Prompt: A fic exploring the aftermath of Phoenix's death in a "he died/Mia lived" AU of Turnabout Sisters.


Day One

She went out to get dinner.

Maya had left a message saying that her bus was stuck in traffic; some roadwork was slowing everything down, apparently. Phoenix, who still biked everywhere, obviously wasn't held up, and he arrived at the office at around quarter til nine. Mia was - abruptly, once he was actually there, she started having second thoughts about telling him of Redd White just yet. Surely she didn't actually need his assistance on this case, didn't need to confront him with everything the Fey family meant. She liked having a relationship free of all that baggage. Mia knew she could just tell him nevermind, to go back home, but that would be incredibly unfair, even if Phoenix did accept it as she suspected he would. No, she had to tell him. At least a little bit. She'd introduce him to Maya as planned; she'd always thought they would get along well, and that at least would be a good excuse for calling him in. She would have to tell him about the Feys, but surely everything relating to her mother and White could wait for another day. Spirit channeling was enough of a shock for one night.

Mia still felt antsy, waiting around with him. The silence was making her guilty, twitchy. When Phoenix admitted that he hadn't had dinner yet, she volunteered to pick up food for all of them. Maya would have a big appetite after being stuck in a car for so long, and she'd appreciate her burgers already waiting for her. Phoenix tried to volunteer, but Mia waved him off, said it was her treat as the boss. He obviously saw through that - she'd deputized him to go pick up lunch for them and just handed him enough cash to cover it often enough - but he mercifully let it go without comment.

(He'd been getting a lot better about that sort of thing, lately. More understanding of nuance. When she thought back to how he'd acted when they first met, Mia always felt this warm, incredulous flush of pride. He always attributed his growth as a lawyer to her if she complimented him, but she often wondered how much she actually deserved the praise. He'd done a lot of growing up all on his own, and very quickly at that. At the rate he was going, she couldn't even imagine where he'd be in another year or two.)

"You have told Maya about me, right?" Phoenix asked as Mia headed out the door. He grinned. "Don't want her to be freaked out by the strange guy in her sister's office and try to call the cops on me or something."

"I should be back before her, it'll be fine," Mia waved him off. "Besides, Maya'd be more likely to try and fight you off herself anyway."

She shut the door on his startled squawk with a laugh, and started down the hall at a quick pace. Yes, this would work. She'd let the brisk air calm her down, burn off a little energy, and then when she got back she would focus entirely on introducing Phoenix and Maya and explaining spirit-channeling to him. Redd White could wait for another day.

(For the rest of her life, Mia regretted her choice that day. If she had told Phoenix earlier, he would have known what to expect. He would have known to be wary. He would have fought back faster, maybe, would have called for help right away, would have run - she knew he wouldn't have ever abandoned her evidence, all the more if he'd known what it was for, but she still wished…

What if she'd stayed behind? If she had let him get the food, or if she'd just ordered delivery. Maybe, with the two of them there, they could've fought White off. No one would have had to die at all.

If she'd said something else to him. At the very least, she wanted to have told him she was proud. She could have said thank you for letting the subject drop, could have admitted how much she wanted to rely on him, how important he was to her. She'd told Maya about him, wanted them to meet one another - she'd never even had the chance to introduce Diego to her sister, this gesture alone was huge for her. If she had admitted that - or even if she'd just made a different joke. Her last words to him in life had been a stupid joke about Maya possibly attacking him.

The memory made her sick to her stomach, every time.)

-xxx-

Mia liked Gumshoe. He was bumbling, sure, and she had no idea why he thought so highly of that brat, Prosecutor Edgeworth, but at least he was an honest and earnest person. It was apparent that he truly did always try his best and wanted only to help people. He could be a little overeager, at times, but normally she only found that endearing.

His treatment of her traumatized little sister was not endearing.

Maya's eyes were wide. Her face was streaked with tears, and she held herself hunched over, small and vulnerable. She hadn't even known Phoenix, but apparently he'd known her. He'd written her name in his own blood in his last moments alive - or so Gumshoe claimed, anyway, after he arrived on the scene. Mia found the entire thing suspicious as hell, once she was capable of actually thinking again. In the beginning, she couldn't do anything but hold Maya close and stare at Phoenix's corpse. Even knowing it would be better for Maya to at the very least be out of the same room as the body she'd discovered, Mia couldn't force her feet to move. She couldn't look away at all.

Phoenix had pinned his badge to his lapel in the time she'd been gone. He must have wanted to show it off to Maya, like he did to everyone he met. It shone in the dim room, reflecting the light from streetlamps outside the window even as his face was cast in shadow.

He would never use that badge again.

-xxx-

By the time the trial had begun, Mia knew who was responsible. He had to be - given just what was missing from her office. Fury roiled in her gut, a deep dark hate for the man who had taken so much from her - but amongst the things he'd taken was all the evidence she had so carefully accumulated, except the articles about the suicides. And those were circumstantial at best, worth almost nothing on their own; she picked one up anyway, just in case she could use it somehow, though she doubted it would be any help. She'd been in the final stages of her investigation, yes, but there was a reason she hadn't gone against Redd White yet. He was powerful, and influential enough that if she didn't approach matters very carefully, the case could easily be buried by people he kept in his pocket. She had needed that proof to take him down - now, she had nothing but the knowledge in her head, and the determination to save her sister and make him pay.

Maya was very quiet. She told Mia everything she knew in a dull voice - it wasn't much - and then said little else. When Mia tried to reassure her that it would all be okay,
Maya just shook her head.

"No, it won't," she said.

"I won't let you be convicted. I promise you Maya, I will protect you."

"I know you will, Sis," she answered. And her smile was so small, so sad. "But your employee… he's…"

A lump rose in Mia's throat.

"There's no point in worrying about that now," she said. "I don't know why your name was written on that note, but none of this is your fault. Okay?"

Maya just shook her head, and went quiet again.

Mia was deeply concerned about her, but for the time being keeping her out of jail took priority over her feelings, so she had to leave to investigate while there was still time. At least Gumshoe was more than usually susceptible to her tricks, and let slip information fairly easily. It was obvious that he felt guilty for being so eager to convict Mia's little sister, even if he wasn't backing down on the arrest being necessary, and she ruthlessly leveraged that against him.

April May put a nasty taste in her mouth. She reminded Mia of a less skilled Dahlia Hawthorne, the way she attempted to use her charms to manipulate the men around her. Still, the pieces were rapidly coming together, and even if she had little outright proof, Mia had confidence in her ability to protect Maya. Implicating White would be harder, but it still seemed doable. She didn't exactly have a restful night, but at the very least she felt like she knew what to expect in the courtroom the next morning.

That certainty lasted only until the trial began.

Miles Edgeworth's face was drawn, and his voice went tight and hard the first time he said the victim's name. Mia was in a similar situation, but at least she had good reason - as far as she could tell, Edgeworth's pissiness was nothing but resentment over her nearly beating him that last time they'd faced one another. He seemed furious, however much he tried to paste a professional expression over it, and Mia had absolutely no patience for it.

When Edgeworth pulled out that goddamn slimy lie of an 'updated autopsy report', Mia couldn't hold back.

"You're a sham, Edgeworth!" She snarled at him. "What possible reason could you have to request a second autopsy report, if not to ensure a victory at any cost?"

"Miss Fey! The defense will refrain from personal attacks on the prosecution!"

Edgeworth ignored the judge, glaring back at Mia. She did the same.

"Say what you will," he said coldly. "I will convict his killer…"

"Hah! You'll try to convict whoever you -"

"Miss Fey! Careful! You are dangerously close to a penalty!" Mia bit her tongue, seething. Despite the Judge's support, Edgeworth looked similarly worked up, and it took both of them a moment to calm down.

"No matter, Your Honor," he said, finally. He was clearly striving for a tone of smug superiority, but it sounded little more than cruel to her ears. "The evidence in this report is undeniable, as I'm sure Miss Fey will soon see. Your Honor, I submit this report to the court."

Mia took deep breaths as the trial took a predictable turn for the worse. She needed to calm down. Edgeworth taking this case as an opportunity to act on an old grudge was bad enough, she couldn't let him get her so worked up that she missed anything. He'd absolutely take advantage of the slightest slip.

Mia's assessment of April as a lesser Dahlia seemed to hold up fairly well throughout her testimony. She took a little too much joy demolishing said testimony when her cross-examination began, maybe didn't hide her contempt well enough - but, well, at least it wasn't to the point that Edgeworth was able to call her out as being unreasonable. Every single one of her objections was based in a clear contradiction.

Edgeworth's expression when she secured a second day to investigate was downright poisonous. Mia blinked at him, then pointedly looked away.

It seemed he'd only grown worse in the years since she last faced him. She had heard rumors, but… manipulating testimony, hiding witnesses, and this extreme level of vitriol over what? Nearly losing a single case a long time ago? Clearly he'd taken after his mentor all too well.

It didn't matter. Mia had more important matters to deal with. Now that she'd successfully raised the possibility of another man in the room, she only had to prove who he was. And she knew exactly who to talk to...

-xxx-

Redd White's office was as ostentatious as she would have expected. The tacky gold desk and green statue, the trophies… All of it offended her sense of design. The painting filling half the wall was frustratingly familiar, however; she didn't have the time to figure out why before Redd White himself came over to greet her.

"Welcome!" he exclaimed, gems gleaming as he smiled widely. His teeth were unnaturally bright. "Please furnish me with the title of your personage!"

"I doubt I need to do that, Mr. White," Mia said softly. He only laughed.

"Alas, even such a stupendorgeous lady as yourself has nothing I haven't seen before! I am surrounded at all times by the most glamorous company - the elite of the elite! If we've ever met, I'm afraid I don't reconnoiter the occasion! However special it felt to you..." He leered at her chest.

"...My name is Mia Fey."

"Charmed," White simpered, and attempted to kiss her hand. When she didn't let him touch her, he complained about not being used to dealing with 'non-worldly' types, and continued blabbering nonsensically about his wealthy lifestyle.

He was an idiot. He was stupid and pathetic, and it stung how badly he had hurt the people she loved. Mia talked around the matter with him for several minutes, trying to get him to let anything slip, but he just kept up his stupid patter about how great he was, in between blatant refusals to admit to what they both knew, and the odd come-on.

The problem was, as stupid as he was, he at least knew better than to admit to anything. Given his career relying so heavily on blackmail in the first place, Mia knew that was only to be expected, but it rankled. Seeing his face up close, speaking to him in person - that would be infuriating enough for her mother's sake alone. But it was so much worse now, the day after Phoenix had died, after Redd White had killed him for nothing more than being in her office at the wrong time. He hadn't even known anything. And this man had murdered him - something she'd never thought him capable of. She'd known he was dangerous, but she hadn't expected any physical harm to come to her. It had always seemed much more his style to manipulate others into harming themselves - something she never would have done no matter what he had on her. Stealing her evidence, yes, she'd expected that. It was why she had asked Maya to keep it safe in the first place. But she hadn't been prepared for any kind of attack, and White's blasé attitude only a day later suggested this may not even have been his first time.

"That painting…" she said eventually, at a loss and pursuing every topic she could think of. She wanted to talk plainly, to simply accuse him - but she had no leverage anymore, and he obviously knew that. She had to be smarter about this, had to trick him into revealing himself somehow. "I've seen it before…"

Strangely, this shut him up. His face went serious, and he stared at her for a long moment.

"...Miss False, was it?"

"Fey."

"It appears you do not fully grasp your situation here," he said. "I ask again. Who are you?"

Mia hissed in a breath. She knew better than to lay down all her cards like this, she did, but she couldn't help herself. Her hatred overwhelmed her - and it wasn't like he didn't know already, anyway. She answered: "I am Misty Fey's daughter. I'm Maya Fey's sister. I'm Phoenix Wright's mentor. I am the lawyer who has been investigating every -"

"Mere." White interrupted. "A mere lawyer. Worth nothing. Zilch. Zippo. Nada! Just like that pitiful excuse for an attorney, Grodyberger!"

Mia went cold. "What?"

Redd White smiled widely at her, then stepped forward and backhanded her across the face, hard enough to whip her head to the side. He laughed. Laughed, as she gasped and lifted her hand up to her stinging cheek.

"What are you going to do, Miss False? Charge me with assault? Go ahead, charge away! For it is YOU will be found guilty!"

He held his hands in front of himself, rings glimmering.

"Heed my exposition! The police, the courts, they all do my bidding."

"No," she said.

"Yes," Redd White chuckled. "You are in a world beyond your compensation. There is nothing you can do, no way to stop me. You have no recount to take." His lips quirked up into strange little smirk. "Much like your matriarcher."

Mia's cheek felt hot. Her eyes too; she tried to hold the angry tears in, but it was difficult. She hadn't known about Grossberg for certain. She'd suspected, of course, but she'd never had the guts to ask him directly, and he hadn't admitted anything. But that was his painting on the wall, she recognized it now, and it did more than confirm that she'd been right to leave his office and start her own. In this moment, combined with Phoenix's death and the casual violence White just enacted upon her, it meant only one thing - there was no one else she could rely on.

Diego wasn't ever supposed to wake up. Phoenix was gone for good. Maya's life depended upon Mia's efforts, and she had nothing, White was giving her nothing - and the man who had once been her mentor was in his pocket along with everyone else. The judge, probably, almost certainly Edgeworth… maybe not Gumshoe, she couldn't believe that of him, but definitely his superiors. She was alone.

Mia took a deep breath in, ignoring how it shook. Then she straightened her spine, and smiled right back at White.

"You think I have nothing?" she asked. She pulled the newspaper clipping out of her pocket and showed it to him. "This is an article about the death of a recent politician. Word got out about him embezzling secret government funds, somehow… The day after the news broke, he killed himself."

White's eyes were locked on the clipping. "A-and this concerns me how…?"

"You know how," Mia smirked. "I have so much more than this. You didn't go through my files last night, did you, Redd? Or else you would have seen the one labeled 'White.' ...I know what you did to him. To Grossberg, to hundreds of other powerful people. You were blackmailing all of them, and I'm going to prove it in court tomorrow."

"What a bizarre accusation, Miss Mia," White said. He had sweat beading on his forehead, and he pressed a button on his desk. "What are you even doing, investigating me? You should be searching for the one who killed your subordinate!"

The secretary answered over the intercom, and White told her Mia would be leaving now. She promised to send someone in to escort her out of the building.

"I guess I should be leaving," Mia agreed. "I'll go back to my office and prepare my case. After all, I don't need to search for the killer any longer… given that he's standing right in front of me."

White fell silent. He stared at her, and Mia stared back. The fear in his eyes delighted her. Sure, she was bluffing; she didn't have nearly enough evidence to secure his conviction without the papers he'd stolen. But so long as he thought she did, he was bound to slip up. She would go to Grossberg, convince him to be her witness against White. The painting would be proof that she knew, and she felt confident that she could turn him given Maya's life on the line. She'd guilt him however she had to, break into his files if needed. She could do this.

White asked his secretary to connect him to the Prosecutor's Office. To the Chief Prosecutor.

(Lana, too? Mia thought in dismay, then shook the thought out of her head. Maybe it wasn't her directly, but someone even higher up the chain. Even if it were her being blackmailed… one less old friend didn't matter. She could do this herself. They hadn't even spoken in months.)

White claimed that he wanted to testify tomorrow after all - then ordered whoever was on the line to send officers to arrest Mia. He claimed she was the true killer, that he was scared, that she was violent.

She noticed a smear of red on one of his rings. When she licked her lips, she felt a split, bloody edge from when he had hit her.

"You're going to regret this," Mia said.

"Nonveracity!" he waved her off. "The case is as good as settled. No lawyer of any worth will defend you. I have friends in the local lawyer's association, you see. You'll be given a lawyer so stupendously inept that they make even you look competent."

Gumshoe arrived quickly on the scene. He seemed stunned and a little reluctant to arrest Mia, and his eyes lingered on her cheek for a long moment.

"What's this about, pal?" he asked White in a dangerous tone.

"She came at me like a wild beast! I had to protect myself however I could," White claimed absently, wiping his rings clean with a red and blue spotted handkerchief that matched his tie. "Now take this despicable human being into custody… Farewell, Miss False!"

Gumshoe looked back at Mia for confirmation. She didn't say anything, and after a moment he finished handcuffing her and led her away with a gentle grip on her elbow.
She went willingly, lost in thought.

White was going on the stand…

-xxx-

"How many more people does he need to destroy before he's satisfied?!" Maya raged from the visiting room in the Detention Center. "Mom, Mr. Wright, now you… This has gone too far! Please, Sis, tell me what I can do!"

Mia smiled softly at her.

"It's all right. I have a plan. I'll be defending myself."

Maya actually stomped her foot on the ground. It was pretty unusual to see her this mad, but Mia liked it. She preferred any amount of rage over that horrible quiet stillness from yesterday.

"I can't just sit around and do nothing! I have to help somehow - I know!" Maya's face lit up. "I can channel Mr. Wright for you! If you hear directly from him what happened, I'm sure that would help!"

"I -" Mia stopped. "I didn't think you'd mastered channeling yet."

"Well, no, I haven't… But I'm pretty close! I'm sure if I try hard enough, I can do it!" Maya's voice was full of determination. "I'm going to go back to the office and look through all his things! I'll bet there's a picture of him somewhere that I can use to help me. I'll practice all night, and Mr. Wright will definitely be there for the trial tomorrow!"

She was gone before Mia could tell her that was unnecessary. Before she could admit that she wasn't certain if she wanted to see Phoenix again. If she did… she'd have to tell him the truth. He'd know why he died.

He'd know she had been the one to put him in danger.

Mia didn't think she was ready to face that.