-: Chapter 01 – Processing :-

Friday 6th of June
00:56 am
Wright & Co Anything Agency

Apollo turned on the light as he walked into the office, letting out a long sigh. 'Man this case is going to be the end of me!' He thought, as he walked over to the filing cabinet to start filing his improvements, and the court record. It was near 1 o'clock in the morning. Phoenix and Trucy probably already went to bed for the Wright & Co Anything Agency was all quiet. Technically, it had once again become a law office seeing that Phoenix had gotten his badge back. He went back to being an attorney, but for some reason the office kept its name.

Apollo did ask Phoenix about it once, to which he had gotten the reply that Phoenix had just been too lazy to go to the Chamber of Commerce to change the name of the office. "Besides," He had said, "Trucy also works here, and she does not provide law services."

Apollo looked over at the door where Phoenix' and Trucy's bedrooms were, and sighed. He sometimes wished he had the luxury to work at home. Well of course, it hadn't really been luxury at first. In the days when Phoenix had lost his badge, Trucy and he had no other choice but to go live in the same building as they worked. But after Phoenix' return to the legal system, the requests for the Wright & Co Anything Agency's defending services had grown from the 4 Apollo would get on a lucky day, to 100 at a normal day and 125 requests on a not so lucky day anymore. (Apollo and Phoenix now needed about five sets of extra eyes to get through all of that, and about 20 more clones of themselves to go to court for them.)

No, it was no longer necessary for Trucy and Phoenix to reside in the same building as they worked. They just kept living there because Phoenix was either too busy or lazy, Apollo really couldn't tell, to go look for a new house or apartment.

The office however had changed quite a bit. Once Phoenix started earning more money he threw out all the old and broken furniture and replaced it. Instead of stuff lying about everywhere he had actually cleaned up and kept clean the entire office, both of which had astounded Apollo.

Apollo groaned as he felt a sharp pain going through his neck. He actually still had a lot of work to do. He wanted to continue, but it seemed like he muscles in his neck were highly disagreeing with him. He looked up at the white analogue clock hanging on the wall. 1:15 am, it read, to which Apollo groaned even more. Even if he were to go home and rest, he wouldn't be home any earlier than 2:30 am, seeing his apartment was practically at the other side of the suburbs. "Great… Just great."

"Apollo, what are you still doing here?"

Apollo bolted up right, papers flying around and his muscles immediately protesting as he did so. He winced, leaning onto the cabinet for support. "Oh, Mister Wright! You scared me!"

"Yes apparently so, but that still doesn't answer my question." Phoenix said, leaning against the door that led to the bedrooms.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mister Wright it's just that the case I'm preparing for right now will start next Monday, and it hasn't really been easy so far. There's a severe lack of proper witnesses, and the actual murder weapon is missing. Not just that, but prosecutor Gavin will be prosecuting, so I have to go well prepared." Apollo explained in a babbly fashion, looking down to the ground with an embarrassed blush on his face. "But I think I can stop right now, and come back at 8 to finish."

Phoenix could swear he heard Apollo give Klavier's name a tiny emphasis, but shrug it off nonetheless, it wasn't his thing to go stick his nose in other people's love lives. "Nonsense Apollo, that would mean that by the time you get home you'll have about 3 hours of sleep before having to come back here."

"Yes… so? It isn't like I can't do it, I'll manage." Apollo said, almost insulted to hear that Phoenix apparently didn't think him to be capable to run on only a few hours of sleep, "If I go now I can catch the bus of a quarter to two."

Phoenix sighed, "No you will not, I won't let you go home at this hour of the day. I might not be your father, but I be damned if I didn't feel any responsibility for your well being."

Apollo crossed his arms and looked to his side away from Phoenix, "I'm an adult you know!" he said in a childish manner.

Apollo would rather die than admit it, but he enjoyed Phoenix looking after him every once in a while. It was too late for Apollo to really start seeing him as a father but he was grateful for having Phoenix taking him under his wing and accepting him in the family.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I'm not responsible for you. You're staying here for the night." Phoenix told him walking through the door leading to the bedrooms, "You go to the bathroom to brush your teeth. There's a spare toothbrush in the cabinet beneath the sink."

Apollo would've protested if weren't it for the fact that Phoenix had already left and that he was just too tired to pick up a discussion with the older defence attorney. 'Besides,' Apollo thought to himself, 'I think that he would have won anyways.'

Sighing to himself in defeat, Apollo entered the bathroom. He let the tab run while searching the cabinet below the sink for the spare toothbrush. He brushed his teeth in silence. Listening intently to the noises next door he struggled to work out what Phoenix was doing but was unable to.

After brushing his teeth Apollo walked through the door leading to the bedrooms, to find himself in another small hallway with three doors. "Mister Wright?" Apollo asked, trying to locate the older attorney.

"In here…" Phoenix' muffled voice sounded from the middle of the three doors. Apollo raised an eyebrow as he slowly ventured towards the door he heard Phoenix' voice coming out of. Slowly opening it, he saw how Phoenix was preparing a futon for Apollo.

"There, that ought to do it." Phoenix said more to himself as he stood up and admired his work. After a few seconds he looked up at Apollo, "Did you brush your teeth?"

Apollo didn't even notice himself nodding. He wanted to open his mouth to utter a 'thank-you' when Phoenix suddenly pulled a face like he had forgotten something, "Ah! Wait, hold on a sec!" he yelled as he ran out of the room into the hall way, before disappearing into his own.

When he came back he had some clothes in his arms. Putting them down on the small table in the corner of the room he said, "Here, I'll borrow you one of my t-shirts and a pair of clean boxers."

"Oh Mister Wright you…" Apollo started, but was once again cut off by Phoenix.

"Don't worry about it, now you go and get some sleep. I wouldn't want you to not prepare your case well just because you're tiring yourself out." Phoenix gave Apollo a hearty smile, before turning around. "Be prepared though. Trucy may come to wake you up. If she uses the same technique as she does on me you are in for something."

"I'll try and prepare myself." Apollo chuckled, picking up the clothes Phoenix had left for him. Once he heard the door of Phoenix' room close he quickly changed himself into the t-shirt and boxers he had been given. Looking down himself, Apollo noticed how everything seemed to fit perfectly. It looked like Phoenix and he had the same measures when it came to clothing.

Normally that would have been weird. No man of 32 could possibly be as slim as a 21-year-old. Especially since Phoenix had a much broader stature than Apollo. However, in the seven years of his disbarment Phoenix had lost a lot of weight due to loss of appetite. The cause, of course, lay with the fact that Phoenix had indeed been mildly depressed over being stripped of his badge.

After getting his badge back last month, Phoenix went to see a doctor about it and was diagnosed with being heavily underweight. The only reason he still had quite a broad figure was because of his well toned muscles. Other than that, the man's body had pretty much been reduced to skin and bones.

Phoenix was put on a diet to gain some weight, and had gained 5 pounds already. The doctor had said Phoenix needed to gain at least 25 pounds before reaching a mildly healthy weight for a male his age and stature. This startled Phoenix a bit, for he didn't know how dangerously skinny he was.

Apollo couldn't help but notice how Phoenix had seemed to liven up after starting to gain weight. He looked and acted more healthily, and started to be more energized. More like the Phoenix Trucy would describe him as when she first met him, before losing his badge.

Apollo couldn't help but chuckle as he got lost in his own thoughts. So much had changed indeed… Phoenix and Trucy were happy, truly happy. Phoenix no longer needed to keep up the appearance of being happy while actually being depressed. Of course, getting his badge back didn't immediately mean Phoenix wasn't depressed anymore. It was no wonder medicine to his depression but it had been a major help. Together with a healthy life style, and a therapy session every now and then Phoenix was slowly making a full recovery from his experience of high-treason by Kristoph Gavin.

'Kristoph…' The name rung through Apollo's thoughts like a shrill metallic screech. 'How could he? How could he deceive me? How could he deceive all those people? Killed all those people? How could he so heartlessly ruin Phoenix' life?'

Questions swam around in Apollo's mind. His hand balled into a fist in sheer anger. How could Kristoph deceive him like that? Why did he have to ruin Phoenix' life over one simple client?

Apollo couldn't help but feel disgusted with himself. He couldn't believe he had once admired that man. A murderer and backstabber posing as a defence attorney. Who could so easily spread ruin amongst those around him without regretting it. It sickened him.

Sure, Phoenix wasn't exactly a saint either. Hell, he made Apollo use forged evidence on his first trail. After the Misham case, Phoenix had explained to him why he had done so. Making Apollo understand that he actually had no choice, or else someone would have most probably died. Phoenix had never told him who it was that would have died, but then again Apollo never really pressed him about it. He figured that if Phoenix didn't want to tell him, he probably had a good reason not to.

To be frank, Apollo thought it couldn't have turned out any better. Losing his mentor at such an early stage in his career had opened his eyes. He saw that not everyone in the legal system was striving for justice. And it had gotten him being the apprentice of Phoenix Wright. the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright, as the tabloids and law students would like to call him.

Given, Apollo hadn't been happy at first, but after the Misham case he finally saw the true Phoenix Wright again. The Phoenix Wright he had admired during his days in law school. Suddenly Apollo noticed just how much he had actually lucked out.

Apollo sometimes wondered how Klavier must have felt. After all his big brother, the person he had always looked up to and loved so dearly, turned out to be a monstrous killer. A cold blooded murderer who wouldn't think twice about eliminating you if you got in his way. After the Misham case, and together with that Kristoph's second conviction, Apollo could have sworn he had seen Klavier pass him with tears in his eyes. He didn't really get a chance to see though, the reporters were all over him and wouldn't let him go before answering every single damned question they could come up with.

Apollo couldn't help but have sympathy with the poor guy. It had saddened him, angered him even, to see Klavier in such a poor state. Apollo long knew he felt more than just a professional affection towards Klavier. More than even friendship. But Klavier being the ex-rockstar that he was couldn't possibly be interested in someone like him. He could get every girl he wanted, so why would he go for Apollo. He was just an ordinary defence attorney, and a guy.

Apollo's stomach suddenly felt like lead, bringing him back from his thoughts. He sighed as he looked at the make-shift bed Phoenix had made for him. 'I guess I should go to sleep… I really need all the rest I can get for preparing that case…'

Turning off the light, Apollo forced all thoughts to leave his mind. After a bit of twisting and turning, he could finally fall into a dreamless peaceful slumber.

A/N: Hiya people! I'm back, and with a new fandom! This fic is going to be a KlavierApollo Pairing, and the sequel to it will be MitsuNaru or MilesPhoenix, pick your favourite. It will probably be a two-shot, and I'm really working on getting this thing actually finished.
In this chapter we have seen the introduction to the environment of the story, together with Polly pondering over what had happened over the last few months. Next chapter, we will see how Phoenix (evilly) thinks up a plan how to get the young lawyers together. Join me next time ^^.