Certain Demolitions


Chapter 49: With Luck and Sunshine

The two soldiers pulled Klavier to his feet and tied his hands behind his back. A shape that was almost like that of a whale rose on the horizon where the sky met the water.

"Our ride is here," Leitz said, taking Klavier by his bound hands and starting to steer him towards the water. The two soldiers followed behind at a short distance.

Ema and Apollo looked appalled. Apollo renewed his struggles to get free, but they were fruitless.

"Hold it right there, Pal!"

Ema recognized the voice immediately. "Gumshoe!" She shrieked. "Gumshoe! Look out!"

Four police detectives and Gumshoe burst out of the woods, followed by Phoenix. The detectives had their guns drawn and took the two soldiers by surprise.

Leitz was a little faster on the uptake then his men, and he was closer to the water. He had turned around and seen what had happened, and in a flash had gotten out his pistol and pressed it to Klavier's side. "I must hand it to you Americans, you are clever. I did not expect you to figure out we were here." He said, as Edgeworth appeared with the rest of the detectives.

"Don't try anything." Edgeworth warned him.

"You're going to let us leave." Leitz said. He hadn't stopped moving and was in the water, but now he was walking backwards into it, with Klavier in front of him. Edgeworth looked at the detectives around him and motioned for them to lower their guns. There was no way they could take a shot at Leitz without shooting Klavier. Gumshoe was the only one who kept his weapon at the ready.

"What are you going to do, swim out to the sub?" Phoenix asked, glancing at Apollo and Ema, and then at Edgeworth.

"I'll think of something." Leitz replied, pausing. He needed the U-boat to get closer.

But Klavier thought of something a little faster, and slid one foot back behind him until he was positioned so that Leitz would trip over his foot if he took another step back.

"We'll let you go back to the U-boat." Edgeworth said, and he had Phoenix and Gumshoe's attention immediately. "But Herr Gavin stays here."

"Herr Gavin is coming with me." Leitz said, pressing his gun harder into Klavier's side. "And if you don't try and follow me, maybe I won't shoot him."

"Think this through." Phoenix interjected. "How do you even expect to get back to the U-boat?"

"That is none of your business, American." Leitz replied. He took another step backwards and stumbled over Klavier's foot. His grip on Klavier loosened, and the blond fell forward, landing on his knees, his head bent towards the shallow water.

Once he was out of the way, Gumshoe and another detective rushed forward. "Drop your weapon!" The second detective shouted. Leitz aimed his gun at the other men.

Two gunshots rang out, but Gumshoe and the other detective kept going forward, while Leitz stumbled back into the water. Gumshoe pulled Klavier to his feet and helped him up the bank.

Phoenix looked relieved, and turned to Apollo and Ema. He started looking for a way to untie them. The other two soldiers had been handcuffed by a couple of the detectives. Gumshoe was using his pocket knife to cut through the ropes around Klavier's wrists.

Apollo looked relieved and exhausted all at once. "I was hoping Trucy had found you." He told Phoenix.

"She did." Phoenix replied. He managed to get the first layer of ropes untied, but that only freed Apollo. Ema had been tied twice since she had been tied up first.

She wasn't paying attention to that; instead, she was watching Klavier as he came slowly over the rising ground towards them. Apollo was struggling to get back to his feet but he was the first to notice that something was wrong. "Uh…Klavier, when the guard hit you…" He trailed off, ignoring Phoenix's overlapping question of, "Wait, the guard hit you?"

Klavier looked confused, and Apollo said. "You're bleeding."

"Ach." The German said slowly, and put a hand to the side of his head. Now they could all see that the left side of his face and part of his hair was liberally bloodstained. His fingers came away from his head covered in blood. He looked at his fingers dumbly. "Ach so."

Phoenix was starting to look alarmed. He had noticed that Klavier's face was white when he came up the hill, and was still white now. "Klavier, sit down."

The blond looked confused by the statement. A moment later his eyes closed and he slumped to the ground.

Edgeworth had seen what had happened. He moved quickly and caught Klavier before he could hit the ground. Edgeworth landed on his knees, trying to keep the blond's head from moving as he did. "What happened to him?" The prosecutor demanded.

"He was hit on the head by that Nazi." Apollo said as he got to his feet. Phoenix had finally managed to get Ema untied with Gumshoe's help. Edgeworth laid Klavier down on the ground, on his side so that his open wound wouldn't touch the ground. Then he took his suit coat off and covered Klavier with it.

"Gumshoe!" Edgeworth said, getting to his feet and heading towards where the detectives were guarding their prisoners. "Get on the radio and get some medical help out here. And what happened to the third Nazi?"

"He's being dealt with right now, sir!" Gumshoe said. "I'll get some medics out here right away!"

Ema had been helped to her feet by Phoenix. She went over to where Klavier was lying and knelt next to him. She took his hand as he began to stir.

Blue eyes fluttered open, and met Ema's tear filled ones. When she saw he was awake, her tears started to spill over and trail down her face. "Liebchen," Klavier said softly, reaching his hand out to wipe her tears away, "why are you crying?"

"You're hurt."

Edgeworth reappeared a moment later and knelt on Klavier's other side. "Lay still. You are hurt but we are getting help." He said in German.

"That is good." Klavier replied. He sounded like he wasn't completely aware of what was happening around him.

Three of the detectives were holding the three Nazis at gunpoint. Phoenix and Apollo were watching as out at sea, the U-boat sank away beneath the waves.

"That was a bit close for comfort," Phoenix said.

"No kidding." Apollo replied.

Phoenix reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out Apollo's bracelet, which he handed to the younger man. "This is yours."

Apollo took it and put it back on, looking relieved as he did. "I was really afraid Trucy wasn't going to find you. "

"After seeing all of this, I'm started to understand that," Phoenix said. He looked a bit nervous, and turned back to look at Edgeworth and the others. "Let's go. We're not finished."

(-)

There isn't a hospital in the town where Apollo and the others live. There is a medical clinic, but the hospital is in Pine Ridge.

So it's the medical clinic that Klavier is taken too.

Gumshoe and the detectives depart to lodge their prisoners in the jail. Gumshoe is warned by Edgeworth that he should expect Simon Blackquill to arrive to handle the situation as far as the Nazis are concerned.

Edgeworth, along with Phoenix, Apollo, and Ema, accompany Klavier to the clinic. No one misses their entrance, since Klavier, who has been in and out of consciousness during the trip back, is immediately taken to have his injuries treated.

Lana, Trucy, and Kay are in the waiting room. Apart from that, there are only a couple of people waiting to be seen in the room.

Trucy spied Apollo as soon as he walked in. She ran over to him, and threw her arms around him. "Polly! I was really worried." She said. Then she paused and looked down the hallway where Klavier had been taken. "Is Klavier going to be okay?"

Phoenix and Apollo looked at each other. "We hope so, Trucy."

Ema, meanwhile, had gone over to her sister.

"Ema, are you alright?" Lana asked, worry obvious in her voice.

Ema's lower lip trembled, and she burst into tears. Her sister pulled her closer and Kay hovered nearby, trying to comfort her as best as they could.

Edgeworth reappeared a moment later. He glanced at Lana and Ema for a moment, then went over to Phoenix and his family.

"Everything is okay?" Phoenix asked carefully. He wasn't extremely anxious to have a bad report given in front of Trucy.

"Hopefully. The doctor is optimistic, but he needs to know what happened and so do I," Edgeworth said. He turned to Apollo. "How did Klavier get that head injury? I thought I heard you say something about it while we were out there, but I didn't catch everything that was said."

"That Nazi soldier, the leader, used his gun to hit Klavier in the head." Apollo said. "He was pretty forceful about it too."

Edgeworth nodded. "I'll tell the doctor that. When I come back, I'll need the full story of everything that happened from you. So will Blackquill, later on." He glanced at Ema, who was still crying. Then he looked at Phoenix.

"We'll take it one step at a time."


[A/N:] Title for this chapter comes from a German wartime song (WWI, though) Es war ein Edelweiss (It was an Edelweiss). The line I used was too good to pass up.

Head wounds bleed. A lot. About the time I was working on this chapter, someone at my workplace had gotten a head injury that probably required stitches. He refused to get them, and I was informed the wound bled for a very long time. So, Klavier has a head wound, cannot apply pressure to it or do anything about it since he's been tied up, which is why he actually looks worse off then he is. Probably. What Edgeworth did as far as cover up Klavier and try and keep him calm and still is what you're supposed to do for someone who's been hurt while you wait for help to arrive, as far as I understand the process.

Ach so = Oh right. (To be fair, he's starting into shock at this point, which is why his reaction to this discovery is pretty flat.)

Other than that I don't have a lot to say. Please review.