A little something I thought of while replaying AJ. I don't know any rights to Ace Attorney. Enjoy!

Apollo's breath was coming out in rapid bursts as his legs continued to fly up the stairs. Phoenix had asked him to arrive at the Agency at a specific time today, although he refused to say why. But of course Apollo was drastically late. So being the brilliantly logical person he was, he had decided to try running up the stairs. This- as he was now discovering- was a very bad idea. After all, the office was quite a few floors up. So by the time he actually made it, he was over half an hour late and he could barely move. Sweat was dripping down his face and he was certain his lungs would explode. Which of course was the exact moment Phoenix opened the door.

"I was worried you weren't coming"

Apollo attempted to reply but all that came out of his mouth was a vague squeak. Phoenix smiled before ushering him inside. The young attorney was so caught up in trying to get his breath back that he almost missed the man sitting on the couch. He was older than Apollo, maybe Phoenix's age but his smokey grey hair seemed to suggest otherwise.

"Oh. Hello" Apollo said warily to the stranger.

"I take it you're Apollo Justice?" The man stood and swiftly offered Apollo his hand, which he shook after a moment of hesitation.

"Apollo, this is Miles Edgeworth" Phoenix finally said, which made Apollo feel a little more relaxed.

"Will I be defending him?"

Phoenix laughed a little before replying.

"Thankfully no. For which you should be grateful. I know for a fact that he is a difficult guy to defend"

"Watch it, Wright"

"No need to get defensive, you know it's true"

"Well I'd hardly say you're an easy man to prosecute"

"But that's because I was innocent!"

Apollo awkwardly coughed and both heads snapped towards him. Phoenix smiled a little and Edgeworth turned to half-heartedly glare at his friend for a little longer before sitting himself back down on the couch.

"Um, I don't mean to be rude but... why exactly am I here?" Apollo asked, gradually growing more and more annoyed that he had apparently run up six flights of stairs for no reason.

"Oh don't worry, you'll see as soon as everyone gets here" Phoenix replied with a smirk.

"Polly! Daddy wasn't sure if you were going to make it"

Apollo beamed before he even turned around. Trucy practically bounded over to him and hugged him, which he instantly returned. Once she let go of him, Apollo turned back to face Phoenix. But before anyone could say anything, the door swung open. In the doorway stood a woman who seemed to have also run up the stairs- but she was coping with it a lot of more gracefully than Apollo had done. She looked younger than Phoenix but not too much younger, she wore a short purple dress with a wide sash wrapped around her waist and her hair was pinned back off her face. There was a strangely wise glow in her eyes for someone so young and a bright smile resting on her lips.

"Nick!" she almost yelled and instantly tackled Apollo's boss into the most enthusiastic hug Apollo had ever seen. He laughed before wrapping his arms around her small body in reply. Once they finally let go of each other, Trucy ran straight into her arms. The mysterious woman picked her up and swung her around a few times, causing Trucy to giggle before putting her back safely to the floor and turning to Edgeworth who was now standing next to Phoenix with a faint smile on his face.

"Don't think you're getting out of a hug too Edgeworth" she laughed before hugging him tightly. He paused for a moment before chuckling and lightly squeezing her back. Then she turned to Apollo and he completely froze.

"Apollo Justice! It's so nice to finally meet you" she smiled over at him and Apollo's heart skipped about four beats.

"Apollo, please meet my ex-assistance, aka. Master of the Kurian Channelling Technique, Maya Fey"

"Oh stop it Nick, you're embarrassing me" Maya giggled and lightly hit Phoenix on the arm. Apollo finally regained the control of his muscles and he took a few steps towards her.

"So you're Maya, huh? I feel like I know you already from everything Mr Wright has told me about you"

She smiled down at her feet at his comment before laughing.

"Do you really call him 'Mr Wright'? Wow, that's so formal. It doesn't suit him. 'Nick' is simpler, so it's much more fitting"

"Hey!" Phoenix reached out to playfully slap Maya's arm but she easily dogged him and ran to hide behind Apollo. Her hands squeezed his forearms gently and Apollo gulped slightly.

"You'd protect me, wouldn't you Apollo" Maya whispered in his ear and Apollo involuntary shivered. Smirking, she gave his arms a final squeeze before stepping out to stand beside him, their shoulders gently brushing if Apollo leaned the right way.

"Now all we have to do is wait for-" Phoenix started to say but was cut off when the door burst open yet again.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late" Athena beamed over at their boss. She too had clearly run all the way up the stairs but Apollo knew she could do that all day and never get tired. Where the hell did she store all that energy?

"Athena, you were supposed to be here almost an hour ago" Phoenix joked and she sheepishly smiled and looked down at her feet. She was quickly introduced to Edgeworth and Maya and eventually everyone found themselves sat on the two couches in the middle of the office; Phoenix and Edgeworth sitting comfortably on one and Athena, Trucy, and Maya with Apollo squashed between them on the other one.

"Hey, how come you two get one whole couch to yourselves?" Apollo mumbled, trying to not elbow Athena in the chest as he attempted to adjust himself into a more comfortable position.

"Yeah Edgeworth, this is my office so I should get this whole couch to myself. Move over" Phoenix nudged the other man playfully. Apollo half expected him to turn his boss to stone with one look but surprisingly all Edgeworth did was roll his eyes.

"And you never actually explained, why am I here?" Apollo finally asked.

"Well, I just thought it was time all of you actually met each other" Phoenix said with the biggest grin Apollo had ever seen on his face.

"How sentimental of you," Edgeworth said sarcastically but the smile on his lips instantly gave away that he didn't mean it.

"I'm glad you did, Nick. Now we can all gossip about you behind your back!" Maya smirked as Athena and Trucy giggled. Apollo rolled his eyes at the three of them; they already had their own private jokes.

"It's a shame I can't threaten you with feeding you to a social worker anymore" Phoenix taunted playfully back and Maya gasped and mock fainted straight into Apollo's lap as Athena burst out laughing at the surprise on his face. After a few moments, she rolled over so she could look at him. Her hair was a mess, her cheeks were tinted pink, her eyes sparkled, and when she smiled Apollo couldn't help but smile back.

"I thought we already established that Apollo would protect me," she said quietly, not moving her eyes from Apollo's.

"Well to be fair he did punch me in the face once..." Phoenix muttered and Maya's eyes blew wide.

"What?" she immediately sat up and leaned towards Apollo's boss with her elbows on her knees and her chin resting in her hands. Phoenix began telling the story of his and Apollo's first meeting, a little more dramatically than was probably necessary. But while everyone's eyes were on Phoenix, Apollo couldn't tear his away from Maya. She laughed and gasped as the story unfolded and her eyes gleamed with delight. Once the story was told, Apollo's attention was drawn away from Maya to one of Trucy's magic tricks. But as his head turned his eyes caught Edgeworth's. The man nodded, smiled knowingly, and glanced towards Maya before looking back up at Phoenix's daughter. Apollo found himself involuntarily blushing and his body tensed. But suddenly Maya's hand slipped into his and while she was not looking at him, he knew her smile was directed at him. He squeezed her hand in reply and looked back over at Trucy.

Maybe running up all those stairs hadn't been for nothing after all.