Episode 0-3: The New Job

July 22, 6:34 PM. Building 201. Phoenix's Apartment.

Pam was watching the news when her brother came in. He was slumped over, walking through the house like a man on death row. Pam raised an eyebrow but didn't move from her comfy seat on the couch.

"Tough day at work?" she asked. Phoenix just sighed, loosening his tie. Pam muted the TV. "Well, I made some food. It's in the kitchen." The thought of food seemed to perk her brother up, but not by much. He stumbled to the kitchen, mumbling his thanks. Pam thought she heard him say something about Mia under his breath. He came back moments later, plate of spaghetti in hand. He sat down beside her, staring at the silent TV. Pam took in her brother's bedraggled stature. "What exactly happened? You look…tired."

Phoenix took a bite of food before answering. "We organized everything. Every file. Every case. Every slip of paper." He dragged a hand down his face. "I didn't think it would take so long. I'm used to manning the desk, but that? It was awful."

Pam covered her smirk with her blanket.

"I thought you were a lawyer, not an assistant."

"Haha, your hilarious," Phoenix deadpanned. He wolfed down the rest of his food. It was a bit concerning. Pam didn't think he breathed while he ate. He set his plate on the coffee table once he finished. "Since my day was less than exciting, how about we focus on yours? Did you get down to the police department?"

"Yeah. It went well. Though there are some strange people over there. I wonder if I'll have to work with that guy with the megaphone…"

"So, wait, you got the job?"

Pam pointed to her phone, which was charging on the floor nearby. It's red case stood out on the grey carpet.

"All I'm waiting for now is a call back. And I'm fully expecting a call back, don't worry. I'll be able to start helping out with your rent."

Phoenix's laugh sounded forced. "That would certainly help. We don't get paid very much. Mia manages to pay the office rent, somehow."

Pam turned the TV back up, listening to the nasally reporter talking about a bank heist nearby. "Well," she said, "she sounds like she's good at her job. She probably has money saved up somewhere."

"I guess…" Phoenix trailed off. His eyes were sweeping the room. Pam mentally patted herself on the back. "Hey, where's your stuff?"

"What stuff?"

"Don't play coy with me. You had at least 5 boxes in here last night. Now all I see is your duffel bag." Phoenix sat back, arms crossed and eyebrow raised. "Don't tell me you went and got an apartment already."

"I bought a storage unit," she said, shrugging under the blanket. "I moved them there until I can get a place of my own. I didn't want any of it getting in your way." It wasn't a complete lie. 4 of those boxes were sitting in a small storage locker down the road. Her brother didn't need to know about the location of the 5th.

She could see her excuse didn't sit right with her brother. He'd gone all squinty-eyed while staring at her. What's the big deal? For all he knows, its just a regular box. But, just in case, she motioned to the TV screen.

"So, what's this all about?" she asked. It worked like a charm: Phoenix turned away from her, and soon enough the last box would be completely forgotten about. "It's all that's been on the news lately. A string of robberies, and they still haven't found the thief?"

"Well, it's not just one guy. It's this group of people calling themselves 'The Golden Weasels'. As stupid as their name is, they've pulled off heists on banks big and small. Mia thinks that…"

Pam tuned her brother out, glancing at her phone every few seconds. It wasn't as if she was actively trying to ignore Phoenix, who seemed really excited about explaining the robberies. She was just waiting on that phone call. Pam wondered who was going to call her first: Gant, or her old Chief, Puffington.

He'd promised to call when she left. But he'd been so busy with business in New York, it might take him a while to respond. Pam nodded her head when Phoenix paused, which must have been the correct response. He kept on talking and talking and talking. It was a good thing he was a lawyer, because her brother just couldn't shut up half the time.

"—so that's what makes the Weasels so hard to catch," Phoenix continued to explain. "They never leave behind a trace of who they are. No fingerprints, their faces are covered, and they are in an out in under ten minutes. Right now, everyone's stumped. How do you catch someone who is perfectly—"

Bzz bzz. The twins looked to the phone vibrating on the floor. The red flip phone was going nuts in it's corner. Finally, Pam was saved from her brother's needless chatter. She shot up, snagging the phone. The caller ID read 'LAPD'. Her shoulders fell. It wasn't Puffington.

"Who—" Phoenix started to say, but Pam cut him off. She held a finger to her lips, and thankfully he took the hint and shut his mouth. Opening her phone, Pam took a deep breath.

"This is Wright." She kept a stony face as the Chief of Detectives, the doodling man from before, quietly talked on the phone. He didn't say anything too fantastic. Just that, because Gant had personally overseen the meeting, her job was more than secure. The test had been fine, her recommendation was glowing, so on and so on. She listened carefully, never saying a word, and then closed the phone with barely a thank you.

The two siblings stared at each other. For each second that passed, Phoenix looked more and more ticked.

"Well?" he shouted, standing up in a rush. "Was that the police department? What did they say?"

Pam tapped her chin with her free hand, holding back a smirk. It was oh so fun to mess with little ol' Phee.

"The Chief of Detectives, Mr. Dense, says they need a few days to sort the paperwork and inform the department. In two days, I need to show up at the station and get my new picture taken." Phoenix blinked a couple times.

"So…you got the job?"

In a rare show of annoyance, Pam rolled her eyes. Hooking her phone back up, she said, "Of course. Did you think I wouldn't?"

"N-no, I never said that!"

"Sure, Phee. What a supportive little brother you are."

"Two minutes does not make you older!" Phoenix took a few calming breaths before speaking again. "I'm happy for you, Pam. I mean it." Pam grabbed his plate and carried it to the kitchen. Her brother's footsteps pattered behind her.

"I don't love the thought of sitting around all day, but I guess it can't be helped." She pulled her hair up, trying and failing to secure that one loose piece. "Maybe I should start apartment hunting." Phoenix appeared at her side in an instant.

"Don't tell me you hate living here that much!"

"Of course not, idiot. A girl just needs her space."

Her brother hung his head low. "We've barely seen each other at all over the past two days," he muttered. "You've had plenty of space for years. I thought that maybe after all this time, we would get to see each other again. Dang it, Pam, I've missed you." He was annoyingly dramatic at times, but in that moment, Pam's stomach sank. Man, she was being a proper jerk, wasn't she? It had been a long time since they'd properly lived together.

Pam dunked the plate under the sink water, hands gripping it's ceramic edge. If it weren't for this stupid secret, then maybe we could have a normal relationship. Not liking the surge of emotions at the thought, Pam started to scrub the plate with extra ferocity.

"There…probably aren't many apartments that are being rented out right now anyway." Pam didn't look at her brother, though she could feel his eyes on the back of her neck. Her excuse was flimsy. A quick check on the internet would probably show plenty of apartments in the area. But Pam felt…guilty? No, it couldn't be.

(It wasn't as if she was being the worst sister ever. Obviously. Pam just felt that it would be valuable to get on her brother's good side. Obviously. Not that she had been so focused on her secret that she had forgotten about him. Obviously.)

Phoenix took the now clean plate and dried it with a spare rag. He had sparkles in his grey eyes.

"So you'll stick around?" he asked. Pam turned her head so that she couldn't see his face.

"For now. Don't get your hopes up though. I'll have to get my own place eventually. But I guess there isn't much harm in sticking around." There was a pause, and Pam thought her brother had dropped it. Then, out of nowhere, the force of the 24-year-old man hit her in the side. Pam found herself being strangled in a hug by the one and only Phoenix Wright.

"Great! There's still a ton of movies we have to watch! Oh, and Mia wants to have lunch with you and me again." Phoenix hugged her tighter, lifting her off the ground. Pam was pretty sure she was being strangled to death. "To be honest, I guess it's just been lonely here. Having you around is sure to make things interesting!"

"P-Phoenix!" Pam tried to yell, but her oxygen was getting cut off at an alarming rate. She smacked the back of her brother's head with her right hand. "Let go before you kill me!"

He did, only to laugh at Pam's purple-colored face. Feeling riled up, Pam pounced on her brother, knocking them both to the floor. He pulled on her hair, she kneed him in the stomach, and yet they were both laughing. It was strange. The past few weeks of her life had been filled with nothing but pain, lies, and coverups. In this simple moment with her brother, life seemed…normal.

Maybe Phee is right, she mused as she pinned her brother's arm behind his back. Maybe things will be exciting here, despite what I have to hide. I suppose…there's nothing stopping me from being the best detective I can, despite the circumstances.

"Ow! Pam!" Phoenix wriggled under her like a worm out of dirt. "Okay, okay! I yield to your cruel and unusual punishment!"

Exciting…doesn't sound so bad.

July 24, 8:00 AM. Police Department Entrance.

After a boring 2 days of doing absolutely nothing, the prospect of going back to work was actually exciting to Pam. Her brother had looked at her funny when she had vigorously ironed her shirts and pants. But Pam took first impressions seriously. That morning, her bun was perfect. She should know. She redid it 15 times.

Walking into that department felt different this time. Pam didn't feel so conflicted about being there. If she did her job, and found criminals to put behind bars, then she was doing good. If she just so happened to accomplish her other goal at the same time…well, that was just a coincidence.

So, with an unusual pep in her step, Pam walked into the busy building, arms full of a box holding a few of her possessions. Thankfully, that Meekins person wasn't there. Instead, Pam was greeted by the receptionist, who quickly directed her toward a small room. It was there that her picture was taken, quickly printed out, and sent off to some other place. Pam had to blink a few times to get the spots out of her eyes. Before she could say a word, she was dragged toward the main room. Men and women wandered about, which was filled with computers. She noticed that despite the amount of people in the room, there was a soft whisper instead of loud chatter.

Apparently, someone told these people that a new guy would be working in the department.

Lacy dropped Pam off at Mr. Dense's desk, right at the front of the room. The young woman quickly scurried off, leaving Pam to stand there awkwardly, waiting for him to notice her. Pam peered over his computer, managing to see him doodling something on a piece of paper. It looked like…a blue clown hat? Finally noticing her presence, the man jerked the paper away.

"Ah, and you are?" he asked. His voice held a note of annoyance.

It was hard to believe that this was the man in charge of the detectives. Pam quickly gave the man her name. Behind his thick glasses, the man's eyes lit up.
"Yes, I think I remember now. I suppose we should get this over with…" The Chief of Detectives stood, clearing his throat. The whole department went deathly quiet. Everyone's eyes turned to Pam. She did her best to keep her face blank. "All right, everyone!" yelled Mr. Dense. "This here's our newest member to the force. Make her feel welcome, got it?"

There was a chorus of 'yes sirs'. The man sat down without so much as a word. Pam felt sweat roll down her face.

That's it? That's all your going to say? One thing became very clear to Pam. New York and L.A. had very different ways to welcome new members. Pam wasn't sure what to do, and from the rest of the faces still looking at her, they didn't know what to do either. Thankfully, she was saved by one of the men in the room. His heavy accent broke the silence.

"Hey, there's a seat open right over here, pal!" And just like that, the tension was broken. Detectives went back to work, though Pam noticed that many of them were still peeking at her every now and again. She made her way over to the loud man. On closer inspection, it appeared to be the large man in the coat from a few days ago. He wouldn't stop smiling at her. Creepy…

He thrust his hand forward, which she shook in turn after moving the box to one arm.

"The name's Gumshoe, Dick Gumshoe. So, you must be the new detective everyone's talking about, yeah?" His voice was so loud that Pam had to wait for her ears to stop ringing before she answered.

"Yes. I'm Pamola Wright. It's nice to meet you." She looked at the desk behind Gumshoe. A layer of grey dust covered the keyboard. "Were you talking about this desk here?"

"Yeah, it hasn't been used for a couple years. Everyone talks like it's cursed or something." He slapped her back. An image flashed through her brain of all her vertebrae popping out of alignment. "But I'm sure that's nothing but a bunch of malarkey!"

"Thanks…" Pam set the box down. "The receptionist said my badge would be ready by now. I was supposed to get it from Mr. Dense, but I guess that will have to wait."

"Not so fast, kid." The voice was a man's—not Gumshoe's, but someone a bit older. Both Pam and Detective Gumshoe looked up, seeing a sharply dressed man walking up to them. He was dressed in all white, head topped by a fancy fedora. Pam wondered how he kept it so clean. He flicked up the brim of his hat as he came to stop in front of them. He held out his hand, and Pam reluctantly shook it. "I'm Detective Goodman. The Chief told me to look after you, make sure you got settled."

Pam quizzically looked at the man who was still drawing childishly at his desk. "That man asked you? Are you sure?" Goodman chuckled under his breath.

"Chief Gant asked me. Sorry, I should have specified." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather wallet. He handed it to Pam, and when she looked inside, it had her new picture and badge. Looking at it now, her eyes looked a bit cold…She quickly shut it and shoved it in her own pocket. "That's yours, of course. There's an official gun for you, but you'll need to get that yourself. Lacy can show you the way. Oh, and one other thing." He checked his watch. "There's an unofficial party in the breakroom for you. It's small, but we wanted to welcome you properly."

"That's very kind of you. But I should really just get started on my work—"

"Whaddya sayin, pal!" Gumshoe put his arm around her shoulder, dragging her to the break room. No matter how much she dug in her heals, she couldn't slow him down. "We have to celebrate this! It's not everyday a new detective comes down! Don't worry rookie, you're in safe hands with ol' Gumshoe!"

Surprised, Pam's poker face broke. "H-hang on!" But Gumshoe didn't seem to know what those words meant. She was dragged toward the breakroom, forced to listen to the excitable Gumshoe ramble about how he was going to show her the ropes as the laughter of Detective Goodman followed behind.

Sorry about the shorter chapter this week. There's only one more chapter before 'Episode 0' wraps up, and that one is also a bit on the short side. Because of the shorter chapters, next week I'll post two chapters instead of one. Cool? Cool. Peace. - GBG