Vanishing Acts

by ThePenguinLady

Summary:

What was the point of being a magician if you can't do a little real magic?

Trucy Wright hears something she wishes she hadn't and decides to go to the past to fix things. The only problem is, she's not entirely sure what she's supposed to change

Notes:

• For wonderlandwitch.

Is this thematically very similar to my last fic? Yep!
Do I care? Nope!
Quick reupload 'cause I bungled it the first time. I've written the first few chapter but will be staggering the uploads over the next few days/weeks.
Another one for my sister, who planted this idea in my head.

Chapter 1: Prologue

Today was the day.

After months of begging her daddy and weeks of waiting until Mr. Edgeworth’s next visit after he had agreed, it was finally time. Daddy was going to ask Mr. Edgeworth to formally adopt her. She knew he was going to say yes, but daddy said they still needed to ask, even though he had been to her parents’ evening at school, and he never forgot her birthday, and whenever he was in America he came to all of her magic shows. 

She loved Mr. Edgeworth almost as much as she loved her daddy, and she loved her daddy more than than the world, even if he could be sort of dumb at times. This was going to be the best day ever.

She watched the clock all afternoon, willing the seconds to go by just a little faster. A small huff of a laugh came from her daddy when he noticed, “He’ll be here, Truce,” he said, his lopsided smile barely concealing his own excitement, “He’s never late.”

As if on cue, a sharp knock sounded at the door and Trucy practically flung herself off the couch in excitement, her daddy’s huff of laughter increasing in volume as she bolted towards the door and stood on her tip-toes to release the latch.

The door swung open to reveal a slightly tired but still ever-pristine looking man, his silver hair somehow unrumpled after hours of travel and his suit looking as if it had just been dry-cleaned. “Hello Trucy,” he said fondly as he set his suitcase down.

Trucy flung her arms around him and squeezed as tight as she could, “Hello, Mr. Edgeworth!” She pulled away and bounced on the balls of her feet, “I’ve been practising a new magic trick, daddy said I can show you after dinner!”

She heard him walk up behind her and place a hand on her shoulder, still chuckling a little, “Let him breathe first, yeah?” He turned to Mr. Edgeworth, his face falling into that dopey expression he always had when they saw each other again after some time apart, “Hey,” he said softly.

Trucy rolled her eyes, “I’m going to my room to practice,” she said loudly before they started kissing or something. She looked pointedly at her daddy, “I’m sure you two have lots to talk about.”

She scurried to her room without another word, crossing her fingers that her daddy had gotten the hint and that he would ask Mr. Edgeworth sooner rather than later. She picked up the empty glass she left by her bedside for whenever she needed to eavesdrop and pressed it against her door, straining her ears as best as she could to hear them.

For a while they talked about the same boring things adults always seemed to talk about; the journey here, the young child who wouldn’t stop screaming on the plane despite the fact that Mr. Edgeworth always flew first class, the mix up with someone else’s luggage and the traffic. She heard Mr. Edgeworth softly chiding her daddy about not looking after himself properly, which he always did like some sort of ritual. 

She was all but ready to give up when she finally heard her name. 

“Y’know, Truce and I have been talking,” she heard her daddy say. He sounded nervous. Daddy never sounded nervous. 

“Hm?”

“Well, we’ve been together, what, three years now? And Trucy really loves having you around, and I…You know I couldn’t do any of this without you.”

Get to the point! Trucy wanted to scream, why was he making such a big deal about this? If it was up to her she would just straight up ask him, but she had promised to let her daddy do it, so she bit her lip and carried on listening.

“Wright,” she heard Mr. Edgeworth say. He sounded worried, cautious. Trucy was starting to feel worried herself.

“Just hear me out okay, this doesn’t have to be an immediate thing, but if you were gonna be around more or if in the future you came back to America for good, Trucy could use another father; one who’s a little more competent than me. Honestly Miles, I have no idea what I’m doing half the time, but I love her to bits, and I know you do too.”

Trucy waited with bated breath for him to agree, for him to say that of course he would be her father, that he would love nothing more.

She waited and waited.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

He said it so quietly she barely caught it, she wanted to believe she had heard it wrong, but as he continued she knew it must have been what he had said.

“I…I’m not cut out to be a father, not after what happened. I didn’t exactly have a good role model.”

She was surprised at the softness in her daddy’s voice when he responded. She had expected, perhaps even wanted, him to be angry, to tell him that of course he would be a good father, he already was.

“You’re not him, Miles. You’re nothing like him, you would never do to Trucy what he did to you.”

Trucy felt her blood run cold. She loved Mr. Edgeworth a great deal, but she didn’t always understand him. He had habits he insisted on that she never questioned, and there were times when he panicked so much that he passed out. She never asked him about it, but she was always curious if something had happened to cause such behaviour. 

She was starting to get an inkling as to who might be responsible.

“Maybe if we lived in a world where it hadn’t happened I could be her father. But it happened, Phoenix, and I can’t change that, I can’t change me. Not enough.”

Their voices had turned quieter, as if they were speaking about something so private and so secret that even the walls weren’t privy to it. She could no longer make out entire sentences, just fleeting words.

“...evil man…” she heard her father say.

“...sorry…”

Trucy pulled the cup away from the door and slumped to the floor, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. She furiously wiped them away; she would be eleven soon, she had to stop being such a crybaby. She pulled herself up from the floor to grab some tissues and caught her reflection in her mirror. She stared at her puffy red face and frowned. Was there something wrong with her? Was there a reason people never wanted her? Her first daddy had already left  her; everyday she pictured him appearing - as if by magic - and telling her he had come back for her.

(Guiltily, she had started to hope sometimes that he wouldn’t though, she didn’t know what she’d do if she had to choose between her daddies.)

She thought about what Mr. Edgeworth said as she blew her nose. Maybe if we lived in a world where it hadn’t happened.

But what was ‘it’? What was so terrible that it meant he didn’t think he could be a good father, and had it really been his own father who was responsible? She sighed in frustration. She knew if she asked they would avoid the question, they would tell her she was too young to understand.

She wished she could cast a spell to make it all okay. What was the point of being a magician if you couldn’t actually do any real magic?

But what if she could?

She knew there was something different about her, something special. She knew her daddy saw it too, it was why he took her to his poker games. She always knew when people were lying; she had thought that everyone could tell at first, she didn't understand why people even bothered lying. It was her second daddy who told her that most people couldn’t tell so easily, he’d seemed intrigued. 

Ever since then she had wondered whether she truly was magic and now would surely be the perfect time to test it out. She wasn’t sure exactly where she needed to go though. Some time in Mr. Edgeworth’s childhood, she imagined, maybe when he was a similar age to her; and she needed to find his father and find out what he had done, to see if she could stop it.

She thought about what her daddy had told her - her first daddy - about magic. That it was about making people believe they saw something that they didn’t truly see, or to make them not see something that they should. If she could somehow convince herself that she could change the past, if she believed it with all her heart, maybe, with a little luck, she might just manage it.

She squeezed her eyes shut and focussed on Mr. Edgeworth. She told herself that when she opened her bedroom door, she would no longer be home, but she would be where she needed to be to change things, in a time before she was even born, and then maybe, maybe , Mr. Edgeworth would say yes, he would want to be her dad.

Her daddy and Mr. Edgeworth’s voices had returned back to their normal volume as she reached for her doorknob.

“What kind of magic trick did Trucy want to show me, by the way?” She heard Mr. Edgeworth say.

“Oh!” She heard her daddy reply as she stepped through the doorway, but he sounded far more distant than he had before, “It’s a vanishing act.”

Chapter 2: Chapter 1

Trucy didn’t open her eyes straight away, but she could already tell that something was different. Worn carpet underneath her feet had been replaced by cool tiles, and the constant clicking of the old fan in her home no longer rattled in the background.

She counted to ten, and opened her eyes slowly, one eye at a time. She blinked.

She knew this room; had seen it multiple times before with both her daddies. In fact, the very last time she had seen her first daddy was in this very room, the defendant’s lobby at the courthouse, where she’d tricked that silly bailiff. She tried to bite back more tears. She had been thinking so much about her own daddy that she had managed the impossible, she had travelled - at least through space - and possibly time.

But she had come to the wrong place. She had meant to meet Edgeworth’s father, but her traitorous heart had led her to her own. Perhaps this was for the best, maybe instead she could stop her own father leaving, could beg him to stay so she would never have to sit at her bedroom door and have her heart break.

She heard footsteps approaching and steeled herself, painting on her best smile, she spun around as two complete strangers walked through the door.

They were both men, neither particularly old, but one clearly much younger. The older man wore a long coat and an old fashioned hat, the younger man trailed behind him, he seemed to be chewing on something. They both looked surprised to see her.

The first man smiled at her kindly, “I’m sorry young miss,” he said, “But I’m afraid you can’t be here, are your parents around?”

Trucy wasn’t sure what to say, her daddy warned her not to talk to strangers, but she really needed all the help she could get right now and this man seemed nice. If her plan had worked, she didn’t even know what year it was right now.

The man seemed to sense her apprehension and shook his head gently, “I apologise, ma’am, where are my manners?” He took off his hat and did a little bow. The lad with him made a sort of half-bow as well. “My name is Gregory Edgeworth, I’m a Defense Attorney, I work in this courtroom, this is my assistant Edward.”

“Eddie,” The boy corrected, smiling, “Nice to meet’cha.”

Gregory Edgeworth. She didn’t know Mr. Edgeworth’s father’s name, but this had to be him. She felt a little stunned. So she had succeeded after all, and if that were the case, she was probably safe using her real name; she didn’t even exist at this point, and she doubted he knew her daddy.

“I’m Trucy Wright,” she said, “I’m a magician!”

The man chuckled softly as he returned his hat to his head, “Ah, yes, I can see that.”

She squinted at him, she was often good at reading people and she had expected alarm bells to go off when she met the man that Mr. Edgeworth had sounded so fearful of; but the man standing before her seemed so…normal. Boring, even.

But if this truly was the man who had done something so truly awful to him that it still haunted him, she had to keep her wits about her, and try to stay close for now. She sniffled a little, trying to make sure she sounded convincing, “I can’t find my daddy,” she sobbed dramatically, “But he says I can always trust Mr. Edgeworth.”

It wasn’t even a lie. Not really.

Gregory Edgeworth raised his eyebrows, “Do I know your father?”

Trucy shook her head and wiped her eyes, hoping that she looked pathetic enough, “I don’t know sir, sorry, but that’s what he always says.”

She had to suppress a smile as she could practically see his thoughts whirring across his face. 

“I see,” he said slowly, “Well, come with me for now and we’ll try to find your daddy, okay?” He turned to his assistant, “Edward, could you find out if there’s been any reports of missing children please.”

Eddie gave a small salute, “On it, Mr. Edgeworth.” He turned to Trucy, “Don’t worry kiddo, we’ll find him in no time.”

“What’s your father’s name?” Gregory asked her and Trucy had to think fast. It was unlikely that Gregory knew her father, but not entirely impossible and it would be very strange if she said the name of someone who was likely a child right now.

She decided she would just have to play dumb.

“Daddy.” She said, looking innocently up at Gregory.

He nodded, “Ah, then, perhaps you could tell me what he looks like?”

Well, he definitely wouldn’t look the same, and she needed to sound convincing, “He’s kind of average height, he has dark black hair and he always wears a hat I made him,” she said proudly, “It says ‘Papa’ on it.”

Gregory nodded as he noted down the details in a small notebook, “That should help, thank you Miss Wright. When did you last see him?”

“Earlier today, at home.”

“Do you know your way home?”

She almost laughed at the question. She could easily walked from the courtroom to her home, but she had no idea what she would find if she went there right now, certainly not her daddy, or Mr. Edgeworth or even Charley. This time she had to choke back real tears as she said, “No, I have no idea how to get home.”

It was only now that she truly realised this. She had made it, miraculously, to the past, she was face to face with Mr. Edgeworth’s mysterious father. She might somehow manage to change things, to fix whatever broke in his past, but then she was stuck in a time that didn’t belong to her. She tried to remember if she had hugged her daddy today but she had been so excited to see Mr. Edgeworth that she’s pretty sure she didn’t. She wanted to hug him more than anything right now.

Gregory crouched down so that he was at eye level with her and offered her a handkerchief. It reminded her a lot of his son. “It’s okay,” he said quietly, “I will do everything in my power to find him and get you home, I promise. And a gentleman never breaks a promise.”

She felt her heart squeeze, she was sure she had heard Mr. Edgeworth say exactly the same thing. What on earth went so wrong?

She accepted the handkerchief and tried to calm her tears, “Can I stay with you until we find him?”

He smiled and stood straight again, “Of course, Miss Wright, or, is it okay if I call you Trucy?”

She nodded, “What should I call you?”

“Mr. Edgeworth is fine,” he said and she realised she had sort of referred to him as that earlier. It felt strange calling him that, although she couldn’t exactly tell him why. “I need to pick my son up from school soon, are you okay to accompany me?”

She nodded again and felt her heartbeat racing. His son. Mr. Edgeworth. Miles Edgeworth. She tried to picture him as a child, but he was so serious and put-together it seemed impossible.

She followed him silently as they walked through the courtroom. He glanced at her every few seconds, the concern on his face obvious, but he didn’t say anything until they bumped back into Eddie. “No luck sir, sorry” he said, “Thought for sure someone’d notice such a cute kid going missing.” He smiled at Trucy again.

“I’m keeping her with me for now,” Gregory told him, “I’m off to pick Miles up from school, do you need a lift?”

“Nah, you’re alright boss, I’ll try asking around a little more, see if I find anything.” He waved as he sauntered off and Trucy felt a little sad, she rather liked Eddie; she wondered what had become of him back in her time. Maybe he was dead too.

The court felt almost frozen in time, barely anything seemed to have changed in the decades that had gone by; she wondered if all courtrooms felt like that, age-old relics paused in time as the world progressed around them. Outside was a different story, even the car park was strange, the cars didn’t look familiar at all, there were certainly no electric vehicles, and Mr. Edgeworth’s flashy red car was nowhere to be seen.

Gregory Edgeworth had a much more understated car, although Trucy didn’t really know much about cars admittedly. She clambered into the passenger seat as Gregory sat down next to her and began talking again, “My son’s probably a similar age to you,” he said, “He’s called Miles, he goes to an elementary school not far from here, maybe you know him?”

Trucy bit her tongue, trying again to think on her feet, she really wished she had had time to come up with a convincing story, “Um, I go to a different school I think.”

“Oh!” Gregory seemed to perk up at that, “We could talk to your school, they’ll know your father and his address, I should have thought of that sooner,” he shook his head, “Which school do you go to?”

Trucy felt her mouth run dry, she hadn’t thought this far ahead at all, all she had been thinking about was that she had to make things okay, how was she supposed to realise her plan would fall apart because she wasn’t enrolled in a school?

“Um, actually, I’m home-schooled.” She said, knowing how unbelievable it sounded as soon as the words left her mouth; she had literally just told him that she went to school. She held his gaze, silently willing him to accept her lie for now.

 He regarded her curiously, looking as if he wanted to press her further, but instead he nodded and started the car, “Well, I’m sure we’ll think of something.”

Trucy kept her eyes glued to the window as they drove, once again in silence, once again with those wary glances directed her way. They drove past a stationary shop that she knew as a barber’s and a patisserie that was now a tattoo parlour; even the Wonder bar had a different name. It made her feel incredibly homesick, but there was something sort of special about it too, a window into the world as her daddy and Mr. Edgeworth knew it.

All too quickly they arrived at a school that as far as Trucy could remember was still going back (forward?) in her time. Gregory indicated for her to follow him as he got out and headed towards the gates. She could still feel his gaze watching her curiously but she no longer cared, she felt a rush of excitement, she was finally going to see him, little Mr. Edgeworth. Miles.

She scanned the children in the playground and spotted him almost immediately. He stuck out a little, in his suit, and his hair a silvery gray even back here, it was alarming how similar he was.

But then she saw the boy he was talking to and couldn’t stop the gasp from escaping her mouth as she threw her hand up to stifle it. 

The boy had messy black hair, spiked at the back and he ran his hand through in just the same way she had seen him do whenever he actually took his hat off. It was unmistakable. It was her daddy.

Gregory jumped a little at her gasp, “Are you alright Trucy?” he asked worriedly, tentatively putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Sorry,” she said, trying her best not to panic, “I thought I saw someone I knew, but I think I just mixed them up with someone else.”. She had no idea that they had known each other so long, and judging by the way that Miles was staring at her daddy as he animatedly explained something with dramatic hand gestures, they’d loved each other for a long time too.

Gregory sighed slightly, he definitely knew she was lying now. He followed her eyesight and she saw his face break into a fond smile. It made her think of her own daddy. She wondered if she’d ever see him again. Miles startled as his father called out for him and tore his gaze away from his best friend, saying a quick goodbye as he walked over.

“This is Trucy,” Gregory said as Miles drew closer and looked at her questioningly, “She  might be staying with us for a little bit while I look for her father.”

Miles nodded and held out his hand to Trucy, “How do you do?” He said politely.

Trucy had to bring her hand to her mouth again, but this time it was to stifle laughter. He really hadn’t changed one bit. Instead of taking his hand she reached her own hand behind his ear and pulled out a fountain pen. “Is this yours?” she asked.

Miles’ young eyes grew wide as he reached into his empty pocket, “How did you-?”

“Magic!” She said with a grin. She always loved performing tricks for him. As an adult, he was always trying to work out how she did it, although he rarely could. As a child, he was simply dumbstruck.

He frowned, “Magic isn’t real,” he said, “There must be some kind of trick.”

She handed his pen back, “Feels real enough to me,” she said as he pocketed it suspiciously.

Gregory smiled at the two of them, “It looks like you’re making friends,” he said to Miles, inclining his head towards her daddy, who was now talking to a boy in a vest and messy blond hair.

Miles blushed, “Oh, yes father, that’s Phoenix. And Larry.”

Hearing her father’s name made her stomach clench and she had to remind herself she had at least dodged that bullet. She had heard her daddy mention Larry too, but she had never met him. Apparently he was trouble.

Gregory nodded, looking proud, “If you’d like to invite them over at some point Miles, they’d be very welcome.”

Miles smiled and looked down at his feet, “I’d like that very much.”

Gregory nodded, “Excellent, just not tonight I’m afraid, we already have an honoured guest,” he smiled at Trucy. His smile always seemed so genuine and kind, Trucy wished she knew why she couldn’t sense what he was really like beneath it. Perhaps her powers were dulled in this strange time.

Speaking of, it occurred to her that she still had no idea what year it was; she didn’t know her daddy and Mr. Edgeworth’s exact ages, but she figured this was probably about twenty years ago. She would need to find something with a date on it. Gregory Edgeworth struck her as the kind of man who would buy a newspaper every morning, so she made a mental note to check when she got to his house.

Miles recounted his day to his father as they drove home and Gregory appeared to listen and respond to everything he said. Trucy frowned. The terrifying idea of Edgeworth’s father was ripping apart more and more. There was nothing about this man that would mark him as a bad role model, she was pretty sure she had heard her daddy even call him evil.

She looked out the window again, disquieted. She would have to keep her guard up, there must be something she was missing.

Surely it hadn’t all been an excuse.

He wouldn’t have done that to her.

 

Gregory knew that a lot of people found his son a little odd. He often didn’t mix too well with other children his age; his teachers called him an ‘old soul’ and he insisted on wearing a suit to school. Gregory thought he was the best thing he’d ever seen.

He did, however, find the child he had met in the defendant’s lobby that afternoon extremely odd. For starters, he wasn’t even sure how she ended up there, although maybe her magic tricks helped her sneak past the bailiffs.

He was pretty sure nothing of what she had told him all day had been the truth, it looked very much like she was making everything up on the spot.

But she was a child, and she was alone and he realised she probably had a very good reason to be lying. He had promised to find her father but the more he watched her, the more he wondered whether that was the safest thing for her.

He was pleased, at least, that she seemed to take to Miles very quickly, had seemed suspiciously like she knew him before, gasping when she saw him, but his son didn’t seem to recognise her in turn so he decided to leave it for now. He would need more solid information if he was going to question her. As suspicious as he was of her, she wasn’t a danger, and he had a duty to protect her, not interrogate her.

When they got into the house and he was taking his coat off, he noticed the girl make a beeline for a newspaper lying on the dining room table, “That’s yesterday's, I’m afraid” he called to her.

She glanced at it and shrugged, “That’s okay, I’m a little out of the loop.” She let her gaze wander around the rest of the house and then a little frown appeared on her face, “Do you have any other children Mr. Edgeworth?” She asked.

“Ah, no, it’s just me and Miles,” he told her, softly ruffling his son’s hair. Miles quickly sorted it back into shape, embarrassed.

She looked thoughtful, “Oh…do you have a wife?”

He supposed it was his turn to be interrogated.

“I did,” he said simply, and the girl seemed sharp enough to realise not to push that subject.

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly, “I just thought…never mind.”

Miles broke the awkwardness by turning to his father as he pulled a large book out of his bag. Gregory recognized it as one of his law books and tried to suppress a smile. “Father, I was reading this today and I came across a term I hadn’t heard before.” He flicked his little hands through the pages that looked comically large in comparison. “What does it mean if someone is declared dead in absentia ?”

Gregory didn’t miss the stricken look on Trucy’s face, nor the fact that she answered before he could, “It’s when someone is declared dead, even though there’s no body or hard evidence. So if there’s very convincing evidence to suggest they’re dead, or if they’ve been missing for seven years.”

Gregory stared at her, aware that his mouth was hanging open slightly, “How on earth do you know that?”

She covered her mouth with her hand, she seemed to do that whenever she was surprised, it was rather sweet. “Oh!” she exclaimed, “My daddy told me; he used to be a lawyer.”

He wondered whether that was true or not. If it was, it was possible he knew him, but he was sure the girl would deflect if he asked. He thought he may as well try.

“Has he ever worked here? I might know him.”

That little panicked look again. It made Gregory’s heart hurt, he wanted to hug her, but he barely knew her and wasn’t sure that was entirely appropriate.

“He, um, I’m not sure, since he’s had me he’s had a different job.”

He nodded. He figured her answer would be too vague to make any meaningful progress towards discovering her father’s identity. For some reason, she didn’t seem to want Gregory to actually find her father, despite her insistence otherwise and any reason he could think of for such persistence in concealing the truth made him exceedingly uncomfortable. He did not want to think about what her father may have done to her. 

If he was right, he also didn’t want to be the one to simply hand her back. But just keeping hold of a child could be classed as kidnapping, so he was in a rather precarious position. He decided he would go down to the police station in the morning, there was no harm in letting her stay the night, she didn’t seem to have anywhere else to go besides.

“Trucy,” he asked, trying to sound as gentle as possible. He had dealt with cases with abused children before and he hated it every time. Not that he hated children, but he could not understand how anyone could even think of hurting a child, let alone actually commit such an act. And every time it made him imagine it happening to Miles and he felt a kind of terror he didn’t know existed. “Do you have anything with you, or should we go shopping?”

She stared back at him blankly, as if the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. Gregory’s heart ached. What on earth happened to this poor girl to make her leave in such a hurry?

“I, I just have what I’m wearing,” she said quietly, as if only just realising herself.

“I’m not sure my clothes would fit,” Miles said thoughtfully, “And you probably don’t want to wear boy’s clothes anyway.”

Gregory smiled at his son, “Quite so, it appears we might be headed out again, you should both have something to drink first though.”

He poured them both a glass of juice as he checked his answering machine and tidied a few books away that had been left open. Trucy was showing Miles another magic trick, and he looked a little frustrated that he couldn’t work it out. Gregory had never thought about having more children, Miles was already more than enough, but seeing him with this girl who seemed to gel with him so easily made him wonder how things might have been different had he had a sister.

If Trucy stuck around, perhaps he would find out.

He shook the thought from his head, he was getting ahead of himself, but he felt a strange connection to this strange child that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. “Come on you two,” he said, “We should get going before the shops close.”

Trucy seemed a little more hesitant than she had been earlier, her confidence seemingly waning slightly as the day drew on. Gregory tried his best to be reassuring, “You may have to help me out a little I’m afraid, I don’t have any nieces or little sisters so I’m not entirely sure what sort of things I should be getting.”

She giggled at that. It was a relief to hear, and she seemed to relax a little, “You’re as hopeless as my daddy,” she said, and the relief quickly vanished.

Chapter 3: Chapter 2

Notes:

I can only apologise that this fic is so self-indulgent. I like to write more grounded stories usually, but I'm a bit of a sucker for time travel.
Also, I've tried to use American spellings for most things seeing as the westernised versions are set in America, but I'm a Brit and may have slipped in some British English in by accident, sorry!

When the earthquake woke Trucy in the middle of the night she didn’t recognise where she was at first. She glanced round the unfamiliar room in a daze, trying to remember why she wasn’t in her bedroom, and how she got here.

When the shaking stopped she was able to gather her sleepy thoughts a little easier. She was in the spare room at Mr. Edgeworth’s house, the one he had let her stay in after he had bought her new clothes and the pajamas she was now wearing, after he had cooked her dinner and smiled so kindly at her. After he turned out to be the exact opposite of what she had been expecting.

Then she remembered why she woke up. And she remembered why earthquakes always unsettled her. 

Miles.

She flung herself out of her bed and ran to his room, almost breaking the door down as she crashed into it. Inside she saw Miles sat awake in his bed, staring at her in bewilderment. She stared back equally as bewildered. She had expected to find him on the floor, shaking like a leaf and muttering to himself, the way she had seen him before when there had been earthquakes. Her daddy would always be next to him, comforting him and Trucy always felt at a loss, but it hurt her to see him so scared.

He didn’t look scared right now though, just somewhat disgruntled at being woken up. “Are you okay?” She asked cautiously, “You’re not scared?”

He huffed a little, “I’m nine, I’m not a baby. Besides, I’ve lived here all my life, I’m used to earthquakes.”

The landing light switched on as Gregory joined them, he looked sympathetically at Trucy, “I’m sorry, did the earthquake frighten you?”

Trucy frowned and looked at Miles again. She had always thought his fear of earthquakes had been a lifelong problem, but maybe that was down to whatever had happened as well, maybe she could change that too.

“I just thought Miles might be scared,” she said slowly, in case Gregory might offer some kind of insight.

He smiled softly, “No, I think he’s okay, aren’t you Miles?”

The boy nodded, looking proud of himself. Trucy felt a little foolish. 

Gregory sighed, “Well, we’re all awake now so why don’t I make us all some hot chocolate, and then you should try to get back to sleep. You have school in the morning,” he said to his son, before turning to Trucy, “And we should probably go to the police station.”

Trucy nodded; she figured she may as well play along, she knew he wouldn’t find any information there, there was no way to track a child who didn’t exist, but spending more time with him meant more opportunity to find clues as to how to stop ‘it’ from happening.

She still didn’t know what ‘it’ was.

 

Gregory had struggled to get back to sleep after the earthquake. Poor little Trucy had looked stricken, and he was touched by the concern she had shown for his son. But something about it still didn’t feel quite right. The way she had been staring at him, it was as if she had not only been worried that he might have been affected, but that she expected him to be.

He wondered not for the first time whether Miles reminded her of someone she knew, perhaps a brother or a friend. Maybe it was someone she lost. He would have to work out a tactful way of asking her.

He glanced at his alarm clock. 6:30 am. Maybe it was now just about an acceptable time to call Edward. The groggy voice that greeted him told him that perhaps he should have waited another thirty minutes.

“Hey boss, ‘vrything okay?” he heard Edward say blearily.

“Yes, sorry for waking you, I know it’s your day off, and I wouldn’t usually ask this of you, but-”

“You don’t even need to ask,” he heard his assistant say, cutting him off, “I’m not gonna leave some little girl stranded, where’d you need me?”

Gregory felt an overwhelming rush of gratitude and affection towards his young protegee, Edward would make a fine lawyer one day. He may have a few worrying habits, but his heart was always in the right place. The paper eating really did need to stop though.

“Could you meet me at the police station in about two hours?” He asked.

“You got it, and don’t even think about paying me for this by the way.”

Gregory smiled as he hung up; the future was in good hands if his son and Edward were anything to go by. 

As he got dressed and headed downstairs, he saw that Trucy was already up, boiling some water and reaching up to one of the kitchen cupboards to try to reach a mug. “Let me get that for you,” he offered, picking up a blue one. She had told him when they had gone shopping yesterday that her favourite color was blue, and he wanted her to know that he was listening to her, maybe she would open up a little more then.

She accepted it a little sheepishly, waving her hand in the direction of the kettle, “Sorry, I wasn’t sure what time you usually woke up, and I wanted some tea.”

He was surprised that a girl her age even drank tea. Miles did, but that was Miles.

“That’s quite alright, you’re always welcome to make tea, just be careful with the hot water.”

She nodded, her bright smile back on her face, she really was a very charming child. It didn’t hide the bags under her eyes though.

“Did you struggle to get back to sleep?”

“Yes,” she admitted, “I didn’t mean to wake you, sorry.”

“I struggled as well, to be quite honest, perhaps I’ll join you and have some tea; Miles should be awake soon. He’s never late for school.” 

They sat down together with their tea at the dining room table; Trucy held her mug between her hands, warming them as she chewed her lip thoughtfully. Gregory wanted so desperately to find out more about her, but he was worried that if he kept pushing, he would simply get more lies that she made up on the fly. He decided to sit quietly with her instead, and hoped she understood it as an invitation to talk if she wanted to.

She took a sip of her tea before looking at him, “Why are you being so nice to me?”

Gregory hoped with all his heart that the good future he had imagined earlier would arrive sooner; that the world would stop being so needlessly cruel to people who deserved nothing but kindness. “Trucy,” he said, trying to keep his voice even, he didn’t want her thinking that she had upset him somehow, “Are people not usually nice to you?”

Her little hand flew to her face again, “Oh! That’s not what I meant! I just…you don’t  even know me and I thought…I guess I thought you’d be different.”

He thought back to what she had said the day before, that her father had told her about him; but hadn’t he told her that she could trust him? Why did she expect him not to treat her well? He felt like the more he heard from Trucy, the less sense everything made. He definitely needed help.

Miles walked in, yawning, but he looked like he had just woken up. Gregory was glad someone at least managed to get back to sleep. “We might need to be a little quick this morning; I’ve asked Edward to meet me at the station at eight-thirty, so I’ll drop you off at school a little earlier than usual, then Trucy and I can head over there.

“I could walk,” Miles suggested as he poured himself some cereal, “It’s a nice day.”

Gregory hesitated. The school wasn’t too far, and he knew Miles knew the way. Other parents and children would be walking there too so there would be eyes on him, but having found a lost child stranded only yesterday had put him on edge. But it would save time, and he needed to let his son be independent. “Okay,” he conceded, “But stick to main roads, and make sure to look both ways when you cross the road.”

Miles beamed, clearly very pleased he was being treated a little more grown-up, “Yes father!” He said.

Gregory kissed his head fondly, “Good boy, I’ll see you after school then, have a good day.”

He saw Trucy watching them with a strange look on her face. He wondered if her father ever showed her any affection. He smiled at her, trying to look as reassuring as possible, “We should get going soon then.”

Trucy bounced up from the table to put on her boots, waving goodbye to Miles as she did so.

She seemed to be fairly relaxed again as they got into his old car, so he tried to test the waters again, see if he could prise some kind of truth from her. “Is it alright if I ask you a few questions?” He said gently, “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but it might help me help you.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

“Did you run away from home?”

She chewed on her lip again, “Will the police arrest me if I did?” she asked, sounding a little scared.

“”No, goodness, Trucy I’m not taking you there to get you arrested, I promise.”

“And a gentleman always keeps his promises,” she reiterated back at him, sounding much more sure of herself.

“Exactly. I won’t let that happen, so do you think you could answer for me?”

She seemed to think it over for a few seconds before nodding slowly.

Well that was a start.

“And is it that you don’t know how to get back, or is it that you don’t want to?”

“No!” She said, no hesitation this time, “I want to go back, I didn’t mean to come this far…or well, I did but I didn’t think it would be like this.”

“Ah, so you’re not from around here then?” He was a little surprised, her accent sounded local.

She looked back down at her hands, “Is it okay if I don’t answer that one?”

Gregory wondered if she was testing his assertion that she needn’t answer, and he was desperate to gain her trust so he acquiesced. “Of course.”

She smiled at him. It was small, but he felt sure that he was making progress with her.

He waited another minute before trying again, “You seem reluctant to tell me much about your home, or your daddy; I thought maybe you didn't want to go back.”

“I do,” she insisted, and then she faltered, “I’m just not sure if they want me back.”

Gregory very much wanted to tell her there was no possible way that was the truth, that she was a delightful young girl who anyone would love to have around. But her cryptic answers and odd behaviour still gave him pause. He didn’t know her family, and he had met monsters before.

“What makes you say that?” He asked instead.

Tears started to well up in her eyes and Gregory immediately felt guilty. He had pushed too hard. “Daddy only adopted me ‘cause he sort of had to,” she sniffed. “And…and his friend doesn’t even want to adopt me.”

A weird mix of feelings went through Gregory at that moment. On the one hand, this was an option he hadn’t considered, and meant that he had probably jumped to the worst possible  scenarios because of the nature of his work. It was possible that she hadn’t been abused at all. But rejection and neglect were still a very hard thing for a child to have to deal with, and it sounded as though a new woman in her father’s life wasn’t taking kindly to him already having a child.

“Is that why you left?” He asked, hoping he had gained enough of her trust for her to answer truthfully.

She didn’t speak, just nodded her little head again and sniffled a little.

“Thank you Trucy,” he said, making sure to sound as sincere as possible, “This will help a great deal.”

“You’re welcome,” she said politely. “Can I ask you some questions too?”

“It only seems fair,” he agreed.

“Do you know someone called von Karma?”

He frowned. “Yes, but not well, he’s the prosecutor on a case I’m working, is he a friend of your father’s?”

“He?” Trucy asked, looking a little disappointed, “Probably not who I’m thinking of then…unless,” she worried her lip, “was Miles’ mother married to someone else before you?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” he said, baffled.

Trucy looked very confused, “And you don’t have any other children?”

Gregory wished he could understand what was going on inside her head, what it was that had her so convinced he must be hiding some second secret child from her. “No, it really is just Miles, did your daddy say I had another child?”

“Not exactly,” she said, but she didn’t elaborate, and the little confused expression lingered.

He imagined that was all he was going to get from her for now, and they were almost at the police station. He parked the car and led her inside, relieved to see Edward already there. He wanted to talk to him in private, but the thought of simply leaving Trucy alone after she had just told him how abandoned she felt seemed cruel. He would just have to try to be tactful.

“Good morning Edward, any leads on Mr. Wright?”

Edward shook his head, “Looked up everyone with the name in the area, no one with a kid called Trucy,” he looked at her, “you can tell us your real name y’know.”

She pouted, “I did!” She insisted. “I’m just…not from around here.”

“And adopted,” Gregory added, “her father may have a different last name.”

Just then, an imposing figure walked into the station behind him. Had Gregory not known the man already he might have been alarmed but as it happened, he was the very person he had been hoping to see.

He was loathe to admit it out loud, but Gregory didn’t always trust the police; their relationship with the prosecutor’s office was uncomfortably close and there had been times where evidence in cases had seemed a little too…convenient.

But Detective Badd was cut from a different cloth. He was a man of few words, but what he lacked in vocabulary he made up for with principles. He didn’t kowtow to the prosecutors like most of the department seemed to, and didn’t even seem intimidated by Prosecutor von Karma, whose very presence sent a chill down Gregory’s spine.

 “Detective Badd,” Gregory said, removing his hat briefly to greet him, “I was wondering if I could have a word?”

“This about the Tangaroa case?” He grumbled, the ever-present lollipop in his mouth clacking against his teeth. Trucy was eyeing him warily.

“Ah, no, a different matter I’m afraid, I was wondering if we could talk in private.”

Badd narrowed his eyes at him searchingly before eventually shrugging, “...Fine.” Was all he said before sauntering past and heading towards an office door down a nearby corridor. Gregory assumed he was expected to follow.

He turned to his assistant and Trucy, “Could you two wait here briefly, I shan’t be long.”

They both looked as disgruntled as each other but Edward nodded, “Alright, Truce, what mischief do you wanna get up to while the old men talk?”

Trucy reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cards, “I could show you some magic tricks!” She said brightly as Gregory left them, silently praying that Edward didn’t try to eat one of her cards.

Detective Badd was standing behind his desk and staring out the window when Gregory entered the room; he had the distinct impression he was only doing it because he thought it made him look cool. Gregory cleared his throat loudly.

“I know this isn’t really your line of work,” he began as Badd slowly turned to regard him, “But I needed to talk to someone I can trust.”

Badd seemed genuinely curious at that, finally turning round completely to give Gregory his full attention. Gregory continued.

“I found a young runaway in the courthouse yesterday, I’m struggling to get much solid information out of her and it’s just a gut feeling but…something feels very off. She seems to know who I am, but only from being told by someone else, I can’t shake the feeling that she was sent by someone deliberately.”

Badd frowned, “A spy?” He asked, “She seems…too young.”

“My thoughts too,” he agreed, “I’m worried a rather…unscrupulous adult may have sent her, she seems completely out of her depth.” He hesitated before saying the last part, “She mentioned von Karma.”

A rare look of surprise passed over the detective’s face, “Von Karma,” he practically spat, “Would probably do something…like that.”

Gregory frowned, “I don’t know the man well, but I can’t say he left a good impression; would it be possible for you to find out any information, find out if he’s trying to disarm me or get information”

Badd huffed, “I…don’t have much of a relationship with him.”

Gregory sighed. It had been worth a shot.

Badd continued, “But…I have…sources…in the prosecutor’s office.”

Oh?

“I could ask around…try to see…what I can find.”

Gregory sighed again, but this time out of relief, “Thank you, detective, I know this is unorthodox but I’m worried; about her more than anything else, I’m not sure what kind of home she comes from…I don’t know whether I should be sending her back.”

“Poor kid.” Badd said, turning back to gaze out the window. Gregory took that as his cue to leave.

Thankfully, all of Trucy’s cards seemed to be unchewed when he found her proudly brandishing one to Edward.

“Was this your card?” She said excitedly.

Edward frowned, clearly frustrated that he was being outsmarted by a little girl, “That’s the fifth time! How’d you do it?”

He smiled fondly at them, “Detective Badd is going to help find your daddy, Trucy.”

Trucy looked at him and looked a little upset.

“That’s the first time you’ve lied to me.” She said, sounding disappointed.

Gregory blinked; the girl was sharper than he had realised for her age. He hated being the cause of distress for her, but nor did it feel entirely right to tell her he feared she was being used, especially without any kind of evidence to back up his claim.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and he hoped she knew how deeply he meant it, “I want to help you but I think we both need to learn to trust each other a little more.”

Trucy hung her little head, “No, I’m sorry,” she said, “I want to tell you more but, well, I don’t think you’d believe me for starters.”

Gregory placed his hand on her shoulder again, the touch didn’t seem to alarm her. “You’d be surprised at the kind of strange things you encounter as an attorney. Perhaps we can find somewhere a bit nicer to talk, do you like ice cream?”

Her face lit up at that. Edward laughed, “I’ll stay here for a bit, see if anyone reports a runaway, and look a little further afield.”

Gregory nodded, grateful, “Thank you, Edward.”

Chapter 4: Chapter 3

Trucy tucked into her butterscotch sundae enthusiastically as Gregory Edgeworth watched her over his tea with thinly veiled amusement.

“Can we try some more questions, do you think?” he asked when she was halfway done.

She shovelled some more ice cream into her mouth as she considered. On the one hand, he had been extremely nice to her and he reminded her so much of Mr. Edgeworth that it made her homesick; they even drank tea in a similar manner. 

But he had lied to her, she just knew it. She didn’t know what he had spoken to Detective Badd about, but it wasn’t her daddy, that was for certain.

“Okay,” she relented, “but I get to ask questions too.”

“Just as before, of course,” he nodded solemnly. “Would you like to go first?”

Trucy spun her spoon round her ice cream as it began to melt, she desperately wanted to know about her Aunty Franzy. She wasn’t sure exactly how old she was, but she always called Mr. Edgeworth her little brother so she figured she was a couple of years his senior. She made a mental note to start learning people’s ages. She knew Franziska’s last name was different, but mentioning it to Mr. Edgeworth’s father only seemed to cause him concern and felt like a dead end. It felt foolish to ask about it a third time, and she did have other things she wanted to know.

She decided to be blunt. 

“I heard my daddy call you ‘evil’,” she said uncomfortably, “Do you know why…why he’d say something like that?”

The little frown lines that she was used to seeing on Mr. Edgeworth’s forehead materialised on his father’s, “I- no, I’m afraid I haven’t a clue, truly. I endeavour to be fair but perhaps I defended someone your father thought to be guilty.”

Trucy shook her head, “No, it wasn’t that. Anyway, it’s your turn.”

Gregory continued to look troubled, “I was going to ask something else but, well, you sound as if you know why your daddy said that about me, is that true?”

Because of what you did to Miles, she wanted to say, but she still couldn’t wrap her head around that at all. She had never seen him act cruelly, or even lose his temper. Granted, she hadn’t known him very long. She tested the waters.

“It was, um, it was to do with Miles,” she mumbled.

For a brief moment Gregory looked stricken before taking a deep breath. “I see,” is all he said before taking a very deliberate sip of tea. Trucy felt a little bad for upsetting him. But he seemed off-guard, maybe this time…

“Does Miles have an older sister?” She asked more straight-forwardly this time, “I was led to believe he did,” she explained.

Gregory set his tea down and hummed thoughtfully, “He genuinely doesn’t, I’m curious as to why someone’s told you otherwise, he doesn’t even know any girls who could be considered close to that. You’re the closest thing he’s ever had to a sister,” he said and Trucy wanted to cry. She couldn’t exactly tell him she wanted to be his daughter when she was older than him in this timeline.

“You seem to know me, or at least of me,” Gregory stated, leading into his next question, “When I found you at the courthouse, that was no accident was it? You were looking for me specifically?”

Trucy took her time to finish her ice cream as she considered the best way to answer this. She wanted to trust him, but the truth was too strange, he would only laugh, and she had no way to prove it.

“Sort of,” she said, “it wasn’t an accident.”

Gregory looked pleased with himself as he sat back, “Thank you for telling me, Trucy.”

“What were you really talking to Detective Badd about?”

Gregory’s face immediately fell again, “Ah,” he swallowed, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk about that.”

Trucy gave him her very best death glare.

“He and I thought,” he said cautiously, “That perhaps someone may have sent you to find me, someone who doesn’t like me very much. We thought he might have sent you to spy on me.”

Trucy blinked, He was telling the truth this time as far as she could tell. She supposed she hadn’t been as subtle as she had hoped. “I hadn’t really thought of it like that,” she said frankly and Gregory looked surprised. “No one sent me, but I guess I did try to find you to watch you, kinda like spying. That makes it sound much cooler though.”

Gregory stared at her a little dumbfounded, his tea now forgotten in front of him, “I see,” he said again. “One last question for now, if I may?”

Trucy nodded.

“Why can’t you tell me who your father is?”

She didn’t know how to possibly explain that. Even thinking about her daddy was starting to hurt more and more. She wondered if he had even noticed she was gone, if maybe he was relieved that he no longer had to look out for her. Maybe he had already forgotten her altogether, left her in his past like her first daddy did.

“You wouldn’t believe me,” was all she could manage as she tried her best not to burst into tears.

Phoenix Wright had thought of nothing but Trucy for the last forty-eight hours. He hadn’t been particularly surprised at first to find her room empty, it didn’t take a genius to work out that she had overheard their conversation and gotten upset. She had been so excited at the thought of Edgeworth adopting her and Phoenix swore he could feel her heartbreak when he refused. He had sort of expected it, knew Miles too well to think anything different but he had hoped. Hoped that he could finally look past his own self-loathing to see that there were people who loved him, who were willing to give him a chance. 

Edgeworth had panicked almost immediately when they had opened Trucy’s bedroom door and she was nowhere to be seen, but Phoenix assured him she would be back in a few hours, had probably climbed out the window and found somewhere to hide so that they wouldn’t know she’d been crying. He kept expecting her to show up on the doorstep, smiling and pretending that she hadn’t shed a tear, laughing at how worried they’d both look.

But after two hours had passed, Phoenix had tried calling her. He heard her ringtone from her room, her phone still tucked safely away in her school bag; that was when he started to realise something was wrong. Trucy was pretty independent for a ten year old, often going wherever she pleased without telling him, but she always took her phone, and she always answered it. 

That was two days ago now, and Phoenix had tried calling every person he knew; he’d called Maya to see if she had sought refuge in Kurain village, he had called Detective Gumshoe to see if anyone had reported a lost child, he’d even called Larry in a moment of madness to see if he knew anything.

He asked Miles to call Franziska, he wasn’t entirely sure she would pick up if he tried.

She had been helpful at least. Franziska hated him, but she adored Trucy and as soon as she realised how serious the situation was she dropped everything to make sure there was an international AMBER Alert put out in an effort to find her. There had been multiple tips since, but none of them led to Trucy. Phoenix felt sick.

He had never imagined being a father, he felt like he was just about managing to keep himself alive most days, let alone take care of a tiny, vulnerable human who depended on him. He still felt out of his depth most days, but over time, and with Edgeworth’s help, he felt like he was finding his footing. He knew using her to win at poker wasn’t exactly going to earn him a father of the year award; but she was happy, and she was safe.

Or at least she had been.

He was wondering whether this was some kind of retribution when he heard his phone go off, he glanced at the screen quickly as he accepted the call.

“Maya? Is she there? Is she with you?”

“No, Nick, god I’m sorry, I called you to ask the same thing.”

Phoenix felt his heart shatter all over again; for a brief moment he thought he would hear her voice again, that she had simply gone to spend some time with Pearls after all.

“Nick?” Maya’s voice was softer than usual, “I’m sure you’ll find her. She can’t have gone far.”

Phoenix swallowed, “There’s no way of knowing that, she could be-”

“She’s not dead,” Maya cut him off sharply, “I, er, I tried to channel her, just in case. I’m sorry Nick, I know I should’ve asked you first but I was scared! But nothing happened, so I’m sure she’s still out there.”

Relief flooded through every inch of Phoenix’s body, he was more grateful than ever to have a spirit medium for a best friend. “Thanks,” he said thickly, “I just wish I knew where.”

He hung up, not sure he could stay composed if he had to talk to her any longer. “Still no sign of her at Kurain Village,” he said to Miles, who was sat next to him at the police station.

“Hm?” Miles said as he turned towards him. He sounded distracted, had been quiet and distant all afternoon. Phoenix knew neither of them were getting any sleep and he knew he should cut him some slack, but right now he really didn’t have the patience for it.

“My daughter,” he said coolly, “in case you forgot, she’s missing after you broke her heart.”

Edgeworth visibly winced. He had gone too far, he knew, but he was beyond caring.

“I hadn’t forgotten,” Edgeworth said and Phoenix inwardly scolded himself for feeling guilty at the pain in his voice, “I just thought…I think I might know where she went.”

Phoenix stared at him, trying not to completely lose his temper, “And you didn’t think to say anything?” he said through gritted teeth.

Edgeworth frowned, “It’s just a theory, I didn’t want to get your hopes up.”

“Okay,” Phoenix said, trying to remain calm, “So what’s the theory?”

Edgeworth shook his head, “It won’t make any sense,” he said quietly, “I’m not entirely sure that I’m quite sane right now.” He stood up suddenly, “I need to do something. If I’m right, I should find her.”

“ If you’re right? And what if you’re not?” Phoenix knew he sounded pathetic, knew he sounded desperate, but right now nothing else mattered but getting Trucy home safely.

He felt Miles’ hand brush his face, so gently he might have missed it were he not feeling so painfully on edge. “I’ll find her,” he said, “I promise.”

“Call me as soon as you find her!” Phoenix shouted after him as he left, before letting his face collapse into his hands. He heard shuffling footsteps and a familiar voice draw closer.

“Hey, pal, how ya holding up?”

“Just great,” Phoenix said acidly. He knew Gumshoe didn’t deserve his ire either, but that was a stupid question.

“Hey, when Mr. Edgeworth says he’s gonna do something, you bet he’ll get it done,” Gumshoe said in a way that Phoenix thought was supposed to sound reassuring.

“Yeah,” he said, still not lifting his head.

Gumshoe sighed, but he seemed to take the hint and left him alone.

The minutes seem to drag by more slowly than when he was waiting for Edgeworth to arrive from Europe. He kept glancing at his phone, willing it to ring, to hear Trucy or Miles bringing him good news.

An hour went past and his phone stayed silent.

Two hours passed.

He tried calling Miles, waited as the phone rang. And rang. And rang.

An automated voice greeted him, clearly Miles had no idea how to set a personal message.

“I’m sorry, the person you’re calling can’t come to the phone right now -”

He hung up and tried again.

“I’m sorry, the per-”

Something was wrong, surely. There was no way Miles would just ignore his calls at a time like this. A thousand thoughts and images ran through his sleep-addled mind. Edgeworth passed out after encountering a ghost from his past; Edgeworth’s lifeless body in a crash after going too fast in his stupid sports car; Edgeworth being held at gunpoint in an unfamiliar room.

He did his best to push down nausea as he left the station. He didn’t even know where to start looking, but he kept calling Miles’ phone, with the crazed idea that he might hear it ringing somewhere.

He found himself wandering, his feet simply leading his body and before he knew it he was almost home. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed Edgeworth’s car parked outside. He ran to the door as fast as he could manage, almost tripping over himself in the process. It was unlocked. 

He hesitated. That was unlike Edgeworth.

He had a sudden horrible sense of deja vu. His vision went white and all he could see was Mia, slumped over with blood gushing from the wound on her head. Was he about to walk in on a similar scene? Relive that nightmare all over again?

He took a few deep breaths and opened the door as quietly as he could. He couldn't smell blood, so that was a good start.

“Miles?” He called out.

There was no reply.

“Trucy?” He tried, clinging on to the last tiny scraps of hope that she might have come home.

Almost everything looked exactly as he had left it. The note he had left in vain on the table, telling Trucy where he was; empty cups that he hadn’t bothered to wash up or clear away; Charley sat unwatered in the corner. But there was one crucial difference, something that stuck out like a sore thumb.

Trucy’s door was closed.

He had left it open, everytime he looked over he half expected to see her there, pretending to do homework or practicing her newest trick. He tiptoed quietly over and pressed  his ear to the door.

Silence.

Slowly, he turned the knob and pushed it open.

It was exactly the same as this morning. Nothing had moved. And Edgeworth was nowhere to be seen.

Another idea crept into Phoenix’s mind, one he had not dared entertain but now loomed over him as he stood by himself.

Perhaps nothing had happened to Miles at all.

Perhaps he had simply left. 

Again.

Like he always did, whenever things got too much.

Phoenix let out a cry as he punched the wall, hitting it so hard he felt blood pooling under his knuckles. “Anything else you’d like to take?” He shouted at no one in particular.

He had lost his badge, his job, his reputation, his daughter .

And now Miles.

He sank to the floor, sliding down the wall as he did so. It made his hat come loose and fall unceremoniously next to him. He stared at the ‘Papa’ written on it; it felt like some kind of cruel joke right now. He had one responsibility left in his pathetic life; to look after the best girl on the planet. And he had screwed up.

“Where are you, Truce?” He said as he put the hat back on, “Where the hell’d you go?”

Gregory promised himself that he wouldn’t ask Trucy any more questions for the rest of the day. She had endured enough, and he wasn’t sure he could wrap his head around more of her cryptic answers.

She had as good as admitted that she was spying on him, but he had no idea to what end, or who for, or why they had given such strange information. Part of him wondered whether she had the wrong man altogether.

But she had mentioned Miles, and he had seen the way her eyes locked onto him immediately in the school playground the day before. There was no mistaking that.

Or so he had thought.

He watched her again today, the way her eyes swept over most of the children without a second glance, before fixating on where his son spoke to his two new friends.

But as Miles clocked their arrival and headed over, Trucy’s eyes remained firmly planted at the same spot. 

She wasn’t looking at Miles at all.

She was looking at his friend. With all the chaos of the past day, he had all but forgotten the boy’s name. Felix, was it?

As he drew closer, Miles seemed to notice her staring too. He glanced back at his friend and frowned, “Do you know Phoenix?” He asked her curiously.

Trucy’s head snapped towards Miles so fast that Gregory thought he heard a crack. “What?” 

“Um, Phoenix Wright, my friend, do you know each other?”

She seemed to catch herself, “Oh! Um, is that your friend? Nope! Never seen him before in my life.”

It was the least convincing she had ever sounded, she sounded genuinely rattled and Gregory felt something tugging at the corner of his memory.

Wright.

He had heard that name before. It was the name Trucy had given him. He wondered if the boy was her brother, but when he looked their way to wave goodbye to his son, he didn’t seem to take any notice of Trucy whatsoever.

He desperately wanted to know more. But he had promised.

Miles had made no such promise however, and as soon as they clambered into his car he looked sympathetically at Trucy, “There’s still no sign of your father?” he asked.

“Not yet,” Trucy said hopefully, “But I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.”

She seemed to be trying to convince herself as much as Miles.

“What’s he like?” His son queried.

Trucy smiled, a genuine brightness lighting up her little face, “You’d like him,” she replied, “he’s the best daddy in the world.”

Gregory’s confusion was quickly replaced with a rush of affection for his son when he huffed, “Well, that can’t be true, because that’s my father.”

Trucy looked at him thoughtfully, “Your daddy is pretty cool,” she said and Gregory couldn’t help but smile.

Later that night, Gregory was woken up, again , at an ungodly hour. This time, thankfully, the earth stood still, but someone else in the house certainly wasn’t.

He pulled on his dressing gown and quietly crept downstairs, unsurprised to see Trucy in the kitchen, once again boiling some water. Miles hardly ever woke in the night, ever since he was a baby he had slept well.

She looked up at him as he entered the room. “I couldn’t sleep, my daddy’s friend always says tea helps” she said. She sounded tired, and sad. Gregory wished he knew the protocol for these kinds of situations.

“I was thinking about what you were saying earlier,” she said quietly as she poured hot water into the mug he had left out for her in case of such a situation.

“Which part?” He asked softly, trying not to yawn.

“About me being a spy.”

“Ah.”

She giggled a little, “It’s alright, I was thinking, anyway, and I think I’m more like a secret agent.”

Gregory nodded as if he understood. He had absolutely no clue what she was talking about.

“I’m on a mission,” she clarified, clearly trying to sound professional, but her voice wavered a fraction as she continued, “I’m supposed to change something, but I can’t work out what.”

“Maybe I could help,” he suggested, “I often find things are easier to do if you have a partner. Edward often sees things in ways I wouldn’t even think of.”

“I like him,” Trucy said as she blew on her tea to cool it down, “he calls me ‘Truce’, like my daddy does.” She looked sad again and Gregory wished he had said something different. “Do you think he’s noticed I’m gone?” She mumbled into her tea. Gregory wasn’t sure whether he was supposed to have heard it or not. But he couldn’t just say nothing, not when she looked so small and so vulnerable.

“Of course he has,” Gregory said, trying to sound as convincing as he could, “any father would turn the world upside down to find his child, he’s probably missing you as much as you’re missing him.”

He hoped to god that was true; he knew he would for Miles, and this strange, sweet girl must have people out there who loved her in much the same way.

She hiccupped slightly as she tried not to cry, and before he knew it she had wrapped her little arms around him and was squeezing him tightly “I’m scared I won’t be able to fix it,” she choked between sobs, “Or that I’m stuck here and I’ll never see daddy again.”

Gregory tried his best to gently prise himself from her grasp and crouched so that he was level with her; he looked at her concerned, “You know I’m not keeping you here against your will, right? I made a promise, remember? I’m going to find your daddy.”

She sniffed and nodded, “That’s not what I meant…it’s hard to explain.”

He pulled her into a proper hug, “I’ll tell you what,” he said in what he hoped was a soothing voice, “we’ll go back to the courthouse tomorrow, we’ll try to retrace your steps, maybe we’ll find some clues. Does that sound good?”

She sniffed again, but she nodded as she pulled away and straightened up, “Okay,” she said.

“Good, now drink your tea and try to get back to sleep, we’ll need lots of energy for our secret mission, won’t we?”

Chapter 5: Chapter 4

Miles insisted on walking to school again the next morning. He looked so pleased with himself and Gregory didn’t want to embarrass him in front of Trucy, but he was so proud, and he was growing up so fast.

“I love you,” he told his son as he ruffled his hair lightly, “Have a good day at school, and stay safe.”

He  watched him walk down the road until he was no more than a tiny stick figure on the horizon before turning to Trucy. She was regarding him with the same quizzical expression she often did, as if she could work out what he was thinking if she just stared hard enough.

“Shall we get going?” He asked her as he donned his hat, “We don’t need disguises do we?”

She shook her head, “No, I think we'll be okay, hats will do,” she supplied as she perched her own little silk hat on her hair. “The game is afoot!” She said, grinning at him, bouncing up and down slightly on the balls of her feet.

“I thought we were secret agents, not great detectives.”

Trucy tapped her face with her finger, “Hmm,” she reasoned, “perhaps we could be a bit of both.”

The traffic was light on the way and they parked with ease. It was probably paranoia, but Gregory always expected things to start going wrong when everything kept going suspiciously right.

His fears were confirmed as he and Trucy hurried up the stairs to the courthouse, as he collided into a man he had definitely hoped not to see today.

“Apologies, Prosecutor von Karma,” he said as sincerely as he could manage as he took a small step back, “I didn’t see you there.”

Von Karma looked at him with that look of cruel dismissal he wore so well. “Attorney,” he barked. Gregory didn’t know whether von Karma had forgotten his name or just couldn’t be bothered to differentiate between people he deemed too insignificant.

He felt Trucy stiffen beside him, “Von Karma?” She said curiously.

Von Karma granted her about half a second of a glance before looking back at Gregory, “The court is no place for an infant; remove this child at once.”

Gregory placed a hand protectively on Trucy’s shoulder, “Trucy is my honoured guest,” he said coolly, trying not to betray just how wary this man made him, “and last time I checked, I don’t answer to you. Good day, prosecutor.”

He steered Trucy past him without giving him a moment to respond.

Once they were inside, Trucy frowned, “I don’t like him at all,” she said, loud enough that he probably still heard.

“No,” Gregory agreed, but much more quietly, “neither do I. But come, let’s not let him ruin our day, we’re almost ready to start our investigation.”

Trucy grinned enthusiastically and picked up the pace, she started heading towards the large, steep set of stairs that led to the second floor.

“We’ll take the elevator,” Gregory told her, “those steps will be a lot for your little legs.”

Trucy pouted, it was almost comical, “I always take the stairs, I’m almost eleven you know.”

He chuckled, “My apologies miss, allow me to rephrase; those stairs are a lot for my old knees.”

“Now you really sound like my daddy,” she said, giggling as she pushed the button to call for the elevator.

“You’ll understand when you’re older.”

She sighed, looking a little pensive, “Adults are always saying stuff like that, I’m perfectly capable of understanding everything now .”

As soon as the doors slid open, Trucy practically skipped out ahead of him, her mood already brightening. He followed her more slowly, wondering if he had ever had that kind of boundless energy at her age. She seemed to know where she was going, Gregory noted, which means she might remember more of how to make her way home than she had let on before. But he didn’t want to push her and get her to close off from him again so he simply stayed silent and watched her move to open the door to the defendant’s lobby where he had found her.

It had been just the other day, he still barely knew this girl and yet the thought that he might soon be separated from her made him feel strangely sad. He wondered if he could ask her father to keep him updated on how she was.

As far as he was aware, the lobby in question should have been completely empty, but as Trucy opened the door he heard the unmistakable cry of a man’s voice.

“Trucy!”

He didn’t recognise the voice, but it sounded rather frantic and strangled. He felt his heart in his mouth as he quickly picked up his pace, running towards the door; he was responsible for this girl until they found her family, he wouldn’t let her fall into some dangerous strangers hands now.

The door was still ajar when he reached it and made little noise as he pushed it further open. So little, in fact, that neither of the other people in the room seemed to take heed of him at all.

Trucy had practically flung herself into the man’s arms, her sparrow legs dangling in the air. He hugged her back just as furiously, his face buried in her hair, “You’re okay,” he practically choked.

Gregory felt his heartbeat calm significantly. Not a stranger at all, he realised. This was probably her father, he imagined he must have come to the courthouse to look for her. A stroke of luck that they had had the very same idea.

The man gently let Trucy down onto the floor and knelt on one leg so that he could look her in the face. Gregory was able to get a better look at the man’s face himself.

He looked familiar. A young man, he couldn’t be more than thirty, but his hair was already a silvery gray, just like his own son. The frilled cravat he wore reminded Gregory uncomfortably of von Karma.

“I’ve been worried sick about you,” the man said to her, “so has your father.”

“Oh,” Gregory spoke without really thinking, “I thought you were her father.”

“No! No, I’m not, I’m-” The man said hurriedly, Trucy’s face fell, and for the first time since he entered the room, the strange young man looked at him. As their eyes met Gregory felt a little light-headed. He had the same eyes as his son.

No, that wasn’t right. They weren’t exactly the same. The colour was identical, the shape. But when his son looked at him, there was a spark of pride in those eyes, childish enthusiasm and wonder. When he spoke about his friends they would light up just that little bit more.

When this man looked at him, his eyes were full of sorrow and pain. They looked like eyes far too old for the man who bore them, and they were haunted.

“Um, Mr. Edgeworth,” he heard Trucy say, but he couldn’t take his eyes off this strange man, this man who looked exactly how he might imagine Miles might look as an adult. Perhaps that’s why Trucy acted how she did towards his son, perhaps she saw the resemblance too.

“Mr. Edgeworth,” she repeated, “I think he’s going to faint.”

Gregory lunged forward to break the man’s fall as he collapsed. He had already been fairly close to the ground so he was unlikely to injure himself.

“There’s a bottle of water in my bag,” he told Trucy, “do you think you could get that for me? Or for him, rather.”

She immediately went rifling through his bag and ran back with the bottle clutched in her hand, “This happens sometimes,” she explained, “He’s usually okay in a bit.”

“Who is he?” 

“He’s a friend of my daddy,” she told him, she looked a little sad when she said it.

He wanted to know more, but the man was stirring, and Gregory figured making sure that this familiar stranger was okay took priority right now. “Are you alright?” He asked him as he blinked his eyes open, seeming momentarily confused; when he noticed Gregory, he looked almost afraid but when those gray eyes landed on Trucy, he finally relaxed.

“Yes,” he said quietly, “Yes, I’m quite alright.”

He pushed himself up, clearly embarrassed. Gregory offered him a hand but he politely declined, refusing to make eye contact as he got to his feet. He was still shaking.

“You should sit down,” Gregory told him, indicating to the couch, “You’re in no fit state to be going anywhere right now.” The man tried to protest but Gregory held his hand up, “And I have some questions,” he added firmly.

The man met his eyes for the briefest of seconds, that haunted look still lingering, before hastily looking away again as he grabbed at his arm. Gregory felt that same light-headed unease. Miles did exactly the same thing when he was upset.

“Who are you?” He asked. Trucy handed him the bottle of water and he drank from it slowly. He didn’t answer straight away. Gregory sighed, “Trucy said you’re a friend of her father’s,” he offered, “Is that true?”

“Am I dreaming?” Was all he managed in reply.

Trucy promptly pinched him on the shoulder, “I don’t think so,” she said as she did.

The man raised his eyebrows slightly at her, but he didn’t seem angry, “How did you get here?” he asked her.

“I don’t really know,” she said as she worried her lip, “I just thought about it really hard and it worked.”

Gregory frowned. What on earth did she mean by that?

The stranger looked equally baffled, “Was this the magic trick you intended to show me?”

“No,” Trucy laughed, “I didn’t know I could do this actually.”

Gregory wanted to interject badly, but he was worried that he might make her put her guard up, she seemed to speak a lot more freely, more truthfully with this man.

“Then why?” The man asked “Why did you come here?”

Trucy’s eyes were shining and Gregory knew she was trying not to cry, her voice came out a little thick, “I thought if I could make things better then maybe,” her voice wobbled and a tear fell down her cheek, “maybe you’d want to adopt me.”

Oh. When Trucy had mentioned a friend of her father’s who didn’t want to adopt her previously, Gregory had assumed this ‘friend’ was a woman. If he remembered correctly, gay men couldn’t adopt their partner’s children in California, but perhaps he needed to brush up on family law. 

“Trucy,” he said again, his voice cracking slightly, “You weren’t supposed to-”

“To hear that?” She cried, no longer even trying to hide how upset she was, “Well I did! I heard you lying to daddy! I thought you loved him but you told him all those horrible things about how your daddy was a bad role model and he did something terrible to you but none of it’s true!”

The man stiffened, his eyes widening as he tried to reach out to Trucy, to calm her down, “Trucy, please, don’t say any-”

She wasn’t listening, deliberately pulling herself away and running back over to Gregory, who was still trying to work out what exactly the situation was. Not only had he thought the friend was a woman, but he had assumed that she was resentful towards Trucy, but it was fairly clear that he cared very deeply for her. 

Trucy tried to glare at the man, but through her tears it didn’t look particularly threatening, “He’s been looking after me,” she sniffed, clinging slightly to his coat, “And he got me new clothes and let me stay in the spare room and he tried to help me find daddy and he loves you.”

Gregory felt like the world was spinning extremely fast. He wasn’t sure he was hearing Trucy correctly, she sounded like she was talking about him, but he didn’t even know who this stricken-looking, lost man was. This man who had his son’s hair and his son’s eyes and his son’s mannerisms.

His vision was still swimming, but through it he could just about make something out on the floor. When the stranger had collapsed, he had dropped his wallet. He snatched it up before Trucy or the stranger could stop him.

Focussing on something in his hand, narrowing his sight, made his vision a little clearer, but it did nothing for his head. There was a driver’s license in a transparent, plastic pocket, clearly visible when he opened it, with a picture.

A name.

A date of birth.

He felt his breath hitch in his throat. 

A ‘Miles Edgeworth’ stared up at him from the photograph, with the exact same birthday as his son.

“I don’t understand.” The words were barely a whisper, more to himself than anything; he glanced up at the man. At Miles?

On one hand, it felt like the only logical explanation, that this man was his son, every clue was there, it all fit. Except for the part that his son was nine years old, and should be at school right now. 

“My son,” he said, unable to keep the panic out of his voice, “Is he-”

“He’s fine,” the man, Miles, interjected, “he’s still at school.”

“How do you know that?” 

“Because I remember it,” he said slowly, “when I was nine years old, there was a girl, she stayed with us for a few nights, I never saw her again after that. With everything that happened afterwards I completely forgot about her,” his gaze turned to Trucy, “until you went missing.”

He was no longer even trying to hide it, this somewhat overdressed, eerily familiar man sat in front of him. He was speaking as if he really was his son. But that was impossible.

“I still don’t understand,” he said, “if he..if you are still at school then how are you also here, and how did you age twenty years in a matter of hours?”

He rubbed his hand over his face, “Trucy is…special,” he said, “I don’t really understand it myself, but she somehow, um, travelled into my past. I was able to follow her.”

Gregory sometimes felt that the world moved far too fast as he got older; right now it felt like it was going at lightspeed.

“You’re saying that in the future people can travel through time?”

“Well, not usually,” Miles clarified, “I certainly didn’t think it was possible, until,” his voice faltered, “until I saw you.”

Part of his brain, the logical, sane part, was screaming at him that this was some kind of trick or prank, designed to throw him off or to attempt to pry some kind of vulnerability or secret from him to use against him. The idea was too far-fetched.

But Miles was staring at him with his son’s eyes, silently begging him to believe him and his brain may not believe it but his heart knew that this had to be his son.

For a split second he felt a sense of relief, until he remembered Trucy’s words, and the abject look of fear on his son’s adult face when he woke on the floor. He felt like he’d been turned inside out.

“What did I do to you?” He asked, unable to keep his voice steady. Miles was his only son. He would never even dream of hurting him, but the haunted way Miles looked at him was threatening to eat him alive.

Miles’ eyes widened in horror, “No,” he rasped, "no, you didn’t do anything.”

He felt Trucy cling to him a little tighter.

Miles looked frantically between them, “I can’t,” he started to say but then a slightly resigned look crossed his face. He looked at Trucy.

“Trucy,” he said softly, “I know you’re angry with me right now, but I think I can explain.”

She looked up at Gregory and he realised she was seeking his input. He smiled at her, “I think we should hear what he has to say,” he said, his voice still unsure and unsteady.

She pouted, “You're just saying that ‘cause you're his daddy. But fine.”

Miles took a deep breath, “I was adopted, like you,” he said.

What? Miles wasn’t adopted, he was certain of that, had been there when he was born for goodness’ sake.

“I was a little older than you were when you were adopted,” he said to Trucy, but he glanced at Gregory as he said it and a strange feeling of numbness came over him.

“I’m going to die,” he realised out loud. It was the only possible situation that made sense. Death was the only thing that would keep him from his son.

Miles’ jaw was clenched, he looked like he was trying not to cry. “I’m sorry,” he managed faintly, “I didn’t want to tell you, but I don’t think Trucy will trust me unless I tell her the truth,” he smiled weakly at her, “you always know when I’m lying.”

Trucy had relaxed her grip a little and she started to stand a little taller, “So that’s it!” She sounded giddy, “That’s what I’m supposed to change!” She beamed up at Gregory, “I’m supposed to save your life!”

“You can’t.”

Miles’ voice sounded fractured, but he was looking at Trucy with a sincerity that almost made Gregory shudder. Trucy was unperturbed.

“We can! You know how it happened, right? We could stay here a bit longer, make sure things are different this time. You’d still fall in love with my daddy I bet, I know you already know him, I saw you talking to him.”

Miles’ expression softened considerably, “That’s probably true,” he said, “But other things would certainly change.”

“That’s the point. You’d keep your dad, you’d be happy.”

“But I would lose my sister,” he said quietly. His sister. The mystery girl who Trucy kept alluding to. So she did exist after all.

Trucy made a frustrated ‘hmmph’ sound, crossing her arms, “Aunty Franzy will be fine, she’s tough.”

Miles was clenching his jaw again, he looked like he really wanted to do anything but talk right now. He glanced worriedly at Gregory again. “No, she…her father…I couldn’t…” He kept trying to speak but the words seemed to consume him every time. Gregory instinctively drew closer to him. 

“She would be alone, with her father, without even a notion of love. And if I hadn't been there to draw his ire then she…I couldn’t do that to her. I couldn’t live with myself if I made my life easier at her expense.”

Gregory’s blood had turned to ice. He was glad he had only drank coffee for breakfast, because had he eaten anything he would no longer be able to keep it down. “Who?” He managed to say. He rarely got angry, but he could hear the rage in his own voice, pounding in his ears, “Who adopted you? Who hurt you so badly you won’t even let yourself adopt a girl you clearly love as your own? Who did this?”

Miles shook his head, “I can’t tell you that,” he said, and he sounded all of nine years old. Gregory is pretty sure something inside of him broke.

He closed the rest of the distance between them, sitting down next to Miles slowly, carefully, as if he might shatter into a million pieces if he didn’t tread cautiously.

“Because you can’t bear to see your sister in pain?” It felt strange to say that. Your sister. A girl he didn’t even know, but who clearly meant so much to his son.

Miles nodded, jaw clenched again in an attempt to stop crying, but Gregory could already see tears silently falling down his face.

“You are my son,” he said, “And I can’t bear to see you in pain.”

Miles sounded choked up as he spoke, “I’m not worthy of being called your son anymore, I’ve done things, unforgivable things, You would be ashamed if you knew everything I’ve done.”

Gregory reached out to Miles face, let a tear fall onto it as he smiled at him sadly, “Miles, you literally travelled through time to find the daughter of the man you love; you were just given the opportunity to prevent yourself going through god knows what and you refused because there was even a possibility that someone else might suffer for it. They are the actions of someone I would be extraordinarily proud to call my son. And,” he continued softly, “I would be proud to call a remarkable little girl like Trucy my granddaughter.” That felt even stranger to say. He joked about being old, but he was only thirty five; the idea of having a granddaughter made his head spin, the idea that he would be dead before she was even born only made it worse.

Miles looked at her now. She had been quiet for a while; listening intently to what they had to say. “I should never have made you feel like you weren’t wanted,” he said, holding out his hand to her, “I’m sorry.”

She reached out her little hand and placed it in his. “So it’s not,” she still sounded a little sniffly, “it’s not just ‘cause you didn’t want me?”

He squeezed her hand, “Trucy, I would want nothing more than to be your father, I’m just not entirely sure I deserve it, that I deserve you. You deserve much better.”

“I don’t want better,” she cried, “I just want you and me and daddy to be a proper family.”

Miles still looked torn. Gregory wished he could visibly see all the scars on his son’s heart, that it was possible to stitch them up and piece everything back together, to show him that there were people who loved him, and that he deserved that love, but he was just a man, and all he had were words. He moved his hand so it rested on his son’s shoulder. “I don’t know what you think you’ve done that’s so unforgivable, but the only thing I could not forgive is if you turned your back on Trucy right now.”

It wasn’t true; he thinks he would forgive his son for anything.

Miles made a slightly pained noise. Trucy stared at him, her young, bright eyes full of hope. “I can try,” he promised, and she flung her arms around his neck and burst into tears again.

“I need to get her home,” Miles said, slowly releasing himself from Trucy’s grasp, standing up and clutching at his arm, “I’m not very good at saying goodbye.”

Gregory wanted to ask him to stay, to ask both of them to stay, for him to get to know them properly, for him to let his son know that he was his entire reason for living. But he knew it would be selfish and cruel; they had people they loved too, people they couldn’t just leave behind. He nodded stiffly, not daring himself to speak. Then he pulled his son into his arms, prayed that he could somehow silently convey everything he wanted to say through touch alone. He felt Miles tense slightly at first, before hugging him back just as furiously. He almost cried with relief; this would be the last time this version of his son would ever see him, he couldn’t bear it if they parted awkwardly.

“I love you, Miles.”

“I love you, too,” his son replied shakily. He could have stayed there forever, but he knew the longer he did, the more painful it would be to see him go. He pulled away slowly, adamant that Miles knew he took no pleasure in separating from him. 

He turned to Trucy and took his hat off, just as he had when he first encountered her in this very room. He bowed at her, “I’m glad I got to meet you,” he said, meaning every word.

She giggled at the formality before hugging him, “I’m glad I got to meet you too, grandaddy.” 

He heard Miles let out a small gasp, “Wait,” he said, “before we go, you need to leave me, rather, you need to leave nine-year-old me a note, Trucy.”

“Huh?”

“It’s how I found you,” he explained, “you left me a note, and it never made any sense to me.”

Trucy nodded, pulling a pen seemingly out of thin air. Gregory thought he recognised it as one of his. He pulled his notebook out of his coat pocket, neatly tearing out a page for Trucy to use. “What did I write?”

“You told me if I ever needed to find you, to go to your room and open the door, and you’d be there.”

Trucy nodded enthusiastically, scribbling down something to that effect in very cute handwriting, complete with a few hearts for embellishment.

She folded it up and handed it back to Gregory, “You should probably leave first,” she told him. He nodded stiffly, and tried not to look at Miles, he was sure that his resolve would crumble if he did. He brought his hat a little lower over his face and forced his legs towards the door. He could see his hand trembling as reached for the handle. He dared not look back. He paused, treading unsteadily on the ground and forgot himself for a moment, finally allowing himself to look back. Just once.

He thought he saw his son finally say “Father” as the door slammed shut behind him. 

When he opened it again, the room was empty.

Notes:

Two shameless references in one chapter? It's more likely than you think.
Anyway, there's just one more chapter to go and then a little epilogue, I hope at least some of you are enjoying this!

Chapter 6: Chapter 5

 

“Do you know how to get back?” Mr. Edgeworth asked her when he was able to rip his eyes away from where his father had been. Part of her still wanted to stay, to try to make everything okay, but she remembered the look on Mr. Edgeworth’s face when he talked about Franziska. She felt guilty that she had never thought about what she must have been through too.

Besides, she really did miss her daddy.

“Not really,” she admitted, “But I wondered whether it’s a simple case of doing exactly the same thing we did to get here in the first place.”

Mr. Edgeworth frowned, “I’m still not entirely sure how it happened, I just did what you told me to do.”

“Oh, I just sort of told myself I could do it, to be honest.”

Mr. Edgeworth looked very confused. She sighed; she wished she could explain it to him, the way she just knew that she could do it, that it was that unwavering confidence, that certainty that had brought her here. But she had no evidence, no scientific logic behind it, and she had known Mr. Edgeworth long enough to know that’s the only way he would be able to make sense of it.

She grabbed his hand, “Just close your eyes and trust me,” she told him and he smiled at her. When her daddy smiled, it was like his whole face lit up and he would grin from ear to ear. Mr. Edgeworth never smiled like that; it was a small, reserved kind of smile, but it meant just as much to Trucy when it was directed towards her.

“I think I can do that,” he said softly.

She headed towards the door that Gregory had just left through, trying to keep her mind on her daddy as she led Mr. Edgeworth beside her.

“I want to go home ,” she said quietly, as if the universe itself could hear her and would take her where she needed to be. She squeezed her eyes shut and flung the door open, her heart skipping a beat when she felt the ground change from hard tiles to something softer and more familiar.

When she opened her eyes, something else soft and familiar was staring at her completely bewildered. 

It was daddy.

He looked awful; his eyes were bloodshot and his skin looked almost as pale as Mr. Edgeworth. He looked like he might have been crying. Trucy had never seen her daddy cry. It made her feel terribly guilty that it was probably because of her.

“Trucy?” He said as if he couldn’t believe she was really there, and then she could feel his warm, safe arms enveloping her, “Where have you been?”

Before she could answer he had stood up and pulled Mr. Edgeworth into a hug too, “You brought her home,” she heard him say into his shoulder. His voice sounded hoarse.

“I promised, didn’t I?” He said, reaching up his hand to her daddy’s face.

“And a gentleman always keeps his promises,” Trucy chimed in helpfully.

“I thought you left,” she heard her daddy say, “Miles I’m so sorry, I should’ve trusted you but I’ve been so messed up and I treated you like shit and-”

Mr. Edgeworth cut him off with a pointed sigh, “I think it’s me who ought to apologise, actually.”

Daddy finally pulled away slightly, and looked at him a little blankly, “What for?”

Mr. Edgeworth looked at her and gave her that little smile of his, “You were right about why she left, it was because of what I said.”

Her daddy looked at her too now, his expression almost a mirror of Mr. Edgeworth’s own, “You heard all that, huh?”

She shook her head, “Not all of it, but I heard most of it.”

“I changed my mind,” Mr. Edgeworth said quietly and her daddy looked at him with a slightly pained look on his face.

“But, I thought you said-”

“I know what I said. I was wrong, I can’t,” he cleared his throat uncomfortably, “I can’t change the past, but maybe I can learn from it. I want to at least try, if you’ll still give me a chance, I want to adopt her, I want to be be with you, I want-”

Trucy never found out what else he wanted because her daddy had grabbed Mr. Edgeworth’s face and started kissing him. She covered her eyes in mock horror.

“Daddy!” She exclaimed, “Not in front of the children!”

He laughed; one of those big, deep laughs he did that she had missed so very much, then he kissed her on the cheek just to embarrass her, “I missed you, kid,” he said, his expression turning a little more serious, “please don’t scare me like that again.”

“I’m sorry,” it was her turn to apologise now she supposed, “I didn’t think you’d be so worried.”

He smiled, more weakly this time. “Where were you?” He asked again, seemingly only just realising that he had never waited for an answer before.

“Um, well, when you were talking the other day I thought you were talking about Mr. Edgeworth’s daddy.”

Her daddy grimaced, and she felt a little silly. “You never said a name,” she huffed, “What was I supposed to think? I thought if I could find him I could fix things.”

“Truce,” her daddy said, in a kind way that reminded her a little of Gregory, “Edgeworth’s dad died when he was a kid. We were, er, talking about someone else.” He glanced apologetically up at Mr. Edgeworth. Trucy felt her insides squirm. She had an inkling of who they might have been talking about. She hoped she was wrong.

“I know that now,” she assured him, “I met his daddy and he was really nice, and he let me stay at his house, so you didn’t need to worry.”

He stared at her, looking more than a little confused, then he looked back at Mr. Edgeworth, “Did someone channel him?” 

“No, not since Misty Fey,” he tugged at the sleeve of his jacket, “Trucy managed to…well you see, she,” he frowned, “I really don’t know how to explain this.”

“I went back in time!” She told her daddy proudly. She hoped he would be very impressed, but he still just looked confused. He looked at her again. Then back to Mr. Edgeworth.

“You’ve lost me,” he finally said.

“It is as she says,” Mr. Edgeworth said quietly, “that was my, ah, theory that I proposed.”

“I think I need to sit down,” her daddy said, stumbling past them to fall onto the sofa.

They had tried their best to explain everything after that, but eventually Mr. Edgeworth told her daddy that he needed to sleep, that things might make a bit more sense if his brain was working. Trucy wondered when the last time he had actually slept was. At Mr. Edgeworth’s suggestion, he had conked out right there on the sofa immediately.

Trucy could feel the rise and fall of his chest as she curled up next to him. Mr. Edgeworth was sat on her other side. He had been quiet for a long time now.

“I met him,” Trucy whispered, careful not to disturb her daddy.

Edgeworth seemed to snap out of a daydream, “Hm?” He said a little loudly, then seemed to catch himself. “Met who?” he whispered back.

Trucy shuffled so that she was looking at him properly, in the eye, the way grown-ups did when they were very serious about something, “Franziska’s daddy,” she said, “Prosecutor von Karma.”

A look of horror dawned on Mr. Edgeworth’s face and all the colour seemed to drain from it, “Did he hurt you?”

“No!” She said, a little too loudly and she thought she woke her daddy for a second when she heard him stir slightly, but then his light snoring resumed. “I just saw him briefly, I didn’t like him very much.” She paused; she didn’t want to upset Mr. Edgeworth, but she had to know, “Did he hurt you ?”

Mr Edgeworth looked away and for a while he said nothing, Trucy was worried that he was angry. But when he finally spoke he just sounded detached. Clinical. “Yes,” he said simply, “yes, he did.”

Trucy shifted a little more so she could curl into Mr. Edgeworth’s side, “You’re not like him at all,” she said sleepily as she felt herself drifting slowly off, safely tucked between her parents.

Her parents. It was nice to finally think of them that way.

 

Phoenix woke up with an agonising crick in his neck and sunlight searing his eyes. He groaned and squinted his eyes open.

Yup. He’d fallen asleep on the couch, and his memories of the day before that placed him there were still making his head hurt. He rubbed his eyes and looked around properly; Trucy was curled up in a little ball next to him with a blanket tucked around her. She was home. Safe.

He pulled himself up, trying not to make noise at the ache in his muscles as he stretched and wandered to the kitchen. 

Miles was already there, standing in front of the kettle, which had finished boiling some time ago. Phoenix approached him cautiously and slowly wound his arms around his middle as he placed a soft, lingering kiss at the back of his neck.

Trucy had gone missing so soon after Miles had arrived, and Phoenix had been so frantic since that he hadn’t had a moment to appreciate that Miles was really here, still warm from sleep and smelling vaguely of flowers that Phoenix couldn’t name that always adorned his office.

“Morning,” Miles said softly and Phoenix could feel the thrum of his voice vibrating against his skin.

“Mornin’” Phoenix mumbled back, “You do actually have to pour the water to make tea, you know.”

Miles huffed a small laugh, “I got distracted,” he said quietly as he lifted the kettle. Phoenix kissed his neck once more for good measure before letting him go and leaning against the counter.

“Thinking about the batshit stuff you were telling me yesterday?”

Miles paused, his mouth a thin line, “You don’t believe me?”

Phoenix shook his head, “Nah, I do, it’s just…a little hard to get my head round, not gonna lie.”

Miles went back to making his tea, pensively stirring it as little frown lines appeared on his forehead. Phoenix thought it was probably a wise idea not to tell him how adorable he found it.

“What made you change your mind?” He asked, and Miles dropped his teaspoon on the floor.

“Sorry,” Phoenix said hastily, picking up the spoon “If you’d rather not talk about it.”

“No, it’s alright,” Miles paused and took a shaky breath, “I met my father.”

“Oh, god, Miles, I can’t…” Phoenix cursed himself; why did he never know what to say when Miles clearly needed him. “That must’ve been hard,” was all he managed.

Miles nodded, turning to lean next to Phoenix, “It was,” he admitted, but then hesitated, “but it…it was nice too, seeing him again, I - part of me wanted to stay.”

He was staring daggers into his tea, refusing to meet Phoenix’s eyes. Phoenix brought his hand up to the back of Miles’ neck, letting it rest there, “I’m not mad,” he assured him, “you came home.”

Miles finally looked at him, those piercing gray eyes making Phoenix’s heart skip a beat, just like it did every goddamn time. He thought he’d be used to it by now, but every time there eyes met he was reminded that Miles Edgeworth, prosecutor extraordinaire, renowned across the globe, still came home to him .

“He took Trucy in without a second thought.” Miles’ voice brought Phoenix out of his reverie. “He didn’t even know who she was, but he didn’t even hesitate,” Miles looked away again, shame creeping into the edges of his voice, “Unlike me.

“I was so afraid that I’d end up like him,” the acidic way that Miles said ‘him’ made it pretty clear to Phoenix who he was referring to, “that I made a decision that left her feeling unloved and unwanted.” He let out a small bitter laugh, “Which is exactly what he would have done.”

Phoenix felt himself physically recoil, but Miles didn’t seem to notice as he continued, “It was strange, seeing my father as an adult. When I was a child, he’d seemed so amazing, so infallible. Meeting him now made me realise he was just a man,” Miles smiled, “trying to do the right thing with what little he had. He chose to do good, even in a system that was stacked against him. I’ll never be my father, but I think I can at least honour that, I can choose to try.”

“Thank you,” Phoenix said, and he meant it, “you have no idea how much this means to her, how much it means to me.”

Miles met his gaze again as Phoenix heard a sound he had spent the last few days desperate to hear; the tiny pattering of feet as Trucy ran into the kitchen. “I’m staaaarving,” she said, “please tell me you remembered to buy food while I was gone.”

Phoenix grimaced, “Er, no, but I’ll think of something,” he said, “I always do.”

 

Gregory hadn’t slept well for the last few weeks. Immediately after, when the room had been impossibly empty, he had tried to convince himself that it had all been a hallucination; perhaps the stress of his job was finally catching up to him.

But he could feel Trucy’s note, all too real in his coat pocket and when he had picked Miles up, he had asked where she was. 

Seeing him again, running over at the end of the school day, had filled Gregory with both relief and sorrow. He had worried a little that having the same person alive at two different places at the same time might create some kind of paradox, like something out of a science fiction novel he had read when he was himself a child, but Miles seemed unharmed and unfazed by the day’s bizarre occurrences. 

He smiled and waved at his friends as he left the school gates and it had dawned on Gregory why Trucy had been so transfixed on the boy with the spiky black hair and toothy grin. That must be Phoenix, her father and Miles’ future…Partner? Boyfriend? Husband? He had never actually asked about the nature of their relationship. There simply hadn’t been time.

Time. Something he knew he was quickly running out of, the reason for his sleepless nights and anxiety-fuelled days. He had endeavoured to spend more time with Miles and to do everything in his power to clear Samson Tangaroa’s name before his inevitable demise.

He had been fairly successful at his first task.

Miles was even with him in court today, as the guilty verdict rang hollow in Gregory’s ears. He knew the man was innocent, but von Karma had played dirty. He had managed to at least make him take a penalty, but it felt almost trivial in the face of an innocent man being condemned to life in prison.

At least he had not been given the death penalty, he supposed. Knowing that you were going to die soon was a kind of torture no man should have to go through.

Miles looked surprisingly upbeat when Gregory met him afterwards, his young eyes shining with admiration. “You were amazing,” he breathed.

Gregory raised his eyebrows, “You are aware that I lost.”

Miles shook his head, “Only because that horrible prosecutor cheated,” he said adamantly. “One day, I’ll be a defense attorney just like you, and I’ll prove Mr. Tangaroa innocent.”

Gregory smiled for the first time that day, “I look forward to it,” he said, even though he knew he would never even see Miles finish school, let alone defend anyone in court. He headed towards the elevator, nodding to a bailiff who was already inside as he pushed the button for the ground floor.

Miles had just opened his mouth to speak again when it felt as if the elevator had been tossed by some sort of cosmic force. It took Gregory a few moments to realise it was an earthquake. The bailiff and Miles looked panicked but Gregory felt an odd kind of calm. He knew this couldn’t be how he died, because he knew that Miles had to survive this, he had seen the living proof.

The lights flickered and shut off, leaving them stranded in the dark. He squeezed Miles’ hand reassuringly, “It’s alright,” he said, “I’m sure it will be up and running again in no time.”

“I’m not scared,” Miles said, clearly terrified.

Seconds dragged into minutes which dragged into hours. Miles had eventually had to sit down, exhaustion and fear taking their toll. Gregory could feel the air getting thinner, could sense the man next to him becoming more and more agitated. But he knew he wasn’t going to die here.

Another hour passed and Gregory could hear his laboured breathing now. More worryingly, he could hear the bailiff shouting for help.

“Quiet,” he hissed, “you’ll only use up more oxygen if you shout.”

The bailiff ignored him.

“Quiet!” Gregory said, louder this time. The bailiff rounded on him, screaming something about how Gregory was stealing his air. Or something. It was hard to concentrate, everything was becoming sluggish and faded. He only just about noticed the man reaching for his gun. Releasing the safety.

He reached out in a panic, using all of his strength to twist the man’s wrist so that he lost his grip on the gun. He let out a shriek and Gregory felt hands enclose around his throat.

The elevator was still dark, but his eyes had long since adjusted enough to the dark to see the man’s terrified, livid eyes in front of him. He was beyond reason at this point, Gregory just had to hope that he would pass out before being able to finish him off.

He could see something else too. The dim silhouette of his son on the floor, reaching for the gun.

People say that in your last moments, your life flashes before your eyes.

That wasn’t entirely true. It wasn’t his whole life that he saw, just a few moments, from just a few weeks ago, when his adult son had stared at him with haunted eyes and an insistence that he had done something unforgivable.

It was then that Gregory Edgeworth realised that his son was about to kill him. And that he would never forgive himself for it.

He tried to cry out, but it was drowned by the sound of a gunshot.

Then the world went dark.

Notes:

Happy Easter!