Y'okay! Time for Chapter Nine! I have been dying to write this chapter. I thought it up while listening to True Evening of Grief. It fits this scene perfectly, so you may want to listen to it if you can.

Also, huge thank-you to everyone who's reviewed so far. You have no idea how much I appreciate it, and I take every one of them to heart. So enjoy this chapter, tell me your thoughts, and expect the tenth chapter next week!

Miles froze dead in his tracks. This isn't good. What should I do? I should have paid attention! Anxiety squeezed his chest, constricting his breathing. He was usually able to steer them away from this area of the Prosecutors Building without making it obvious, but this time he had been so distracted talking to Maria he had lost track of where they were. Why did I let her take me here?

Maria pressed the small white button, and the elevator doors opened.

A thousand words raced through his head in one instant. Adrenaline shot through his system, and while he masked it to the best of his ability, he panicked. For many years, Miles had been terrified of elevators. They weren't his biggest phobia though, and over time he had worked to get over his fear. However, when he discovered a body in an elevator and was accused of murdering the man, he found that he was back to square one. If I just take the stairs she'll ask why, and I can't let her to find out! Is there any way I can get out of this?

The brunette prosecutor stepped inside and looked at the him. "Well, aren't you coming?"

His mind went blank. Hating himself more with every step, Miles walked into the elevator. This woman is going to be the death of me.

The doors shut behind him, trapping him inside and preventing him from changing his mind. I'm overreacting, nothing is going to happen. Maria isn't actually going to be the death of me.

"Are you alright, Edgeworth?" Maria said.

… This elevator is.

"Yes, of course I am," Miles said, turning to face her. Stop it. This is no big deal; it's about time I got over this silly fear anyway. I'll just keep talking to her. There's no reason to be nervous, I'll just talk to… the beautiful, smart girl who makes me nervous that I'm now stuck inside a small space with. Brilliant.

"You're sure?" Maria said. "You don't look well."

That's because the movement of this death box hanging by a piece of wire is making me sick. "I assure you, I'm fine."

"Okay then," Maria said, clearly not believing him.

"You don't have to sound so skeptical about it."

"It wasn't skepticism, merely-"

"Disbelief."

"Would it make you feel better if I said you were right?"

"I feel just fine."

"Whatever you say."

"You know, sarcasm is considered the lowest form of wit."

"That's what everyone says when they can't think of a retort."

Miles rolled his eyes, though if he were honest with himself he wasn't really annoyed with her. In a way he couldn't describe, it felt comforting to mince words with her.

Maria adjusted her purse and stepped over to the corner of the elevator. With a jolt the dusky-haired prosecutor was reminded of where he was. I swear I can feel the elevator moving with every step she takes.

He looked above the panel of buttons and saw that they were on the 6th floor. We're only halfway there. This must be the slowest elevator… Miles glanced at Maria, who was leaning against the handrail and reading a book.

…that's still rocking… and getting worse… You've got to be kidding me. Suddenly, the world around him shook violently. The two prosecutors screamed, and Miles was thrown into a corner by the intense vibrations.

He gripped the handrail to stop himself from moving anymore, but it was a futile effort when absolutely nothing was still. Again… It's happening… again…

Miles shivered as dark and hazy memories flooded into his mind. He could almost feel the gun by his feet, and hear the agonizing howl. His knuckled turned white as his face as he squeezed the rail for dear life.

He blinked, and everything he saw turned dark and nightmarish. In the corner was a limp figure. It was his father, cold and lifeless on the floor. Blood dripped down from his mouth, and Miles watched it fall onto his chest in a cruel, maddening rhythm. It drew his gaze to the hole in his father's suit, a small hole going straight through his heart.

Helpless and afraid, he felt his own heart being punctured. Miles watched his father's blood drip down, each drop causing him to slowly lose his sanity. Just when he felt his body was about to shut down, and let his mind sink deeper into the twisted pain of nightmares, his father's glasses slid down his nose ever so slightly.

Miles blinked rapidly, and the scene before him changed. Maria was huddled in the corner, her glasses crooked and the eyes behind them distant and blank. A man's scream echoed throughout the small room, and finally Miles realized it was his own.

Never had an earthquake terrified him so much since that fateful day, three days after his ninth Christmas. The dizzying feelings of confinement and instability had never felt so real.

They are real. This is really happening. All of it… Miles breathing became heavier and heavier. Even as the earthquake receded, his anxiety and fear only got worse. This is happening again. It's exactly the same, it's just like last time.

Past and present melded together, fading in and out of his mind and sight. He reached the point where he couldn't even tell where he was anymore. Paralyzed, fear was the only thing keeping his eyes open.

By the time he returned to the world around him, everything had stopped moving. Everything except his shivering body and shaky, ragged breathes. An eerie silence spread through the dark elevator. While he knew there were walls around him, he felt lost and alone in an endless abyss. It was black as an unholy, starless night. The only thing he could see was a red number six frozen in place. We're stuck. Six… Six… D… L… 6…

Miles felt something shatter inside him, and his quaking turned into frantic movements towards the elevator door. He banged his fists on the solid metal, ignoring the pain that stabbed through him with every strike.

"No! No! No! No! No! No!" Miles rammed into the door with his shoulder repeatedly, more frantic with every miserable failure.

I can't let this happen again! I have to get out of here! He shoved all of his weight into the door, but the only evidence of his efforts was the sharp, hollow banging echoing through the elevator.

Hyperventilating now, Miles could only think to try harder. There has to be a way out of here!

He heard his name being called from behind him, barely a faint whisper. Am I hearing voices? I can't stay here! I have to get out!

…Edgeworth… Edgeworth… Edgeworth…

This is madness! Miles pounded harder against the door.

"Miles Edgeworth calm down!"

Surprised, Miles turned around with wide, panicky eyes. All he could make out was her silhouette, but he could feel Maria's stern gaze looking down on him.

"What?" Miles said, panting for breath.

"I said, calm down before you hurt yourself," Maria said. "You're acting crazy."

"I am?" Miles said.

"Yes!" Maria said. "What is going on?"

He felt his vision, already hampered by the dark room, fade and blur. The shadows before him, like charcoal dust in a breeze, twisted and swirled. I'm acting… crazy. I'm pounding and screaming… I'm trapped in an elevator. I can't believe I didn't see it… I'm just like…

Miles looked at Maria, pure fear in his eyes.

"Stay away from me!" Miles exclaimed, backing into the door.

"Excuse me?" Maria said.

"Just stay back, I don't want to hurt you!" Miles said.

"Hurt me?" Maria said, taking a step forward. "What are you-?"

"Get away from me!" Miles said, backing farther away into a corner.

"You're even more panicked now, calm down," Maria said.

"Don't come any closer!" Miles begged; his tone filled with hopeless despair. "Please. I don't want to hurt you."

He heard her take another step forward. Why doesn't she get it? I have to keep her away from me!

"I'm not going to hurt you," Maria said.

"I know that!" Miles said. "Of course you're not going to hurt me! I'm going to hurt you!"

"Why would you want to hurt me?" Maria said, sounding confused.

"I don't want to hurt you," Miles said. "But look at me! I'm banging on a solid metal door, I can't stop shouting; I'm completely delusional! I'm going to kill someone, and you're the only one here! So stay away!"

"Why would you kill me?" Maria said.

"Because I'm just like him!" Miles shouted. "And he's dangerous! Well, he didn't actually kill him, but he killed him later. And I'm almost exactly like him, and he was crazy too, and he did kill him. It never occurred to me that I was like him too, but-"

"Miles, what in the world are you talking about?" Maria said.

"That's not important," Miles said, shaking. "All that matters is that you stay away from me, and you won't get hurt."

Maria didn't respond, and Miles hoped it was a sign that she finally understood. He heard something unzip, followed by the sound of an assortment of things moving around. Suddenly, all the noises stopped.

With a click, a small light illuminated Maria's face. She put her purse down and walked over to Miles.

A flashlight? Wait, why is she coming closer? Does she want to get hurt? "Didn't I just tell you to-?"

"Look at me," Maria said, kneeling down to his eye level. "Am I hurt?"

"I…" Miles stared at the brunette prosecutor's face, feeling the shattered fragments of his sanity melt and stir inside him. Everything was confusing and muddled. His heart was either beating at the speed of light, or not at all.

She looked at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.

His eyes were completely transfixed on her face. "Yes."

"Hmm?" Maria tilted her head.

"Your chin," Miles said, on pins and needles once more. "There's a scratch, it's bleeding. What happened?"

"It is?" Maria said, touching the side of her chin. "Oh, I didn't notice. I must have scratched it on something during the earthquake."

Miles reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. "Here, let me stop the bleeding."

"It's just a little scratch, I don't even feel it," Maria said.

"Please, Maria," Miles said. "I need… I need to do something."

"But, it's really not that important," Maria said.

"Please," Miles said, his desperate eyes pleading.

"… Alright, fine," Maria said. "But will you tell me something?"

"What?" Miles said, already dabbing the side of her chin carefully. It was somewhat calming to do something constructive with his pent up nervous energy.

"What were you talking about earlier?" Maria said.

Miles winced, and looked down at the floor. "It was…"

"Don't tell me it was nothing," Maria said.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. Do I really want to tell her?

"What has gotten you so freaked out?"

Hearing the concern in her soft voice, Miles felt his rapidly beating heart melt. While he didn't want to admit it, he knew he couldn't hide anything from her anymore. I suppose I've already humiliated myself, I might as well tell her the whole story. Maybe then we can be done with all of this.

Miles sighed, and put his focus back into cleaning her scratch. "I don't suppose you've ever heard of DL-6?"

"No, but that sounds like a case file," Maria said.

"It's a murder case," Miles said, steeling himself. I can't turn back now.

"What happened?" Maria said.

"After a trial had ended, a defense attorney got into an elevator with his son and court bailiff," Miles said. "The bailiff's name was Yanni Yogi, and the defense attorney was the victim… my father, Gregory Edgeworth."

Maria didn't say anything, which he appreciated. He didn't want to dwell on the subject too much.

"While we were all in the elevator, out of nowhere an earthquake broke out. The power was cut off, and the door was shut airtight," Miles said. "That being the case, the oxygen thinned overtime. It put us all on edge; no one was quite in their right mind. Especially the bailiff, Yogi. He started shouting out nonsense, scrambling around and banging at the door."

Miles looked into Maria's eyes. "Remind you of anyone?"

"You acted similar in one instance, but that's not enough for me to say you truly resemble this man," Maria said, matter of factually. "What happened next?"

"Well, my father wasn't very pleased with his behavior," Miles said, turning back to her cut. "Feeling rather high strung himself at the time he snapped at Yogi and tried to reason with him. It only built the tension, and finally Yogi couldn't take it anymore and attacked my father."

"So then this bailiff killed your father?" Maria said.

"That's what the police were saying," Miles said. "However, at his trial Yogi was declared innocent due to lack of evidence."

"Lack of evidence?" Maria said. "They were stuck inside an elevator, who else could it have been?"

"Well, there are other possibilities," Miles said. "And there was one other person in the elevator with them. Me."

Maria shook her head. "You-"

"Don't move, it makes this difficult," Miles said, stilling her head and wiping away every trace of blood. "While Yogi and my father struggled, I merely watched and wished there was something I could do. That's when I felt something heavy at my feet. It was a pistol, probably Yogi's. Though I wasn't really thinking about where it had come from at the time. Honestly, I'm not quite sure what I was thinking. The lack of oxygen had muddled my mind; it was a challenge to stay conscious. Right before I passed out though, I threw the pistol at them. I accidentally fired a bullet, and the last thing I remember hearing was a man screaming in pain. When I awoke hours later in a hospital bed, I was informed that my father had died from a single bullet to the heart."

"Miles, you wouldn't kill anyone. Not even on accident," Maria said.

He felt the corner of his mouth twitch upward. I must truly be a madman now, given the circumstances. "Well, I might have to disagree with you on the accident part."

Miles dabbed at Maria's cut again, and felt that her cheek had grown warmer.

As he continued to needlessly tend to a minor scratch, the words poured out of his mouth. Before he could even think about stopping, he told Maria everything. How he had grown up to become the Demon Prosecutor, dreaming of DL-6 every night, getting accused of murder, finding out his mentor had killed his father out of spite, everything.

Maria just listened, absorbing the information silently.

Finally, Miles reached the end of his tale. While it pained him to recall all those memories, he couldn't have stopped himself he tried once he had gotten started. He reminded himself that it was the truth and the truth must never be hidden. Now she knows, and she can see me for what I truly am. He felt his heart ache, but in a way that was different from when he thought about his father or his past. He wasn't mourning what he'd lost, but was pained by what he felt he was about to lose.

"Miles… I'm sorry," Maria said.

"What do you have to apologize for?" Miles said.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have asked…" Maria said timidly.

"It was a long time ago," Miles said, to himself almost as much as to her.

"Still, it must have been very, um, hard to, uh, talk about it," Maria stuttered.

"You're uncomfortable, aren't you?" Miles stated. It would seem I still can't stop talking.

"I'm not very… comforting, I'm afraid," Maria said. He could tell she was hunching her shoulders.

"Nonsense, you're just fine. You listen, after all. And you're honest," Miles said.

"Oh, um… Thank you. Wait, this isn't about me," Maria said. "You-"

"Its fine, Maria," Miles said.

She dipped her head. "You're… You're too kind, Miles."

Kind? Did I hear that right? "Did you…"

Miles put the handkerchief down, and looked straight into two beautiful pale green eyes. He froze. When did we get so close?

Their noses were almost touching, and he could feel her warm breath on his face. Neither one moved a centimeter closer, nor a centimeter back. Their eyes were locked onto each other's, and they stayed as they were in stunned silence. In that moment, time had lost its significance. However, Miles was increasing hyperaware of the small space between himself and Maria.

His heart beat so fiercely it was like one continuous vibration. Right there. She's right… there. So close… Really close…

He then began to notice the intensely awkward atmosphere around them, so thick you could choke on it. Miles stayed exactly where he was, not daring to move or talk. Though he badly wanted to shift his position, just to release some nervous energy, he feared that anything he did would only make the situation worse. If I move too much, or the wrong way; we could get even closer. At this distance, I could accidentally kiss her…

Like a bolt of lightning, fear struck into his heart at the idea. I can't kiss her! I'm a gentleman! Besides, why would she even want to? Well, I suppose she's not backing away either. Wait, do I want to?

An explosion of thoughts went through his mind in one moment, and his face turned so red he was thankful for the darkness. What am I saying? She'd hate me if she knew what was going through my head right now!


We could kiss right now. Maria stared straight into Miles' stormy grey eyes, unable to look away. Why am I not moving back? What if he does kiss me?

… Do I want him to?


Why can't I think straight? I need to use common sense. If she's not your partner, don't kiss her! Miles couldn't back away, though. It was as if time itself had frozen, and it might as well have as far as he was concerned. He couldn't move. This is madness, why can't I just lean back?

While he knew it was true, he was having a hard time accepting the answer. He didn't want to move back.

… I could make it look like an accident. Internally, Miles kicked himself. I most certainly cannot! Why would I even consider that? How do I even know she'd want me to? She hasn't move back either, but that's not enough. How can I be absolutely sure?

The moments crawled forward, painfully slow, with the two prosecutors remaining exactly the same. Lost in each other's eyes, and drowning in their own thoughts. What do I do?

Neither one remembered moving, but at some point their hands touched. In that instant, all their questions and doubts melted away. Only one thought was left in the dusky-haired man's mind. I think too much.

They both leaned forward, and Miles completely forgot he was trapped in an elevator.

It was soft and gentle, with a warm, sweet pleasure underneath. He closed his eyes, falling deeper in love with Maria with every passing second. Her left hand fit perfectly in his right, and he never wanted to let go.

Washed over in awe by her delicate touch, Miles caressed her chin and ever so slightly brought her closer. In the one corner of his mind that seemed to function normally, he only hoped it was as gentlemanly as he tried to make it. However, with everything and nothing going through his conscious, he didn't think too hard about it.

Neither of them knew how much time had passed, but eventually they broke away as gently as they had started. Once again, they stared into each other's eyes in complete silence. Only this time, not one thought entered their minds.

Miles looked deeply into Maria's big, innocent, pale green eyes. He brushed the side of her face with his thumb, feeling her cut already beginning to heal. The past and the future didn't even exist as far as he was concerned. In that moment, all he knew was that he would do anything for her.

Suddenly, they heard the elevator door ping. Like a coin in a fountain, reality sunk in and they remembered where they were. Instinctively, they pushed each other away just as the door slid open.

"Rrarf! Rarf, rarf!"

"Mr. Edgeworth, Ms. Coldstare, there you guys are!" Gumshoe said, appearing in the doorway. Missile was by his side.

Miles dashed out of the elevator and took a deep breath. Maria was right behind him.

"Man, this is the last place I would have checked for you guys!" Gumshoe said.

"Detective Gumshoe, what are you doing with Missile?" Miles said.

"I looking for you, Mr. Edgeworth," Gumshoe said. "As soon as the earthquake happened, I ran right to your office but you weren't there! Then I heard Missile scratching at the door from Ms. Coldstare's office. He must have known you guys were in trouble, because as soon as I opened the door he started sniffing around and lead me here."

Missile wagged his tail and looked up at Maria happily. She knelt down and rubbed the little dog behind the ears.

"I see," Miles said. Everything that had happened slowly set in. My, today has been rather… eventful.

"Are you okay, sir?" Gumshoe said.

"Yes, I'm fine," Miles said, and his brain finally caught up with him.

He was unconscious before he hit the floor.