Hello, everyone! This is coming directly from my account on Archive of Our Own, but I thought I'd share it here in case any of you aren't acquainted with that site. I hope you enjoy!


February 24, 2:13 PM
District Court
Courtroom no. 3

"You've proven that the witness could've done the deed, ja? But as usual, Herr Forehead, you lack decisive evidence."

"That's… where you're wrong… Prosecutor Gavin." Apollo looked smug even though he was breathing as if he'd just climbed five flights of stairs.

"Then you have evidence that the witness murdered Ms. Happ?"

"It's obvious he has no idea what he's talking about. There should be some sort of punishment for making accusations against innocent people!" the witness said, sweat dripping down her forehead.

It was obvious the witness was guilty, but Klavier had always enjoyed watching Apollo's desperate attempts to pin down murderers. But Apollo hadn't yelled a single time throughout the entire trial today. He must've been quite ill.

"Mr. Justice, I'll have to give you a penalty for making baseless accusations."

"Objection," Apollo said quietly. The judge didn't notice that he'd said anything, so Apollo nudged Athena.

"Objection!" Athena yelled.

The judge was looking at the defense now. "I haven't… even gotten… to present my… evidence!" Apollo complained.

"You can't penalize him for not doing something if he didn't get the chance to do it!" Athena added.

"In that case, the defense will do the something I will penalize him for not doing!" The judge held his gavel above the podium as if he were ready for Apollo to fail.

"Before I present... my evidence… Miss Tiffaye? Can you tell me... the names of… everyone there… that day?"

"It was me, Audrey, Brian, Lillie, and Ms. Happ. But Audrey's prints are on the knife!"

"But Audrey was asleep during the murder! We already proved that!" Athena said.

"Was there… anyone else?" Apollo asked.

"No. But I don't know why you think it's me!"

Apollo grinned. "During the... investigation... we sprayed Luminol… On the carpet… Of Ms. Happ's office. Do you know… What we found?"

"How would I know?!" The witness was sweating.

"A bloody shoeprint… right next to… the victim's body." Apollo held up a photo. "The killer… took the time… to get the blood… out of the carpet. But they couldn't… scrub it completely. And that's… how we'll find… our killer."

"Care to explain, Herr Forehead?"

Apollo coughed. "The shoeprint… Is very small. A size five. So to... find our killer… all we need… to do… is play a game… of Cinderella."

"So we see who the shoe fits? Intriguing indeed." Klavier played a riff on his air guitar. "There's a song there."

"Well, I didn't do it!" The witness swung her leg on top of the witness stand. "I wear a size nine!"

"In that case… I would ask… that the witness… take her shoes off." Apollo crossed his arms.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because it's… impossible to fit… a size nine foot… into a size five shoe. But a size five foot… could fit into… a size nine shoe… easily." Apollo leaned over the defense bench and caught his breath, uncrossing his arms to support himself. Klavier was beginning to feel genuinely concerned, and felt no better when Apollo began to cough again.

Athena crossed her arms to replace Apollo's confident pose. "We already got the footprints of everyone else in the case, and their feet are too big! Care to compare, Tess Tiffaye?"

"You can't make me take off my shoes! You'll ruin my entire outfit!"

"It's only for a few seconds, witness. I know how important shoes are to a nice outfit, but the only pretty picture we need right now is the truth." As much as Klavier would've enjoyed listening to Apollo argue with the witness about her shoes, he looked like he needed to go home as soon as possible.

"What do you know about shoes?!" She demanded, balling up her fists.

"I modeled for eight years. I know a few things." He winked.

"If the prosecution sees the need for the witness to take off her shoes, I would ask the witness to cooperate." The judge frowned.

"No! My shoes... I won't take them off! You can't make me!"

"Bailiff, please take off her shoes," the judge ordered.

She had landed a good kick on the bailiff before her shoe was ripped off, revealing a very small foot. "No! This can't be HAPPENING!"

"The witness… was standing… over the victim's… dead body," Apollo said, leaning on the bench for support.

"And she tried to wipe away the blood, because she knew that if anyone saw how small the killer's feet were, they would know it was her! There's nobody else who could've committed this crime but YOU, Tess Tiffaye!"

The witness began to scream about her shoes and her boss, which would have been very entertaining if Apollo didn't excuse himself from the defense bench and walk out of the courtroom.

"I am ready to render my verdict," the judge said after the witness had been dragged out of the room. "But where has Mr. Justice gone?"

"He's not feeling well… You can deliver your verdict without him." Athena looked a little nervous.

"Very well. This court finds the defendant, Audrey Ming…"

NOT GUILTY

"And that concludes this trial. But Miss Cykes?"

"Yeah?"

"See to it that Mr. Justice gets some rest. I've never had a problem hearing that voice of his until today."

"Of course."

"And with that… Court is adjourned!"

Klavier took a few minutes to update social media, check his email, and organize his case notes while the gallery cleared. He was nearly finished filing the evidence back into his case binder when Athena appeared at his bench. "Can I help you, Fraulein?"

"I'm worried about Apollo," she said with a frown.

"Ja, I am too. What happened to him?"

"No clue. He's had a cold for about a week now, but…"

"...That didn't look like a cold."

"Exactly. I went into the defense lobby to congratulate our client, but he wasn't there. I think he's in the men's restroom." She gave him a pointed look.

"Ah. You need a man to check on him?"

Athena smirked. "Well, I don't need a man. But one would be helpful." Her grin, however, was undermined by the tiny face of terror around her neck.

Klavier smiled gently. "I'll see what I can do."

The bathrooms were unreasonably far away from every other part of the courthouse, and it was a two minute walk just to get there. "I feel like I should be celebrating with Audrey, but…"

"It's okay. Friends before clients, ja?"

Athena slumped down on the ground and hugged her knees. "Yeah…"

Klavier opened the bathroom door to find Apollo coughing and leaning over the sink. There was a bottle of Ibuprofen on the counter. "Achtung! Are you all right?" Klavier asked. Apollo jumped.

"I'm fiNe!" he said, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat. "I'm fine." He smiled.

"Fraulein Cykes asked me to check on you. Not to be rude, but you look terrible," Klavier said. Upon closer inspection, it seemed like Apollo was shivering. "Do you have a fever?"

"N-no." Apollo's voice came out as a squeak, and he started coughing. He grabbed the bottle of Ibuprofen from the counter and shoved it in his pocket. Wasn't that a fever reducer?

Klavier was nearly certain that Apollo had a fever, so he reached out to touch his forehead. Apollo tried to stop him, but he slipped and fell onto the floor.

"Herr Forehead, what is wrong?!"

"I just... have a cold," he said. "Nothing… Serious." He tried to stand back up but was shaking too much to get a hold on the floor. "Argh!"

Klavier reached out to try and take Apollo's temperature again. Apollo didn't have enough energy to resist, so he just sighed. His forehead was burning hot.

"Herr Forehead, I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No! You can't!" The sudden burst caused another coughing fit.

"You're horribly sick. I have no idea why you showed up to court today."

"I can't afford... a trip to... the hospital. Please just... leave me alone."

How expensive was a trip to the hospital? A thousand dollars, maybe? Klavier wasn't entirely sure. He had very good health insurance, courtesy of the Prosecutor's Office, so he'd never hesitated to go to the doctor before.

"You certainly aren't biking home like this." Klavier frowned.

"I'll be fine."

"I'll drive you. At least let me do that."

"No," Apollo retorted.

Klavier sat down on the floor of the bathroom and looked Apollo in the eyes. "I want to help you."

Apollo glared back. "I don't... need help."

They sat in silence for a few moments, Apollo's fast, raspy breaths echoing around the room. Klavier absentmindedly took in his surroundings as he wondered what to do; the floor was cold and the room had a sickly sweet chemical odor. He hated this. At one point the judge stepped into the room, stared at the two of them, opened his mouth to say something, and then left.

"What can I do for you?" Klavier finally asked.

"You can… leave…" Apollo began coughing again, holding his sleeve up to his face.

Klavier deemed that to be an unacceptable response. "How do you plan on getting home?"

"I can bike… I'm fine." His face was still buried in his sleeve, like he didn't have the energy to lower his arm.

"You can't even stand up, Herr Forehead." Apollo put his hands on the ground to try and push himself up again, but both of them were caught off guard when Apollo's sleeve was faintly stained red.

"Achtung! Is that blood?" Klavier asked. Apollo licked his lips and stared at his sleeve nervously; he seemed just as shocked. "No more of this. I'm taking you to the hospital. I'll carry you out of here if I need to."

"I told you... I can't... afford it. I don't have… health insurance."

Well, that explained him not wanting to go to the hospital. Klavier stood up and held out a hand to Apollo. He didn't take it. "If that is a concern, I can pay."

"No."

"Herr Forehead, I am legitimately concerned for your life right now."

"This isn't…" Apollo was struggling to breathe.

Klavier shook his head. "Do I need to call 911?"

"...No." Apollo decided to cooperate and took his hand. The effort of standing up, even with help, seemed to exhaust him. Klavier watched him nervously. He'd already fallen over once.

Athena was waiting outside, and she jumped to her feet when she heard the door open. "Is he okay?"

"Nein. I'm taking him to the hospital," Klavier replied.

"There's no way he agreed to that." Athena's eyebrows raised.

"You are correct, he did not." Klavier smiled matter-of-factly. "But he seems too out-of-breath to argue anymore." Apollo glared at him as he gasped for air.

Athena suddenly covered her mouth with her hand and pointed toward the blood on Apollo's sleeve. Klavier nodded, answering the unspoken question. "I'll call the boss and tell him what happened. You get better, Apollo!" Athena exclaimed with obviously false enthusiasm.

Klavier walked Apollo over to his car and helped him into the passenger seat. "Do you need water?" Apollo didn't reply, so Klavier shut the door and got into the driver's seat. Apollo was lying against the door, exhausted from the walk. Curse the unreasonable distance between the courthouse restrooms and the rest of society.

The drive was silent. Apollo could barely speak and he didn't have much to say; Klavier didn't have any more questions that seemed wise to ask. Klavier intentionally passed the Hickfield clinic and went to a different one down the road.

Once they arrived, he helped Apollo out of the car and walked him into the emergency room. "I really… don't want… to do this."

"I know. But this seems like the wisest choice to me right now."

They got in line at the front desk and waited until it was their turn, and they met a small man.

"Hello, and welcome to Grace Hospital. How can I help you today?"

"He was coughing up blood," Klavier said, motioning to Apollo's sleeve.

He seemed entirely unfazed. "I'll get you in with a nurse right away. Do you have a driver's license?" Apollo shook his head. That would explain why he biked to work.

"Then I'll need your full name, date of birth, social security number, and home address." He handed him a piece of paper, so Apollo filled it out and handed it back to him. "I still need your home address."

"I… uh…" Apollo stared at the ground. "I don't… have one," he said quietly. Klavier flinched and looked at him, but Apollo kept his gaze at his feet. Why didn't he have a home address?!

"Oh, I understand. We'll find you a nurse as soon as possible." He smiled. Apollo walked over to a chair in the waiting room with Klavier right behind him. He didn't say anything when he sat down or when Klavier sat down next to him.

Klavier tried to think of a reason he might not have a home address besides the obvious. Even if he had a roommate, he should still have an address, right? He wanted to ask him about it, but a public waiting room wasn't the place.

"Apollo Justice?" a voice called about fifteen minutes later. Apollo stood up shakily and walked over to a woman with a clipboard, Klavier by his side. "Please come with me." Apollo tripped as he walked through the door, but Klavier grabbed his shoulder before he could fall. "Does he need a wheelchair?" the nurse asked.

"No," Apollo said.

"Just because you can walk does not mean you should," Klavier replied. The nurse seemed to agree; she told them to wait for a moment and sat a reluctant Apollo down in a wheelchair. She wheeled him into a room and parked him in the corner next to a chair, which Klavier decided to sit in.

She took his blood pressure, which was a bit low, and his temperature- 102.4. If coughing up blood wasn't an indicator that something was wrong, his fever certainly was. And that was after Ibuprofen. How high had it been before? She checked his eyes, nose, and throat as well.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions real quick so we can get the right doctor for you. Is that all right?" Apollo nodded.

"Are you experiencing trouble breathing?" she asked.

"...Yeah," Apollo confessed. Klavier's eyebrows rose- he hadn't expected him to cooperate once he was in the emergency room. Perhaps he was too tired to be stubborn.

"Does it hurt to breathe?"

"Yes."

"When you take a deep breath, what is your pain level on a scale of 1 to 10?" Apollo took a deep breath in order to check, only to spur another coughing fit. She handed him a box of tissues.

"What… Is a… 10?"

"Pain you would pass out from. A bee-sting would be a five, unless you're allergic."

"Five." So it felt as if a bee was stinging him every time he took too deep of a breath. Wonderful.

She proceeded to record his medical history in great detail; Klavier tried not to pay too much attention, but he did find himself surprised by the sheer number of injuries Apollo had sustained before the age of ten. Had he spent his entire childhood in a cast of some kind?

Finally, after recording Apollo's medication history, illness history, lack of substance abuse, and lack of current sexual activity, she seemed content.

"All right. I'll share this information with my team and I'll be back soon. If you have an emergency, press the red button on the wall." She pointed at a glass box with a button inside and walked over to the doorway. "Oh, and please don't try to talk too much. At best, you'll lose your voice. At worst, you'll damage your lungs."

As soon as she was gone, Apollo leaned back in his wheelchair and took a few breaths.

"Why don't you have a home address?" Klavier asked. It was abrupt, but Apollo wasn't doing well with subtlety today.

"Long story. Need to write." Apollo made a drawing motion with his fingers. Klavier was a bit surprised by his sudden willingness to cooperate. He quickly fumbled around for his black case binder before Apollo could change his mind, opening it up and taking a pen and legal pad out of it. Apollo took them and started to write.

You can't tell anyone about this. Client lawyer confidentiality. Apollo wrote in neat cursive, although a few of the letters were disrupted by his shaky hand.

"Are you my client?"

Unfortunately.

"Then ja, I agree to your terms." Klavier smiled.

Apollo tapped his lip with the back of the pen a couple of times as he decided what to write. I couldn't pay rent. I had to go to the hospital twice because of the GYAXA case and I didn't have health insurance. I've filed a lawsuit for both of those, but civil cases take forever.

Ah… Civil cases. "Why didn't you have health insurance?"

I couldn't afford it. I had it until about two months before the case… Bad timing, huh?

"But you're a lawyer. Why couldn't you afford it?"

We have a pretty inconsistent case load. We'll go five weeks without a case and then have five cases in one week. I can't bank on having money every month until we get more clients.

"Then where are you living?"

There's a homeless community by the middle school I used to go to.

So he was living outside. In February. Klavier groaned internally. "You have so many people in your life willing to risk life and limb for you. You understand this, ja? So why wouldn't you tell anyone about this?"

It's really not a big deal to me. It's only been a few weeks, anyway. And it's not like I haven't asked for help at all. The Wrights are taking care of my cat.

"You were more worried about your cat than you were yourself?"

Calico didn't do anything wrong!

"Neither did you," Klavier said. Apollo frowned. "And if your cat deserved a home for that reason, so did you. You should have taken better care of yourself."

And that's why I'm sick. Thanks for your brilliant observation. Apollo looked frustrated.

"Did you not think you would get sick?"

I never get sick. But I guess being injured messed up my immune system. He underlined the word "never."

"So why didn't you seek help as soon as you felt ill?"

I just thought it was a cold. I didn't really want to bother anyone.

"You really had people worried."

That was precisely what I was trying to avoid. Apollo seemed depressed. He set the pen and legal pad down on the hospital bed next to him and reclined back in the wheelchair. Klavier decided to let him rest.

Apollo was asleep when the nurse walked back in. Klavier had almost dozed off himself; it had been a long day. "Is he…?"

"Asleep? Ja."

"We'll have to wake him up. We think he's either got bronchitis, pneumonia, or a broken rib. An X-ray should sort that out immediately."

Klavier gently nudged Apollo, whose eyes shot open immediately. "What?" He coughed. He was a remarkably light sleeper, even when he was this tired.

Klavier stayed in the room while Apollo was X-rayed. It was taking quite a while, and a nurse popped in at one point to tell him that Apollo was having a few other tests done. That was fine. There was a TV in the room playing Disney movies, and Klavier needed a bit of "Hakuna Matata" right about then.

After quite the movie marathon, Apollo was wheeled back into the room. He got into the bed this time, and fell asleep while a doctor filled Klavier in. "He has bronchitis, but it's a pretty severe case. We're doing a few tests to see if the infection is bacterial or viral. We looked into him coughing up blood… Would you say he's been overexerting himself?"

"He biked to work today."

"...That would do it. It's nothing life-threatening at this point, but he's really slowing the recovery process. If he doesn't take a week or two to rest, he could permanently damage his lungs. So no exercise, no yelling, no singing, and no playing wind instruments." He sighed. "If you would do it in a marching band, it's off-limits."

The doctor told Klavier that the tests wouldn't come back until the morning, and that he should let Apollo sleep until they had the results. "He should probably be on a fever reducer, but that can wait until he wakes up."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. You should probably get some sleep too, unless you want to get bronchitis yourself."

"Ja, I will."

The doctor closed the door behind him, and Klavier checked his phone. It was past 2am- when had that happened? Klavier was sure they'd arrived at around 4pm. How long had he been watching Disney movies?

He unlocked his phone and emailed his boss to tell him that he wouldn't be going into work the following morning; it worked out well that Klavier didn't have a trial that day.

He then realized he had a lot of texts, so he opened a few of them from an unknown number.

Hi, this is Athena. I got your number from Trucy. How's Apollo? 6:07pm.

Is everything okay? 7:34pm.

I don't know how good your reception is, but text me back whenever you can. Trucy's all smiles, but I can tell she's worried, and the Boss is, too.8:57pm.

And then there were no fewer than seventeen from the Fraulein Magician.

Athena said Polly's in the hospital. 4:03pm.

Is he okay? 4:04pm.

He had a cold all week, but it started getting worse… 4:15pm.

Please text me back when you can. I really want to see him. 4:46pm.

Athena said she thought he coughed up blood... 6:11pm.

He's going to be okay, right? 6:12pm.

She also said he didn't yell at all in court today? 6:14pm.

Oh, I'm sure he's fine. 6:15pm.

Please tell me what's going on. An "I don't know" is fine. 7:53pm.

I've been doing magic tricks to cheer everyone up, but they aren't really working. 7:59pm.

I'm sorry I've been texting you so much… this is kinda ridiculous, huh? 8:44pm.

But don't worry about me. This is good practice for my magic acts- if I can keep a smile on my face now, I can keep a smile on my face any day! 8:45pm.

Any news? 9:39pm.

I feel so useless right now. 10:10pm.

I can't sleep. So don't worry about waking me up when you see all of these. 12:36am.

Sorry for spamming your phone. 1:53am.

I just don't know what else to do. 1:55am.

Klavier felt terrible. He probably should have been updating them instead of watching Disney movies, but he hadn't thought to check his phone since they'd arrived.

He texted Athena first, because that was easier: I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner. He's fine, he just has a bad case of bronchitis. Nothing life-threatening.

But he called Trucy, since she was clearly awake. But perhaps that wasn't the best idea, because she immediately assumed that Klavier had called her to tell her that Apollo had passed away.

He eventually had to switch to a video call so Trucy could see with her own eyes that Apollo was actually breathing (kind of), and she seemed much calmer after that. "Daddy! He's okay!"

"Oh, thank goodness!" came his muffled reply.

When they finally hung up, Klavier was exhausted. He crossed his arms over the edge of the hospital bed and used the crook of his arm as a pillow.

He fell asleep almost immediately.