to brush over Miles' blush, who leaned against his palm. Phoenix blush deepened, and only then did Miles take notice over the heart monitor, its volume not loud enough to be troublesome, yet not low enough to pass unnoticed after one became aware of it.
Miles smirked as he leaned down filled with confidence. He heard the monitor beeps becoming faster and faster. His gaze lowered to the defense attorney’s lips, eager to taste them again. The other man seemed to be thinking the same thing, with the way he pulled him right back in.
Careful with the attorney’s wounds the prosecutor spent the rest of their free time catching up on every touch the two men missed in the last 34 years.
The heart monitor speed only went up.
There was no way of erasing Phoenix pout once Nurse Kelly told him he was strictly under a fluid diet for the next three days. The smell of the burgers Maya had skillfully smuggled to the room made his stomach growl. He tried his luck with every person in the room, to no avail.
“Phoenix, no amount of puppy eyes will get you a bite. Stop it, you are embarrassing yourself.” The attorney scoffed, resting his head back onto the prosecutor's shoulder. They were sharing Phoenix bed, Trucy laying mainly over Miles, careful to avoid her Dad's injuries. Maya was slouched over the couch next to the bed with a sleeping Pearl halfway on top of her. The 27th episode of the Platinum Samurai was playing on the room’s tv. The tiny Steel Samurai pendrive Maya and Miles exchanged from time to time, plugged in the USB port of the tv.
Right as he took the last bite of his burger he felt a vibration in his pocket. After quickly cleaning his hands on the wrapping of said burger he took out his Phone, were a message from his sister awaited him.
Franziska
I noticed you forgot to text me after the fool was admitted.
It’s fine, I got his room number elsewhere.
6:58 p.m.
Miles remembered her sister asking him for it, but his mind had been occupied… elsewhere after the Attorney was lucid.
He looked towards the chocolate box in the nightstand, with the somehow hand written note of his sister saying;
Congratulations. You’ve chained yourself to the foolest fool there is
- F
Miles
One day I’ll figure out how you could have sent that note, given that you are in Switzerland.
6:59 p.m.
Franziska
Fool.
I wrote that note years ago.
7:00 p.m.
Miles let out a laugh. Phoenix looked at him but he shook his head whispering ‘Franziska’.
Miles
Was it Trucy that told you about it?
7:01 p.m.
Franziska
Truly the daughter of a lawyer, that girl.
She didn’t only tell me, she gave me
irrefutable evidence.
7:02 p.m.
Miles frowned. Irrefutable evidence? What was she talking about? His mind went back some hours ago- to the interruption that is- He vaguely remembered the sound of a photo being taken.
His eyes narrowed towards Trucy.
No, she wouldn’t have-
Ping! A new notification.
Franziska
Also,
148 beats per minute while laying down?
You should tell your fool to go check his blood pressure.
7:03 p.m.
- end -