A/N I know I might get crucified for this pairing, but I just need to get it out of my system. It's been floating around my head for a while. If there are people who like it, maybe I'll continue.
"I finished cleaning the toilet, Mr Wright…Again." Apollo wearily dragged himself onto the couch in the Wright Anything Agency office. There were all sorts of superfluous items lying around. Magic rings, legal case files and a dusty book entitled "So You Need To Play Piano Fast?". As usual, the office was messy, but the toilet was spotless.
"Thank you, Apollo. Great job as usual. You're getting really good at this." Phoenix complimented as he lounged in his swivel chair.
"I won't take that as a compliment, thanks." Apollo replied as he slowly became fused with the leather of the couch. He wasn't tired by any means, he was bored. It was a slow period for the Wright Anything Agency with no legal cases for a month and a half. The spring morning was beautiful and peaceful, just as the past 43 mornings were.
Apollo shut his eyes and recalled the ;last case he was involved in. He shuddered as he remembered the doubt he cast on his colleague when he lost his closest friend. He remembered being forced to wear an eyepatch to prevent him from seeing his colleague's tell tale tics. Worst of all, he remembered leaving the law fir- Anything Agency. Yet in a month and a half, all that turmoil seemed to have vanished. It was just another lazy day at the Wright Anything Agency.
"Mr Wright," Apollo began as he broke out of his recollection. "Thanks for letting me come back to the Wright Anything Agency."
Phoenix sat up from his chair with a quizzical look. Apollo did have the bad habit of always having a serious look in whatever he did, but hey, Phoenix kind of liked that.
"You're welcome Apollo. But like I said, I'm understaffed and need all the help I can get. Besides, Trucy would probably turn me into her next magic prop if I refused to take you back." Apollo laughed at the last comment. Not because of it being a hyperbole, but rather due to its distinct possibility.
"Where did that come from, Apollo?"
"I was just thinking back to our last case, Mr Wright. So much has happened and yet… everything's back to normal. I'm back here like I never left, surrounded by interesting friends and colleagues. It's just… fine I guess."
"The last case… A month and a half passed in a blink of an eye, huh?" Phoenix stared pensively at the ceiling as he recalled the events. He too had horrible memories from the case. His daughter was endangered, his Agency was nearly torn apart, and his client was nearly indicted for the horrible crime of matricide. In spite of the supposed darkness at the time, the sun rose and banished the dark. It was peaceful again, and just another day at the office.
"Speaking of that case. Isn't she running a bit late?" Phoenix asked as he looked at the wall clock that looked like a black Spade. 9:12, she was late for work alright. Not that there was much "work" to actually do, and neither did Phoenix really care.
"Morning, Boss! Morning, Apollo!" The door flew open and a large smile greeted both the male lawyers. The familiar orange hair, yellow blazer and perky attitude, yup, it was Athena alright.
"Sorry I'm late. I'll organise those files right up. Athena is psyched and ready to go!" Before Phoenix could even ask anything, Athena vanished into the storage room with the file cabinets after flashing a quick " V for victory" sign.
Phoenix sunk back into his chair as he saw the tail of Athena's blazer vanish.
"She is REALLY taking the file organisation seriously. I wonder what caused the sudden focus? Just a month ago she had the attention span of a puppy with a sugar rush." Apollo brought his finger to his forehead and tried analysing what was before him.
"Well, it IS a new year. Maybe she had a resolution or two." Phoenix casually brushed the event aside and picked up a tome on the English legal system.
"Actually, Apollo," Phoenix began as he turned his swivel chair away from Apollo. "You finished all your work didn't you? Why don't you take the day off?"
"Are you serious Mr. Wright?" The voice echoed and reverberated through the office. Phoenix's "World's greatest Daddy" cup nearly toppled over and Charlie Jr. almost followed in its father's footsteps.
"Well, you have been turning up early everyday, and there's really not much for you to do now. Sure, go out and enjoy yourself. I advise doing something other than Chords of Steel training though." Phoenix replied as he uncapped his ears.
Like his mood, Apollo's hair perked right up as he gathered his belongings. As he grabbed his trusty messenger bag and headed for the door, he looked back at his boss.
"Thank you, Mr Wright. Thank you so much. Are you sure there isn;t anything else I need to do?"
"Well you could scrub the toi-" The door shut immediately and Apollo was heard running down the stairs.
"Haven't these kids heard that cleanliness is next to godliness?" Phoenix sighed as he dove back into his book.
—
3 hours flew by and it was fast approaching lunch. Phoenix shut his book and stood up. He stretched mildly and slicked his hair back, making sure to spike the back. He approached the storage room where his employee was at and gently knocked on the door.
"Time for lunch, Athena. Eldoon has something special today." .No response. Mildly concerned, he knocked again and turned the knob. The door creaked open and showed Athena hunched over at a small desk.
"Athena, it's-" Before he finished his statement, Phoenix realised that Athena was sweating profusely. She was fidgeting violently and her breath was of "Stop" and "Get away from her" kept escaping her lips.
"Athena?" Phoenix asked gingerly as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Athena screamed as she rocketed out of her resting position. She panted and gasped as she felt the cold sweat slowly trickle down her face. Her usually brilliant orange hair was stuck to the sides of her face and her pupils severely dilated. As she slowly calmed down, she finally noticed Phoenix behind her.
"Heh-heh sorry Boss. Looks like I dozed off a bit." She spun around with a big smile and embarrassingly rubbed the back of her head. "What'cha need?"
"I was just saying it was lunch time and we could go to Eldoon's… Are you ok, Athena?"
"Of course I am! What would make you think otherwise?" Athena quickly punched her open palm and gave her favourite V for victory pose.
"Maybe the fact that you looked like you were undergoing an exorcism just now?" Phoenix thought, luckily not aloud.
"Why don't you wash up and I'll meet you downstairs?" Athena quickly acquiesced to the request and rushed out of the room. Phoenix glanced at the file that was left open at the desk and frowned slightly as he shook his head. He proceeded to grab his wallet and exit the office. As he walked down the flight of stairs, his brows furrowed, just like one of his close friend's would when he was deep in thought.
"She HAS been hiding something. She has been avoiding Apollo and me for a while now. What happened to our cheerful rookie?"
—-
"Thanks for the food, Boss!"Athena separated her chopsticks and dug in to her bowl of ramen. For once, the broth did not appear to be made from liquid sodium chloride. It actually seemed… palatable.
"I can be generous once in a while." Phoenix smiled as he started on his own bowl. The ramen was on the house for the day, but Athena didn't need to know that.
"How're you going to handle this Phoenix?" The spiky haired lawyer began his usual inner monologue, debating what he should do. "Can I even approach this delicately? Can I even BE delicate? What to do?" As he was buried in thought, Athena spoke up first.
"Where's Apollo, boss? Did you send him on a task?"
"I gave him the day off."
"What? No fair. I've never had any days off yet." Athena puffed her cheeks up slightly.
"Do you want to clean the toilet?"
"I-I- didn't mean no days off were a bad thing," Athena quickly defended. "Coming to the office is awesome!"
"Am I really the only one who finds toilet cleaning soothing?"
The small talk continued and he two shared some laughs over lunch. Phoenix proceeded to "foot the bill" and the two returned to the office.
—
As the two entered the office once more. Athena began making moves towards the storage room again.
"Alright Boss, I'm going back to-"
"Hang on, Athena." Phoenix got in his swivel chair and rolled behind his desk. He motioned for Athena to have a seat in the chair opposite him. Seeing the fierce eyes that Phoenix usually only showed in court, Athena reluctantly obliged.
"Boss, if it's about dozing off, I'll male sure it doesn't happen again."
"You should know by now that I don't care about minor things like that, Athena. I'm worried about you. You haven't been sleeping well for almost 3 weeks now, have you?"
"And I thought I hid it so well. There really is no hiding anything from the Ace Attorney, is there?" Athena laughed weakly as she cupped her left hand over her right elbow.
"It doesn't take a great lawyer to see those panda eyes you have Athena," Phoenix's expression softened. He recognised the pose Athena was in. Head down, hand clutching her bicep. She was dejected alright. "Come on, Athena. Never mind being your boss, I'm your friend. Let me help?"
The sounds of rattling metal rung sharply in Phoenix's ears. Chains lashed out and violently wrapped around Athena. Two oddly shaped orange locks then slammed themselves in front of Athena. It was a familiar sight to Phoenix, but on an unexpected person.
"I've just been watching a bit too much of Captain Orla and her intrepid adventures and encounters with Redbreard. That's all boss, nothing to worry about." Athena flashed her trademark smile and from the exterior, all seemed perfectly peachy. But Phoenix knew better.
"You're well-trained in psychology, Athena. A normal person would never discern that there's something off. But, I see those psyche-locks guarding your heart."
"Uhh Mr. Wright, what does psychedelic rock have to do with anything?"
"We went through this before Athena," Phoenix sighed as he slumped in his chair a little. "They're- never mind. ANYWAYS. I know you're hiding something Athena. And I just might have a hunch what it's about."
Athena maintained her confident and cheery expression. "Would you care to try, boss?"
"Why do you have to make this painful on yourself, Athena? I just want to help." Phoenix thought to himself. He proceeded to place his hand in his pocket and grip on to a smooth, jade object. Instantly, the locks re-emerged and Phoenix was staring the chains down.
"Athena, you've been having nightmares about the UR-1 incident, haven't you?" Instantly, the locks began to tremble. However, to Phoenix's surprise, none of them shattered, Athena maintained her composure and even smiled a cheeky grin.
"You really are quite impressive Mr Wright. Care to elaborate?"
"Just now when I found you sleeping at the table. I saw the official court record for Clay Terran's case lying there. Last week, it was the UR-1 case file. From what I've seen, anybody would be hurt from having such horrendous accusations thrown on to them. I know what it's like to be falsely accused Athena.I just want to help."
Athena let out another weak laugh and stared at her shoes. She sighed and then looked straight into Phoenix's eyes.
"Looks like you win, Boss. Just like another day in court." With that, the two orange locks shattered and the chains that surrounded Athena began to vanish. Unlike his normal psyche-lock breaks, Phoenix felt no satisfaction in unlocking Athena's.
Phoenix sat up and took a deep breath. He looked over his protege and genuinely felt bad. In the last court case, Athena was forced to release all the repressed memories she had of her mother's murder. She was nearly given a guilty verdict and even Apollo doubted her innocence at one point. A young girl shouldn't need to go through half the things Athena went through.
"I'm not good at being delicate Athena, I apologise for that. But could we… talk about what's been bothering you?" Athena knew that her boss was far from the sweet-talking knight in shinning armour archetype like a certain electric guitar playing prosecutor, but it was his honesty and sincerity that always earned her trust and respect.
"Well…" Athena began hesitantly. "I just keep going back to the day I was the one on trial. The eyes of the jury casting glares of judgement on me…it was…terrifying." Athena felt the goosebumps on her arm rise as she recalled her dreams. She fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat and her hand constantly massaged her forearm nervously as if it were a comforting reflex. Phoenix felt a tug in his own heart as he recalled his own trial years ago.
"Then the scene would change and…I would always find myself in a laboratory…Mom's lab. And I kept seeing the same scene over and over every night." Athena's hands quivered in her lap as her head sank. Her eyes became hidden from Phoenix, but it's clear she was perturbed by the recollection. Athena didn't have to elaborate any further, Phoenix knew what she was talking about.
"Heh, this must be boring you, Boss. There's no need to worry. I'll be A-OK, by tomorrow." From what appeared to be a gloomy expression shielded by her hair, Athena forced as genuine a smile as she could. Phoenix understood her intentions clearly, but he refused to accede to the request. he promptly stood up and began pacing around the room.
"You really are a strong person, Athena. Much stronger than I ever was at your age," Phoenix walked over to a nearby shelf with a number of photo frames. He looked longingly at one with a woman in her late twenties. She had black hair, a professional black suit and a necklace in the shape of a magatama. She had such a dignified look brimming with confidence and competence. Phoenix picked the photo frame up and placed it before Athena.
"Did I ever tell you about the time I was on trial?"
"N-N-No," Athena stuttered as the sudden question caught her off-guard. " Apollo mentioned it before, but I don't know the details. You were accused for stealing your friend's money right?"
"Apollo…Your mentioned the classroom trial but not the actual one?" Phoenix sighed inwardly.
"Yeah, there was that. But I mean a real trial. I was tried for murder." Athena looked up in with an incredulous look. She was absolutely shocked. The legendary Phoenix Wright charged with murder? How?
"I was 21 at the time. I was in Ivy U and my lovely girlfriend framed me for murdering another student. There was a mountain of evidence up against me. I was the last person to be seen with the victim, I had the means and motives for killing the victim and I simply did not have an alibi. The jury was blatantly against me and the judge and prosecutor were wrapped around my "girlfriend's" finger. You know what I did? I cried." Phoenix laughed as he recalled the state he was in. The memories were vivid. The jury had essentially already cast Phoenix into perdition and were boring holes through him with glares of condemnation and the judge appeared to have already pre-rendered his judgement with the influence of Phoenix's girlfriend. It was a bleak moment in his life.
"I was in such a sorry state. I cried on the stand and before my defence attorney. Can you believe it?" Phoenix chuckled again. "But I was so impressed by my attorney. She never doubted my innocence for a moment. Even when I jeopardised her case, she just kept smiling. She believed in me till the bitter end."
"And…this is her?" Athena examined the woman before her. Arms crossed with a smile that shone with confidence, but eyes that radiated kindness and almost motherly warmth.
"Mia Fey, the one and only. My attorney, my mentor and most importantly, my friend," Phoenix walked behind Athena's chair as he continued. "She taught me two very important things that always guided me in my career. The first is that a defence attorney must always believe in his client, believe in him till the end. And the second…" Phoenix paused and placed a hand on Athena's shoulder. Expectantly, Athena looked up.
"When things seem its bleakest is when you must put on your biggest smile. It took me quite a while before I was fully over my trial, but Mia supported me and she often asked me to talk it out with her…sometimes even involuntarily." Athena knew what was coming, and she tried to control herself as much as possible.
"Besides, the smiling rule only applies to the courtroom… It's ok to let it out…Ok, Athena?" Athena always respected Phoenix as a great attorney, but always saw him as rather clumsy in some aspects. He never appeared all that manly or reliable often, but when he showed his mature side, it was truly something powerful. Feeling the inhibitions slip away, Athena felt the warmth flow down her cheeks and all the pent up emotions were released along with them.
Not expecting the reaction so suddenly, Phoenix quickly retracted his hand with terror and desperately looked around the room. He quickly grabbed the box of tissue papers beside the couch and rushed back to Athena.
"Woah, woah, woah what do I do? I didn't think I would make her cry…I just thought she'd talk things through with me. And it sounded so good in my head!" Phoenix panicked as he tried grabbing a handful of tissues and passed them to Athena. He may have the gift of the gab, but handling females was something he simply had no natural talent at.
"Uhhh maybe I should get her some coffee, no wait it should be cocoa… or was it cake? Or maybe I can play the piano? Oh wait, I can't play the piano…ugh what would Trucy do?" Phoenix monologued to himself amidst his panic and weighing his options. Surprisingly, he heard giggling as he found himself furiously scratching his head. Though her face was streaked with tears and there tinted red, Athena had a genuine smile on her face.
"Y-y-you really a-re b-bad with girls, huh Boss?" Athena managed to choke out between hiccups. The tears were still flowing, but it was clear they weren't ones of sorrow. It was a cathartic release for Athena, a much needed one at that. Finally seeing a glimmer of the usual incandescent smile that brightened the office up, Phoenix calmed down slightly.
"Well, I usually only incite anger from all the women that I meet based on my observations…" Phoenix rubbed the back of his head embarrassed. Athena giggled again as her words kept getting caught in her throat.
"Th-thanks, B-b-boss. Sometimes y-you really know j-just what to say." Athena wiped away her tears and blew her nose into the mound of tissue Phoenix had passed to her. Her eyes may have puffed up a little and her face still red, but her radiant smile was back. The smile of a prodigal young attorney who helped incite a courtroom revolution.
"Good to see you're feeling better Athena." Phoenix grinned mildly. "I know what you're facing is tough, Athena. And I also know that I didn't really want to reach out to Mia for quite some time as well. I won't force you to open up if you don't want to, just know that you can talk to Apollo or myself, ok?"
"Sure thing, Boss. Thanks."
Phoenix had a look at the spade clock on the wall. A quarter past 2. Phoenix sat back in his swivel chair and turned to face Athena once more.
"Now that you feel better, why don't you take the rest of the day off and get some rest?"
"Do you mean it, Boss? I mean you'll be alone and you'll need to-"
"Read my book in peace," Phoenix opened the crazy tome up once more and placed it on his lap. "No need to worry, Athena. I can handle things." Seeing her boss' gentle smile, Athena relaxed and went to the restroom to wash up first.
Five minutes later, Athena had gathered all her things and was back before Phoenix.
"Thanks for all that Boss. And sorry, you had to see me like that…But really, thank you. I guess I really needed that. Kind of embarrassing for a psychologist to need catharsis…heh-he."
"It's fine, Athena. Happens to all of us. Just let me know if there's anything on your mind, ok?"
"Will do! Guess I'll see you tomorrow, Boss." Athena flashed her V for Victory sign energetically with her a genuine smile. It's been a while since Phoenix had seen her like this and it was heartening to say the least.
"You were the only one who believed me." A robotic voice chimed happily. This led to an utterly horrified look from Athena and a mildly befuddled one from Phoenix.
"Zip it, Widget! "Athena chastised her mechanical companion as her face began to burn brighter than Apollo's vest.
"Athena? Is there…something else we need to talk about?" If Phoenix was mildly confused before, now he was outright dumbfounded, The sounds of chains rang through Phoenix's mind as the clattering, sonorous metal enshrouded Athena once more. The chains seemed to form a complex web before Athena and there were more chains than Phoenix had ever encountered. The orange locks attached themselves before the chains and the mystery only thickened for Phoenix.
'"T-TEN LOCKS?!" Phoenix was taken aback by the sight before him. In all his years of investigation, he had never encountered such a heavily guarded secret, and on his protege no less.
"N-nothing at all, Boss. Widget was just saying random things again. Must be a bug… heh-heh. Well I'll be going then. See you tomorrow, Boss!" Before Phoenix could even question anything, Athena swiftly made her exit and was already flying down the flight of stairs. Phoenix could only lean back in his swivel chair. As he stared at the ceiling, he sighs.
"Did I… do something wrong again? Ugh, Trucy's right. I just don't understand girls."
A/N So yeah there we go. Depending on feedback and time constraints (I'm in college...and in computer science) I'll continue. Peace people. Feel free to post what you'd like to see too. I have an idea how this will go, but I'm open to suggestions.