I know, I should probably be doing Turnabout Witness. But I HAD to write it. I'll continue this, it'll probably end up being a 3-shot. IDK if it'll end up being romantic, though. Well, I hope you enjoy this. I always wondered where Apollo went during his leave of absence.

(O)

What the heck am I thinking?!

Apollo stood outside of the door to the Wright Anything Agency, after putting on the most emotional performance of his entire life. He had just told his co-workers that he was taking a leave of absence, but he wasn't quite sure where he was supposed to go. Well, I know that I don't want to go back in the agency, but I don't want to be alone, either. Clay's… not home, and I don't have a family to return to. Apollo began to walk away from the agency, refusing to look back. He felt his pockets, and realized that he had left his wallet in the office. Well, looks like I'm out 30 bucks. I'm not going back in there to save my life.

At least he had remembered his phone. He looked at his list of contacts, knowing that he had to stay with someone—anyone. Well, maybe not Alita Tiala. Why the heck do I still have her number in here?!

He scrolled down until a name caught his eye. I haven't seen Ema in a while, actually. This isn't exactly the best time for a reunion, though. He shrugged. They had met under worse circumstances, after all.

Briiiiiing… Briiiiiiing…

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ema. This is Apollo."

"Oh, hey Apollo! I haven't talked to you in forever!"

"Yeah, we haven't, had we?" Now, I'd like to stay at your house, because I think that the Wrights like a murderer more than me right now, and I don't want to be lonely.

"So, what's up?"

"Well… I kind of need a place to stay for the night."

"You have an apartment, don't you? And can't you stay at the Wright's?"

"Err… That's a really long story, actually. I need… Somewhere else to stay."

"Did something happen?"

"Yeah. It's not a great time to talk about it, though."

"Do you want me to pick you up?"

"Oh, you don't have to do that… I can walk."

"Nah, I'll pick you up. Where are you?"

"I'm around the Kitaki mansion, actually."

"Why the heck are you over there?!"

"I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going."

"All right, I'll be right there. I'll meet you at the entrance to People Park."

"Thanks, Ema. It means a lot."

He heard a crackling noise, and then silence. Apollo sighed, glancing behind him. He was somewhat surprised that nobody had tried to chase him from the agency, especially not Trucy. He really wanted to talk to her, and tell her that none of this was because of her, but he couldn't. She had looked more hurt than anyone, and Apollo could remember the look of pain that had shone through her eyes. He shivered, and not just because of his memories. The sun was high in the sky, but the cold December air easily passed through the thin blue jacket that covered his shoulders. He gazed into People Park, children running around and squealing in delight. He was beginning to wonder if Ema was okay when a small, beat up car appeared next to him.

"Hey, Ema."

"H-hey, Apollo." Apollo didn't fail to see her eyes glance down nervously at the bandages around his arms, even with an eye patch on.

"Oh, right. You didn't hear about the explosion, did you?"

"Explosion?! I think you've got a lot of explaining to do."

"You don't even know the half of it," Apollo groaned. The car began moving forward, and Apollo realized that he wasn't wearing his seatbelt. He finally buckled it in place, after struggling with his bandages for a few seconds.

"Don't worry about it. I'm here to listen, but don't feel like you have to explain what happened."

"Thanks, Ema." He stared out the window for a moment. "I think I just need to get my mind off of everything for a while, really."

"That's cool too." Ema paused for a second. "Hey, did you hear about what happened at the Space Cen-"

"Yeah."

"Sore subject?"

"You don't even know," he groaned.

"Sorry if I'm bad at being distracting."

"You're fine."

"So, do you just want to go back to my apartment, or do you want to do something?"

"Can we go to your apartment?"

"No."

"Sorry, I was just trying to be polite."

"Sorry, I was just trying to be rude." Ema smirked at him. It felt good to be treated like a normal human being, for once. Ever since Clay's death, he had been babied by everyone but Blackquill. Blackquill treated him harshly, as usual.

"I didn't know you could drive," Apollo commented.

"Lana taught me."

"Who's Lana?"

"Oh, Mr. Wright didn't tell you about him?" she paused. "Oh, sorry! Sore subject! I forgot! Lana's my older sister. A certain blue-loving attorney defended her once."

"It's ok, Mr. Wright isn't really the problem," Apollo laughed, without much feeling behind it.

"All right, good. Well, I met Mr. Wright when he defended my sister. You know that fingerprinting powder you gave me on the day we met?"

"Yeah."

"I gave that to Mr. Wright back when I was almost 16."

"Wow. How old are you now?" Apollo blushed immediately. "Sorry, bad question! Bad question!"

"You're lucky I don't have any Snackoos with me," she grumbled.

"You still eat those?"

"You can't just stop eating Snackoos. Once you have one, you're hooked for life."

"I had one before, and I'm not hooked for life."

"One bag. Is that better?"

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt." Apollo smiled for the first time since he had left the agency, the corners of his mouth tilted upwards just slightly.

"We're almost there."

"Really? I've never been around here before."

"Yeah, it's a dead end down this road." After about thirty more seconds, she pulled into a parking lot. She opened up her door, and Apollo did the same. "Well, this is where I live."