Title: Turnabout Handicap

Rating: K

Summary: Apollo finally bought the latest edition of Rock Mix, just in time to be stuck in the office with Trucy while Athena and Mr. Wright were off on another case without him. Of course, as bad luck would have it, this would be the day Klavier Gavin stops by.

Disclaimer: Ace Attorney and all characters and properties therein are the property of Camcom. This story is a work of fanfiction and no infringement is intended.

Babysitting again.

Apollo glanced over at Trucy, thumbing through a magazine on the couch, and let out a slight sigh. He liked Trucy all right—she was like the little sister he never had—but why did he always get stuck here while Mr. Wright and Athena were in court? It just wasn't fair.

"Didja get it plugged in yet, Polly?"

"Just a second," he called back. There was a lot of dust behind Mr. Wright's TV and he could barely see the connections, but Apollo was finally able to plug in the adapter for his GameStar. He was a little surprised they still made adapters for sets as old as this one but since his own TV was just a little bigger than his microwave he wasn't going to complain.

Trucy gave a whoop as the GameStar whirred to life. "It's starting! What are we gonna play?"

Apollo backed out from behind the TV, trying to brush the dust off his suit. "I only brought one multiplayer game, Trucy," he replied, but she was already elbows-deep in the box of games he'd brought over with him. Technically he was donating it to the office...in reality he and Athena had agreed they were tired of cleaning the toilet when they didn't have clients, so something like this would help pass the time even if he didn't play much anymore.

"Rock Mix!" Trucy shouted and held a guitar-shaped controller over her head. "I've seen this on TV! Who knew you were so musical, Polly?"

"Be careful, I had to buy the controllers used and they're not in the best shape," Apollo rescued the controller from Trucy and connected the cable with his GameStar. "I lost the memory card a long time ago, just give me a second to set up a profile."

"Aw, don't do that now," Trucy complained. "Let's just play! You can do the boring stuff later."

Apollo sighed. He'd really liked the game's character customization when he first bought it...without that they'd be playing with the game's standard avatars based on well-known rock stars. Rock stars like...

"Look, Polly, it's Mr. Gavin!"

It wasn't. Well...it sort of was. The avatar's name was Kevin Gawain, but he looked an awful lot like the rock-star prosecutor.

"Ooh, and we can play one of his songs," Trucy said excitedly, flipping through the songlist on the game's menu. "I'm playing lead guitar, of course. Would you rather be rhythm or bass?"

Apollo felt a headache coming on. "Trucy, that's not exactly what I had in mind. They have a lot of classics in there, too."

But the girl was ignoring him. "Which one, Polly? 'Guilty Love' or 'Atroquinine'?"

"Trucy..."

She jumped up on the couch, controller in hands, posing like the avatar on the cover of the game. "Love, slow-acting and new," Trucy sang, miming strumming strings over the game's controller.

"Get down from there, you could fall."

"Oh, but you have a microphone, too," Trucy scrambled back down to the floor. "What do you think, Polly, should I be lead guitar or lead vocals?"

Apollo sighed and plugged in the second controller. "The karaoke part isn't as fun. I think you should stick to guitar."

"Aw, I wish I could be both," she let the microphone fall back into the box. "Then I'd really be like Mr. Gavin."

"Look, Trucy, I get enough of him in court, can't you pick a different avatar?"

Someone on the other side of the room cleared their throat. "Did I come at a bad time?"

Both Apollo and Trucy yelped and spun around. Klavier Gavin was standing behind them, folder tucked under one arm, smirking that damned smirk.

"W-what are you doing here?" Apollo stammered, quickly setting his controller down against the couch. How much had Gavin seen and heard? Had he said anything embarrassing?

"I'm here to drop off a file for Herr Wright," Gavin explained, holding out the folder. "His case is linked to one I prosecuted last year."

"Oh, right," Apollo took the folder, glanced at it for a moment, and added it to the pile next to the phone. "He's in court now, you know."

"Ja," Gavin nodded and hooked his thumbs in his belt. "He said I could leave it with you."

"Mr. Gavin!" Trucy hopped over the back of the couch, nearly knocking Apollo aside. "You should play with us, I bet you're really good at this game."

Gavin looked over at the screen. He didn't seem to know how to answer...sometimes Trucy's enthusiasm was like that.

"C'mon, Trucy. he doesn't have time to play Rock Mix with you," Apollo interjected, uncrossing his arms to rest his elbows on the back of the couch. "Besides, I doubt he'd want to."

"Rock...Mix?" Gavin leaned over the couch to study the controllers. "The video game?"

"It's only the best ever," Trucy explained, despite the fact that this was her first time playing it. "You get to be a rock star and play all kinds of hit songs for your adoring fans all over the world!"

Apollo covered his face with one hand. He was pretty sure Gavin had already done all of that. "Trucy..."

"Ah, well, Herr Forehead's right. I don't really have time to play games with you." He tweaked the brim of Trucy's hat down to cover her eyes. "Maybe next time I'll stick around for a few rounds with you kids."

"Kids?" Apollo's eyebrows shot up. "Hey, you're not that much older than me."

"Well, experience and genius speak for themselves," Gavin said, flipping his hair out of his eyes.

"Funny, they've never helped you win a case against me."

The room went strangely silent. Apollo's eyes widened as he realized he'd actually said that out loud. "I, uh...that came out wrong. I just meant...I meant to say something else," he finished lamely.

"Really?" Gavin drawled, walking around the couch to pick up one of the controllers. "Maybe I haven't won a case against you, Herr Forehead...but maybe I don't need to. My ego can take a bruising, can yours?"

"Yes!" Trucy pumped one fist in the air. "Here, Polly, you can play bass, it's more fun that rhythm guitar."

"Huh?" Apollo found the second controller shoved into his hands. "Hey, wait, I thought you wanted to play, Trucy?"

"Ta-da!" Trucy pulled a microphone out of the game's box. "This is perfect, Polly, now I don't have to choose."

"We can't possibly lose now," Gavin commented, holding up one hand for a high-five from Trucy. "Ready, Herr Forehead?"

Apollo just gaped. How had...why had...why was he always getting in the middle of things like this?

"Polly," Trucy, hands on hips, glowered at him from her place in front of the TV. "Remember, you're representing the Wright Anything Agency with me."

Oh well. "Fine, but he has to have a handicap!"

"Tired?" Phoenix Wright asked the young woman walking next to him.

"Hngh...maybe a little," Athena admitted, stretching her arms up. "That last witness was really tough to get through to. I'm still not sure we got to the bottom of his emotional turmoil."

"There's always tomorrow. Gavin should have dropped off that folder by now, maybe there'll be some info in there to help you."

"I hope so," she said with a sigh. She turned the corner toward the agency but stopped as an unusual sound caught her attention. "Mr. Wright, do you hear that?"

"Sounds like Trucy's singing," he said. "Huh, that's an old one...'Mirror, Mirror', I haven't heard that since college."

"Mirror, mirror, tell me why...do I hide these tender eyes..."

Athena winced and covered her ears. "Is she singing karaoke? The guitar part's all right, but something's wrong with the bass track."

"I'd better tell her to turn it down," Phoenix commented, leading the way up the stairs to the office. "We don't want the neighbors to...oh."

Athena peered around her boss to see what had stopped him at the door. And stared.

Trucy, Apollo, and Klavier Gavin were gathered in front of the TV playing some kind of guitar-karaoke game. At least, that's what she assumed was happening. Trucy was singing her heart out, but Apollo seemed to be having trouble with his guitar. Gavin, on the other hand...

He was standing with his back to the TV, Apollo's necktie tied around his eyes, and a pair of bright yellow rubber gloves on his hands. And he was still hitting every note perfectly.

"Polly, come on! I can't believe you lost again!" Trucy complained. "Maybe we should pick something easier."

"It's not my fault he's a better player," Apollo replied, frustrated. "I think he needs another handicap, like tying one of his arms behind his back."

"Come, come, Herr Forehead," Gavin lifted the edge of his blindfold just enough to wink at Apollo. "You've already blindfolded me to see how I perform in a gameof rhythm and dexterity, and now you want to tie me up? Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

"I suppose we should rescue him," Mr. Wright murmured to Athena as Apollo blustered out an answer.

Athena grinned evilly. "Let me, boss," she whispered back. "Excuse me, are we interrupting?" she called.

The three players turned to face them: Trucy with a yell of greeting, Apollo with a face red enough to match his suit, and Gavin with an almost embarrassed smirk.

"Come on, Daddy," Trucy ran over to grab Mr. Wright by the arm. "You've got to take over bass for Polly, he's just terrible at it! Maybe you can beat Mr. Gavin."

"It's not my fault," Apollo protested again, relinquishing the control gladly.

"He was on expert and you were on beginner, Polly," Trucy retorted, trying to settle the guitar's strap over Mr. Wright's shoulders despite his protests. "I really don't see how we could have made it more fair."

Apollo gave a good-natured sort of grumble and stalked over to stand beside Athena. "He's got cotton in one ear, too," he muttered. "I can't believe he's just that much better than me."

Athena leaned back against the door frame and fiddled with her earring, studying the scene for a few moments as Trucy tried to convince her father to play. Something was prickling in her memory, something she really should have noticed right away. "Hey, Apollo?" she finally asked. "The gloves Mr. Gavin's wearing...aren't they the ones we use when we're cleaning the toilet?"

Been stuck in my head for days now. What would happen if Klavier played Guitar Hero against Apollo? Yes, I understand it's different from playing a guitar, but it really does come down to a sense of rhythm, timing, and dexterity. Besides...I never said he hadn't played it before, did I?

Reminds me of my childhood. We had a winter Olympics game for the Atari, and I was so good at the bobsledding event my brothers used to stand in front of the TV to try to make me crash. I still won gold almost every time...mostly because they didn't think to cover the track map in the upper corner.

This story is not meant to be slash, but...come on, if you had the chance to tease Apollo Justice with a thinly-veiled innuendo wouldn't you take it? No matter your orientation? It's like when someone at work or school complains "I'm hot" and you say "Yeah, but you don't have to brag about it", it just has to be done.