A/N

Hey early chapter because I've been procrastinating my french work, also I'm a tad tipsy so I'll probably have to proof read this in the morning. This chapter was requested by a friend since she likes Chris' character *godknowswhy* he's meant to be a bastard. But I would watch out for him because he's smarter than he makes out to be. No spoilers but he's important in the upcoming 'thing' I have planned. We're talking like 4 chapters away but it's coming since I'm doing another slight time jump in a few chapters' time. People that have given me requests via DM have always wished for darker pieces and I'm like yeah but cute fluffy Niles stuff. But i don't mind so long as you guys are still here, reading my stuff because no joke I work super hard. I was literally thinking of today's chapter while driving guys. But this chapter is so short I'm sorry.

Also I added the final insight into Miles' mind like minutes ago because I think better when I'm sleep-deprived ^^;

But regardless of whatever I do next with this story and what happens, I am so grateful for all the reviews and follows/favourites because wow you guys are all awesome and it's just an honour to write for you all!

Please enjoy and, as always, review if you have the time because waking up to email notifications literally makes my heart burst with happiness. No I'm not joking haha.

Since the incident at the Wonder Bar, Nina had made sure to avoid Miles at all costs; she was always awake and at work before him and every night for the past week she had stayed out late. Although what she was doing was unknown.

While Nina was adamant that evading their issues was the best thing to do, Miles was dead set on talking out their problems in order to fix their relationship. He knew it wouldn't be the easiest of feats – especially with his girlfriend being as stubborn as she was – but he couldn't allow their current situation to carry on. And he certainly didn't want Nina to find somewhere else to live.

However, since he'd had no luck in speaking to her at home, Miles decided that the best thing to do was to catch her at work. Luckily for him, Nina had wandered down to the archives in order to retrieve some information on a possible suspect so speaking with her without any interruptions seemed doable. And so the chief prosecutor made his way down there – unaware that she already had unfortunate company.

"I can't believe I got stuck doing your dirty work…" Nina muttered under her breath as she searched through shelves of documents and files. "Officers don't even have permission to access these files."

Chris stood next to her, casually leaning on a shelf with his typical, smug grin in place. "Well you're doing me a favour so it'll be fine. I've got your back." He chuckled and gently tapped Nina's back.

"That's very reassuring…" Nina rolled her eyes, clearly unamused by her ex-husband's unusually nice behaviour towards her.

"How're you and Edgeworth?" He smirked, watching as Nina climbed the ladder to access the rest of the files, with a frown on her face.

"I knew you'd start prying sooner or later…"

"No, I'm just curious. You are the mom of my kid after all. And I'd hate to think that you were bringing a danger into our son's life."

"That's funny. I seem to recall that I'm just the broken woman he sees once a month." Nina retorted, trying to keep her anger under control. "And since when was Miles a danger? I'd be more concerned about Kelly if I were you…"

Chris' smirk suddenly faltered and he gave Nina a sideways glance. "I wouldn't worry about that for much longer. Things haven't been working out recently and I want to call it quits."

Nina couldn't pretend that she wasn't pleased to hear that, to find out that her cheating husband's mistress-turned-fiancée was making him unhappy. "You know what they say, Chris. Karma's a bitch. And it looks like she finally caught up to you." She laughed to herself, unable to stop a smirk of her own from spreading across her face. It seemed rather fitting that, in that moment, she was standing above him on a ladder, looking down on him with a smug smile of her own.

"Okay, I guess I kinda deserve that…" The blonde mumbled, clearly feeling slightly emasculated.

"Yes, you do. You tore apart our marriage - our family - for that tart so your misery will be my Christmas bonus." The officer took out a file and began descending down the ladder. However Chris stopped her before she could reach the ground, his hand round her arm. "…What're you doing?"

"If you must know, a few of our arguments were about you." Chris said, his eyes firmly meeting Nina's stare. "See, Kelly thinks that I have a thing for you. Apparently I stare at your ass when you walk away and that I talk about you far too much. And looking up at you right now, I see something there. I can like feel a spark or two."

"Maybe you need to get your eyes tested. And your brain while you're at it." Nina insisted, breaking away from Chris to climb off the ladder. "You hate me, remember? I hate you and you hate me and that's the way it'll always be until one of us dies or until one of us murders the other."

"I always thought so too but you and I were close back then. Like we had such a strong relationship." His voice got huskier as he moved closer to Nina, trapping her against the shelf. "Remember the time we did it in the bathroom at that crime scene?"

"Sadly…" Nina threw him a glare. For one thing she couldn't believe her ex-husband could have such a quick change in his opinion of her. When had he suddenly developed these illicit feelings? Or had they never left? Either way, Nina didn't care. She didn't want to know because she loved Miles.

"Those were exciting times…I know that Edgeworth doesn't get you going like that, does he? I bet holding hands at a restaurant is as intense as it gets." Chris moved his head closer to Nina so that their foreheads were touching.

"Miles and I may be having a disagreement at the moment but that doesn't mean that I'm going to leave him for you. I've been with you once and it was the worst decision of my life, Chris. So move out of my way before my knee comes into contact with your crotch and Oliver becomes the only child to have your DNA, which may not be a bad thing come to think of it." Nina may have had her fair share of relationships but she had never been one to cheat. In addition to that, she was also no fool – getting back with her ex-husband was going to be a regrettable move and she knew it. She loved Miles. In spite of their recent difficulties she still had deep feelings for him and had no intention of leaving him – especially for someone as cruel as the blonde detective.

Knowing that Nina's threat was serious, Chris stepped back and she shoved the case file into his chest before walking away from him. "I mean it, Chris. Stay the hell away from me."

Chris chuckled to himself as Nina stormed out of the archives. While he wasn't sure if he loved his ex-wife, he was certain that he wanted her - at any cost. Even though he hadn't felt this way while Nina was single, his desire to get back with Nina had become quite strong since she had begun seeing Miles. Perhaps it was a case of wanting her now that somebody else had her, wanting what he didn't have already. Well, it wasn't like he didn't have a history of feeling that way.

Nina practically ran into Miles on the corridor – not that he minded. Gently, he took her by the shoulders in order to steady her, feeling his spirits being lifted when she made eye contact with him. "…Could I speak with you, please?" Miles asked quietly, giving his girlfriend the option to run away by taking his hands off her shoulders.

"Well, we can't go on like this, can we?" She sighed, "Can I just be brutally honest with you?"

"You wouldn't be you if you weren't brutally honest." Miles chuckled, causing Nina to smile slightly.

"I should hate you." The brunette stated, her eyes staring him down. "I've been trying so hard to hate you because I really should after what you did. I want to hate you because my father meant the world to me."

Miles nodded in understanding, his face straight in order to mask the fact that Nina's words were killing him. And the fact that the sense of dread within him was building.

"But I just can't bring myself to hate you. I guess I've fallen for you harder than I thought…" Nina added, stuffing her hands into her pockets, feeling slightly shy under her boyfriend's soft gaze. "I won't forgive you, but I won't hate you either.

"That's completely understandable. If there's anything that you'd like me to do, please do tell me." Miles replied, unsure of what to do now. Should I hug her? Would another couple kiss in this situation?

However Nina was way ahead of him. "Come here, I know you wanna hug me." She held her arms open and Miles ran in to embrace her, relieved tears pricking his eyes.

Then it was almost as if Karma hadn't had enough for the day, as Chris left the archives and found himself face to face with the couple who were still holding each other close in the middle of the corridor. It made him feel sick. No, not sick: angry. Nina's doing this to get to me, to piss me off. Or maybe Edgeworth himself is the scheming bastard behind this display. Either way, I'm not just gonna sit back and let this go on.

The detective kept himself hidden behind the corner before Nina kissed Miles' cheek and returned to work. Then he made his move. Forcing a grin, Chris turned the corner and strolled up to Edgeworth, patting him – hard – on the back before he had the chance to leave the building. "Hey Edgeworth, how're you doing buddy?"

"Detective Chambers…" Miles didn't even want to pretend to be pleased to see him. "I'm fine thank you. Although you'll have to excuse me…" The chief prosecutor knew his girlfriend's ex-husband was up to something so he wasted no time in walking down the corridor. Chris, however, was a very persistent man and followed him.

"This won't take long." He grinned. "See, it's about Nina."

"I really don't have the time, Chambers. Get back to work."

"No, really I think you do. Or you should make time." Innocently, the detective tilted his head to the side. "When was the last time you made time for her? For her needs?"

Miles frowned and carried on walking, hoping that Chris would get bored and actually do his job.

"Do you want to know the real reason why we broke up? Why I demanded a divorce?"

The chief prosecutor knew that he should've just walked away there and then. Chris Chambers was bad news, he knew that. However, when it came to Nina, Miles was always intrigued. And even though he didn't want to believe the story that her ex-husband told, Miles knew that it was too detailed to be fiction. While he could see why this had been one story that Nina had failed to tell him, Miles felt slightly hurt that she didn't feel comfortable enough to share that dark chapter with him. However it had shed light on a few things; like her dislike for alcohol and the reason why her description of their divorce had been very…vague. Hearing about Nina's past difficulties with alcohol had also opened Miles' eyes to the reason behind the custodial situation with Oliver. Even if he still deemed it cruel that his girlfriend was being refused any parental rights to her son, Miles fully understood why – as much as it pained him to admit. Her reckless behaviour had caused her to go off the rails and almost kill herself and her young child. Of course he sympathised with Nina's situation but, at the same time, he was mortified that she could lose control like that. She had always been his pillar of support, after all. His rock, so to speak. The very thought of her pale and alone in a rehabilitation clinic almost broke him – Nina was still the strong one – but recently he had seen a new side to her. A deeper, almost darker, side to the quirky english officer.

Maybe Chris wasn't the one he had to be wary of.

No. No. How could I even think that?

Nina isn't like that. She never was. It was a moment of madness, weakness and fear - we all have those. Besides, who am I to possibly judge her?

I love her. She loves me. What we have is real and Chris Chambers could never say anything to change that. Nobody can change how I feel about her.

Perhaps I love her too much, but there's nothing wrong with that. I suppose I should act on these feelings, to make sure that she knows exactly how I feel.

I need to make time for her, like Chambers said.

Miles knew that his thoughts were all over the place after hearing Chris' bombshell regarding Nina's past alcoholism. He knew that everything orderly within his life had been thrown into chaos since Nina had entered his office in her scruffy trench coat - but he knew that this disorder was for the best. She had broken him free of his once spotless schedule and, should any challenges arise in the future, Miles knew that Nina would be there to offer her genuine smile to him. She would always give him the love he needed - the love he wanted. That was all he could ever ask of her. She didn't need to be perfect, Nina just needed to remain the person he had fallen in love with. The first real person he had ever met.