Lana's Friends
By SonicTH228
Disclaimer: Still don't own Phoenix Wright
(A/N: This is the 2nd story in my trilogy of fanfics that detail the aftermath of Case 5 from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, "Rise from the Ashes". This story uses facts from my other PW fanfic so before you read this one, take some time to read "Lana's Words" then come back (just my profile for a link; I was going to provide a direct link but for some reason they won't let me add a URL to it in the text itself).
For those of you ready to begin, here we go.)
--------
July 18, 11:33 AM
Police Station
Chief Gant's Former Office
It's been about 3 months since Chief Gant's trial. He's safely away in prison; left to whittle away the rest of his miserable life and, more importantly, out of my life for good. It feels refreshing not to live under his thumb anymore. Even though I had spent the last 5 months in jail, I was happy with myself for the first time in years.
However, not everyone was as satisfied as I was. Mr. Wright along with my sister encouraged me to write to the governor and plead my case to him. I wrote a couple of letters on behalf of myself and Officer Jake Marshall. Surprisingly, he took our side in the case. The governor said in his response that he empathized with our situation. He ended up granting me clemency and reducing Jake Marshall's sentence considerably. He said that in my case, there was no willful wrongdoing on my part. It was his opinion that the case of the forged evidence in the Darke investigation was simply an extension of Damon Gant's blackmail against me and as such could be forgiven. While he was not as sympathetic with Jake Marshall's case (after all, he did ambush Officer Mike Meekins and stole Detective Bruce Goodman's keycard), his response letter said that because Jake Marshall did eventually help break the case against Gant, that was grounds for a sentence reduction. In addition, the governor went on to say he wished us the best with our memorial project and that he hoped we could eventually heal the hurt caused by Damon Gant.
Jake and I were released around the same time in June. After our release, we immediately joined in with the police force to complete the memorial project. We were helping the police convert Gant's office into the memorial. The unveiling of the shrine was scheduled for July…today.
The unveiling ceremony was going to happen with or without myself and Mr. Marshall but as fate goes, both of us were released in time to attend. The police department was overjoyed that we'd both be able to be present for the unveiling. I was asked to make a speech in honor of Neil Marshall as a close friend of the late prosecutor. Jake was approached about doing the same but he declined, saying that he had his own way of honoring the memory of his brother. The entire program included a verbal dedication of the memorial by Bruce Goodman's wife and speeches from the mayor, interim police chief, and Jake Marshall's family.
------
The dedication ceremony was going well. The press was in attendance as well as various police officers and prosecutors. Angel Starr, who was invited as a guest of honor, was sitting in the front row with the families of the victims. Since the end of the trial, we had made amends with one another. It was understood that her bitterness was fueled by Damon Gant's treachery. She believed that prolonging the grudge between us was simply letting Gant have his way…I'm inclined to agree.
My own speech had been satisfying as well as refreshing. It felt good to speak positively about the two men directly instead of referring to them through Damon Gant. I mounted the plaque on Gant's old pipe organ at the end as the conclusion to the ceremony. The police chose to leave most of the office intact but built around it to create the memorial. Off to the left (if you're facing the organ at the back), in the space that was once my work area, was the place dedicated to Neil Marshall. It was adorned with items offered by his family and included his King of Prosecutors trophy enshrined in a glass case. The trophy was in its original form, complete with the knife he used that fateful night. In the space that used to be Gant's office, the family of Bruce Goodman set up his memorial. The centerpiece of his memorial was a memoriam composed by his family that was bronzed and put onto a plaque. The plaque was completed with the badge of Detective Goodman mounted beneath the words from his family. Along the sides of the room, the police department had put in some canvases that detailed the full events of the SL-9 incident. Not the events according to Damon Gant; but what had actually transpired.
The press was in the memorial room when the ceremony ended (they had followed us from the press conference to the memorial room to capture the moment the plaque signifying the official opening of the memorial was set into place). I was joined by Bill O. Verdué as well as Jake Marshall, Angel Starr, the mayor and interim chief of police. Bill had officially been named the next Chief Prosecutor for the district and his inauguration ceremony was set to take place the same day as the memorial opening, at 1:30 PM (the mayor intentionally set both on the same day as a sort of "moving on" day, as he put it).
A podium had been set up in the memorial room where the interim chief took the microphone. "This is the closing ceremony of our dedication," the chief began. "Seeing as the Chief Prosecutor inauguration is taking place in about an hour, I'll make this fast."
He gestured over to an aide who was standing to his side. The aide brought him two black objects that looked like wallets. "Thank you," he continued. "The police department has been looking for a way to undo the damage that our former chief, Damon Gant, caused. I met with the mayor earlier this week and together we have come to a decision. It is my pleasure, as interim police chief, to announce that we are reinstating Jake Marshall and Angel Starr as detectives to our police force."
He held up the two wallets, which were in actuality police badges that he had commissioned for Jake and Angel. The two stepped up to the podium to receive the badges with handshakes by both the chief and mayor. The applause in the room was deafening. The mayor quieted down the audience to let the chief continue. "Upon review of the credentials of both officers, we felt that Damon Gant unethically removed both from their duties as detectives. In an effort to heal some of the wounds that were inflicted by Gant, we feel it appropriate that both Angel Starr and Jake Marshall should be reinstated to their ranks prior to the SL-6 Incident. Despite Mr. Marshall's actions during the end of the case involving Detective Goodman; we are willing to overlook that as it has no bearing on his ability to perform as a detective."
The audience broke into applause again. Angel looked genuinely shocked as she wasn't expecting to be given the badge. She hugged the chief and mayor before walking offstage. Jake was more stoic, calmly receiving his badge and returning to his seat. I assumed he was already aware that this would be happening today. The chief wrapped up the conference and the press began gathering around the door to leave. I stood off to the side watching the chaotic push to get out of the room. Bill had managed to weasel his way through the tangled crowd of reporters and cameramen to talk to me.
"It's a total madhouse in here," he said. He was sort of shouting over the commotion. "So, how are you doing Lana?"
I smiled and acknowledged him. "Stressed but okay. Setting up for this ceremony today kept me up almost all night."
Bill glanced at his watch and put on his coat. "I really have to be going. The inauguration ceremony is in an hour and…well, I'd really like to be there," he said, humorously. I let out a slight chuckle. "Are you coming to the inauguration? It'd be nice if I could have you in the audience."
I shook my head. "Sorry, Bill. I'm pretty tired. I'm surprised Jake agreed to go; he was here nearly as long as I was last night getting ready for this thing. Plus I need a break from all this media frenzy. I'm not used to it. I'll watch it when I get home, though. I'll be cheering for you."
"Well, you rest well, Lana…say, are you busy tomorrow night at around…6?" Bill asked.
"Hm…I don't think so," I responded thoughtfully. "Why? Do you have something planned?"
"Yes; it's just a little party I'm putting together to celebrate Jake and Angel earning their badges. Just them, a couple of officers and prosecutors; you should know everyone there," he told me. He was clearly being rushed by the time.
"Uh…sure, sounds fun," I told him.
"Great, I'll pick you up around 5:30 tomorrow then," he said, as he turned to leave. I waved goodbye and he exited the room. By this point, most of the media personnel had cleared out of the room. There were only a couple photographers who were taking pictures of the individual parts of the memorial and the families of Neil and Bruce touring the memorial to see everything in its final form. I picked up my coat and began to leave. Before walking out, I turned around and took one last look at the memorial.
"Finally…it's over…" I said to myself before I left.
------
I watched the inauguration ceremony at home and saw as Chief Prosecutor certificate was given to Bill and he recited the oath. It felt nostalgic but at the same time; I was nagged by what got me to that position in the first place. I guess I'll never totally rid myself of Damon Gant…he caused me more torment than he'll ever know. Still, I didn't let that spoil my attitude about Bill's achievement.
A day later, I found myself getting ready for Bill's party. He called me an hour before to say he was coming to get me and that the party was being held at a local hotel. Apparently Bill and some of the other prosecutors had gotten together and rented one of the halls for the party. At 5:30, Bill came to get me just as I finished touching up my hair. As we were driving, I decided to find out how things were going since I left.
"Bill…how's everything been at the Prosecutor's Office since…" I said, my voice trailing off at the end.
"Well, it's been chaotic period. We've had no less than 3 different inquiries from 3 outside agencies. They kept probing into our investigation methods as well as our ties with the police department. No bad came of it but…it was a headache, let me tell you," he explained. "You and Edgeworth caused quite a stir; no offense."
"None taken, I know what I did," I responded, quietly.
"Anyway, all the inquires did end up uncovering a lot of manipulation of the office of Chief Prosecutor. Thankfully for both us and you; most of it traced back to Damon Gant's control of the office when you held it," he continued. "The head of one of the inquires even implied that he wanted the office of Chief Prosecutor disbanded in favor of using a committee to run the Prosecutor's Office but the mayor stepped in and said that the Chief Prosecutor rank was there to stay. Instead they instated a laundry list of new conduct regulations concerning the interaction of Chief of Police and Chief Prosecutor. It's a bureaucratic nightmare to have to reorganize how we manage both ourselves and how we deal with the PD but we'll have it all sorted out by the time I take office next week."
"Good to hear. I'm glad that something's being done about how unlawfully things were being handled when I…was there."
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. All 3 inquiries cleared you of any wrongdoing in the matter and said that due to how much pressure Gant had you under, it was understandable what had happened when you were Chief Prosecutor," Bill said, trying to put my mind at ease.
"It's still hard thinking how I misused a public office to further Gant's agenda…its utterly shameful."
"Well, let's put the past behind us. We're here to move on, not dwell on what was," he said, putting an end to the conversation. Just as he said that, we pulled up to the parking lot of the hotel. We got out of Bill's car and walked into the hotel. He led me to a door that went into a dance hall. When we first opened the door, the entire room was dark.
"Bill…did you take us to the wrong room? The lights are off in here…" I asked, puzzled at the odd setting.
"Did I? Well, let me flip this switch and see where we are…" he said, kind of coyly. He flipped a nearby light switch. The fluorescent lightbulbs flickered to life.
Just then, I heard…
"SURPRISE!!!!"
------
(To be continued…)
(A/N: I was originally going to do this all in one chapter but I kept writing and it ended up longer and longer the further I went. When I started composing the final draft, I decided to split it into two chapters to keep things at a good length.
I had this story in mind when I first finished Case 5 last year but I decided not to pursue it until I had played through Case 5 again sometime in the future (I was more intent on getting my first fic, "Lana's Words", out as I felt more personally motivated). I'm glad I did wait because I got a chance to play Justice for All first and now, I can integrate facts from that game into this story (if you haven't noticed; this story takes place after the 2nd case of that game, "Reunion, and Turnabout", a fact I didn't know the first time I started writing this story). So now I can use characters and plot elements from that game and as a whole; I like where this story is going much more than the first time I first thought it up.)