AN: This is my first FanFiction. Please tell me about different mistakes I might have made, such as with grammar, as well as your reaction to the story. I realize I'm not very funny, but that gives you all more reason to review. Bear with me, thanks in advance, and enjoy!
Oh, no shipping (MilesxGumshoe, etc.) in the road ahead.
This first chapter is just a quick layout of how Edgeworth and Gumshoe met, a.k.a. Turnabout Beginnings. The only purpose is to display to the reader how they met. Some actual text from the game is used. This will be the only chapter for some time which does such a thing. Whilst it has some humor, it's mainly serious – not what I had in mind, but I needed to insert this, you know? Note that there are spoilers for this case, but if you played it thoroughly, you don't really need to read this first chapter. This chapter will probably be longer than the others.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own any characters. The characters of this fan work are copyright of Capcom.
February 16, 2012
District Court Courtroom #4, 10:00.
Currently, the trial of one escaped convict by the name of Terry Fawles was taking place. Fawles was currently on death row, and in his escape, he supposedly killed a cop to which he testified to have met, Valerie Hawthorne. The presiding judge was annoyed at the fact that both the defense attorney and the public prosecutor for the case were both rookies. Mia Fey, the defense attorney, was nervous, made even more so by her aid, Diego Armando, the well-known defense attorney. Armando was constantly annoying and flirting with Fey, much to her chagrin. However, the same could not be said for prosecuting prodigy, Miles Edgeworth. At a mere age of twenty, he was confident he had the case in the bag; after all, he needed to get the client guilty. Edgeworth glanced at his witnesses: the first one was the detective in charge of the case, a novice, with a really weird name…
"I call the detective who was in charge of the initial investigation of this case," said Edgeworth.
Minutes later, a very happy detective took the stand. He was quite taller than Edgeworth; nearly a half-foot. His hair was messy black, with three black whiskers growing out of his chin. Ignoring the fact that he probably hadn't combed his hair in the morning, Edgeworth proceeded.
"Witness... State your name and occupation."
The detective looked very ecstatic to be asked that. "Gumshoe. Dick Gumshoe. I'm the homicide detective in charge of the case, sir!"
(Gumshoe…?) thought Edgeworth. (What a weird name… Wait… don't "Dick" and "Gumshoe" mean "detective"? So, with his title, he's… Detective detective detective?)
Gumshoe decided to continue in his glee. "I finally got promoted to the detective division half a year ago!"
Mia Fey interrupted him before he could go any further. "I don't believe anyone asked you about that."
"Hey, ma'am!" yelled the detective, with wounded pride. "You got any idea how much work it takes........."
"Wh-What is it?" Fey was put off by Gumshoe breaking off in mid-sentence.
"You... Y-You're really gorgeous..."
(Oh boy…) thought Edgeworth to himself, putting his hand to his face. (This isn't good…)
Fey turned red as a ripe tomato. "Excuse me?"
"No, seriously... My heart... It's aching for you..."
Armando whistled. "Seems like the kitten is pretty popular on the first try! I see a promising career ahead of you…"
After a brief scuffle, the coffee landed on Edgeworth's head and spilled on all of his case files. Although he didn't desire to, Edgeworth did what his adoptive sister, Franziska, would have done. "Detective. Pull yourself together and try to be professional. Otherwise... I'll write you up on contempt so quick that something other than your heart will ache!"
"Urk... O-OK, I-I got it!" said the detective nervously and hastily.
Whilst he had copies, Edgeworth wasn't expecting he would need them in the first ten minutes of the trial. On his request, the judge immediately called a recess so the prosecution could arrange its copies and resume. Edgeworth also managed to get another trial jacket and some hair gel in this span of time. He blamed the detective and considered going to the next evaluation meeting.
The trial did not go smoothly for the prosecution or the defense. Fey, while quite skilled, was shaky in the cross-examination. She pointed out the contradiction that the victim's coat should have been muddy when put in the car, due to the weather conditions that day, but it was rather clean. She went on to say that a photo that the prosecution had presented at evidence was flawed, asserting that the witness who took it knew something, and the court should hear this person out. While he wanted to finish the trial faster, Edgeworth brought out his next witness.
Through several cross-examinations of the witness, Fey accused her of the crime. Edgeworth himself had a suspicion that she did it, as well. However, while the witness had both the motive and opportunity, there was no concrete proof. Because of this, the judge allowed her to leave the stand. Fey was persistent, however, and she called the defendant to testify. Before giving testimony, he asked to drink some water, which Edgeworth found unusual. Armando gave him his coffee, and Fawles began to testify. Fawles had dated the witness who people suspected really killed Valerie Hawthorne – her stepsister, Dahlia Hawthorne. He claimed that he came when he came to meet the victim, no one was there.
"OBJECTION!" cried Fey. "So when you got to the bridge, no one had arrived, huh? So you waited on the bridge... You're sure of that?"
Fawles hesitated. "… Yeah. I'm sure."
"You're sure, huh...?" asked Mia. "Well then I'm sure too, Mr. Fawles... I'm sure that you're lying."
This caused her client to break down, much to her chagrin. "Huh! Uhh... Wah... Wah! Wah! WAAAH!!"
"Ahh, follies of young amateurs…" scoffed Edgeworth, although Fey was about three years older than him. "I would love to hear your rationale on this, Ms. Fey..."
Fey displayed a confident smile, filling Edgeworth's stomach with butterflies. "You want to know who arrived at the bridge first? Just look at this photo. It's perfectly clear. Obviously the person that came first would be the one at the end of the bridge, right?"
Looking at the picture, Edgeworth knew his morning caviar would be leaving the wrong way, but he inhaled deeply and tried to control himself. Obviously, he failed. "B-But that's the victim at the end of the bridge!"
Mia Fey nodded. "Precisely my point. In other words, Mr. Fawles... You must have arrived at the bridge after she did."
Terry Fawles was getting very agitated. "Nng... Urkkk... Ahhh... Ggggaah... Blah..."
Fey managed to interject before her client collapsed after hyperventilating, something she saw frequently in law school. "Umm, Mr. Fawles. Please don't get so worked up. We just want the truth."
Fawles hesitated again. Edgeworth felt increasingly sick, and a simple talk with his dog, Pesu, wasn't going to make him that much better. Finally, he spoke.
"I got there around 4 o'clock. It's true. I... I had somewhere to go. A special place... It's an old temple about fifteen minutes by foot from the bridge. Five years ago, me and Dahlia... We promised each other... We swore we wouldn't betray each other… She brought a memento... To represent... our love."
"A memento…?" Fey asked.
Edgeworth spoke to the court. "A bottle necklace was found while a full-body search was conducted of the defendant. A full analysis of the contents was not done, but the detective's report said it was clean. Is that what you're talking about?"
Fawles nodded. "Five years ago, I hid it under base of tree there. It's a special memory for me. This is it... This is what I went to get."
Mia Fey slammed her hands on the desk. "Your Honor! You heard what my client said. He arrived at the scene at 4 o'clock. But he then left his car unattended and walked away! He was gone for approximately 30 minutes! With that much time... Dahlia Hawthorne could have easily hidden the body in the trunk of his car!"
"N-NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" yelled Edgeworth. He couldn't lose his first case! If he did, he had to keep his bet with Franziska and change his dog's name from "Pesu" to "Scruffy"! The inhumanity of it all!
"Indeed... There certainly was enough time for it!" The Judge nodded in assent.
"OBJECTION! B-but, Your Honor, the defendant is a car thief… don't you dislike car thieves…?" protested Edgeworth meekly.
"Don't play mind games with me!" snapped the Judge.
"Mr. Fawles! There's no mistaking it!" pressed Fey.
At that moment, Fawles coughed violently. A trickle of blood ran down his cheek. He then began to speak. "I-I promised her... 5 years ago... If it ever happens... that we can't trust each other no more... Then... we're supposed to... drink... bottle... Ugh..."
A very dreadful feeling stirred up inside Edgeworth. "N-No! Stop the trial! Your Honor! We need a recess!"
Unfortunately, it was too late. By the time the Judge managed to regain his composure, Terry Fawles collapsed on the stand.
"MR. FAAAAAAAAWLES!!!!" yelled Mia, tears in her eyes.
Court was suspended… permanently. It was impossible to give a verdict to a deceased defendant. Everyone in court was deeply wounded about what they saw. Miles Edgeworth was also furious, and decided to take it out on Detective Gumshoe.
"You pea-brained IDIOT!" snarled Edgeworth. "Your report said that the contents of the bottle were HARMLESS. Harmless!"
Gumshoe cowered on the floor. "I- I didn't know, sir! I asked the forensics detective for evidence on the Fawles case, and this is what he handed me!"
Edgeworth calmed down a bit. He could do nothing if he was handed the wrong report, could he…? Then Edgeworth saw the detective could. At the top of the paper, the year was printed out quite clearly: 2007.
"Idiot! This is from the Fawles kidnapping case! He was drinking soda! Of COURSE that's harmless!" yelled Edgeworth. The forensics detective clearly was at fault too – why would someone request evidence from a five-year-old case? It was incredibly rare.
"W-well, sir, soda does sometimes have lots of calories…" said Gumshoe meekly.
"That was a rhetorical question, detective," said Edgeworth coolly. He took his iPhone out and opened up the calendar.
"Is something wrong, sir?"
"Detective, are you free on the 29th?"
"No, sir, that's when my family holds their 'Leap Year Party.' Gumshoe family tradition, see?"
"Ah," said Edgeworth, "that's a shame. You're going to have to cancel."
"B-but why, sir?"
"That's the monthly salary hearing, detective. You're going to attend, and so am I. Your salary needs to be discussed."
And so began the first of many pay cuts, and a trusting partnership. Well, Gumshoe trusted Edgeworth, anyway.