v. Turnabout Succession

Phoenix glanced at his watch as he walked down the street, mindful of the gathering dusk. The dark never used to bother him, but seven years of constantly being on guard and watching his back had made him – to put it mildy – a little jumpy. He quickened his pace as he got closer to the firm. Mia had asked him to drop by after work hours, and he was already a few minutes late. Even though Kristoph was safely behind bars, and there was no threat any more, he didn't want Mia hanging around on her own for any longer than necessary. It had been ten years, but the night Redd White assaulted her still surfaced sometimes in his nightmares.

He let out a small sigh of relief on seeing the lights still on. Phoenix opened the door and stepped inside. The outer office was deserted – it looked like Apollo and Armando had gone home for the day. There was no sign of Mia. Phoenix swallowed. Don't panic. She's probably just in the restroom or something. He cleared his throat.

"Chief?"

The door to Mia's office clicked open, and she poked her head out.

"Phoenix."

Mia glanced around, and then beckoned to him with a sly smile on her face.

Man, this is how every porn flick starts. Phoenix shook his head to banish the decidedly Larry-eque thought, and followed Mia into her office.

"Close the door," Mia murmured. Phoenix obeyed. His gaze fell on Mia's desk. The usual clutter of files and post-its had been cleared away to make room for two elegant glasses and a small bottle.

"Chief, is that – "

"Sake," Mia finished with a smile. "All the way from Kurain." She picked up the bottle and filled his glass almost to the top. "I thought you and I should celebrate."

Phoenix nodded. He picked up the bottle and poured for Mia.

"Thanks, Chief," he remarked. "I'm glad someone else feels like celebrating." Apollo hadn't quite been able to look at him since the end of the trial. His initial happiness that Vera was going to be all right had faded, and now the knowledge that he'd been played – for almost a year – was sinking in. Phoenix still felt bad about that. It was necessary, but he had jerked the kid around a lot.

"We'll tie one on properly when you get your badge back," Mia remarked. She lifted up her glass. "In the meantime, here's to Kristoph Gavin spending the rest of his life behind bars."

Phoenix smiled back and clinked his glass against hers. It was good sake – he'd last had it at Maya's ordination as the Master of the Kurain Channelling Technique. He sipped it slowly. He'd played the part of a washed-up drunk for seven years, but in reality he'd been stone-cold sober ninety-nine percent of the time. He couldn't afford to be fuzzy when Trucy needed him and with Kristoph circling like a vulture. He had no idea where his limit was any more.

"Thanks for all your help, Chief," he murmured.

Mia shrugged, hobbling over to the couch in the corner of her office. "I don't know if I was much help," she admitted. She patted the seat next to her and Phoenix sat down. "I just played the role of a disappointed mentor who'd lost touch with you."

"No, you were," Phoenix insisted. "Gavin was so hung up on figuring out whether you and I were still in contact. He never thought to look at Maya, or Miles, or Ema." He smirked briefly and had a sip of his drink. "I remember this one time, a couple years back, he waited till I'd had a few bottles of grape juice and started theorising about whether you were looking into my last case. Guess he thought I was drunk enough to let something slip."

"I'm glad your alcoholic hobo persona was useful," Mia teased, pulling off his woolly hat. "You'd better not come to work dressed like that when you're reinstated."

Phoenix carded a hand through his messy spikes and let it drop. He gazed at the carpet between his feet.

"You know, I think I spent more time with Gavin than anyone else over the past seven years, after Trucy," he murmured. "And still I've got no idea what makes the man tick." He shook his head. "Just those black Psyche-locks. I wonder what they're hiding."

Mia sipped her drink.

"I have a feeling that neither of us want to know."

Phoenix blew out a breath. His hands were shaking, and he gripped his glass a little tighter. Had Gavin ever sat on this couch and talked to Mia about 'poor Phoenix', trying to wheedle information out of her? Had he ever weighed up the pros and cons of killing her?

"I'm glad Armando started working for you," he blurted out.

"Why, because I need a man to protect me?" Mia asked sharply.

Phoenix looked up quickly, blushing. "N-no! Of course not –" His embarrassment faded when he saw Mia's teasing smile. "It's just –"

Suddenly he couldn't see straight.

"Hey, hey." Mia leaned over and squeezed his knee. "It's all right. As Apollo would say, 'We're all right'."

"Fine," Phoenix gulped. He blinked away his tears and smiled at her. "It's 'We're fine', Chief."

Mia closed her eyes and smacked her free palm against her forehead. "And I was doing so well." She pushed herself up from the couch and hobbled over to her desk. She fished a pen and a post-it out of her desk drawer and scribbled something on it. "I haven't called him Sputnik since his first week on the job."

Phoenix grinned. "The whole nametag system is really working out, huh?"

"I should've thought of it a long time ago." Mia tore off the post-it and stuck it on her computer. "I called your friend Larry 'Harry' for almost two years before he said anything."

Phoenix nearly spat his drink on the floor. He stared at Mia, his mouth hanging open in horror.

"Chief – you and… Larry?!"

Mia frowned at him. "Me and…" She began to laugh. "No! No, he worked here for a while," she explained. "Didn't I tell you? He needed someone to defend him on a murder charge, and we needed someone to answer the phone, so…"

"Oh," Phoenix replied. He felt an enormous sense of relief. He really hadn't needed that mental image. "Two years, huh? I think that's the longest Larry's ever held a job." He slid over a little as Mia flopped back on the couch beside him. "How'd he mess it up?"

Mia had a sip of her drink and ran her finger around the edge of the glass.

"Well…"

Phoenix suddenly had an awful feeling about what had happened.

"Oh no," he groaned. "He hit on you, didn't he?"

Mia shrugged and had another drink. Phoenix cringed, imagining Larry trotting out his usual cheesy pick-up lines and falling on his face. "Ugh. Sorry, Chief."

Mia waved off his apology.

"He wasn't a creep about it," she explained. "He didn't steal glances, unlike someone I could mention." She nudged Phoenix with her elbow. Phoenix blushed and scratched the back of his neck nervously. "And at first I thought he was just taking the whole 'male secretary' thing too seriously. Especially the day he turned up for work in a tank top and hotpants."

Phoenix shook his head, smiling a little. (Yeah, that sounds like Larry.) He had another mouthful of sake.

"Not that I didn't appreciate the view, but –"

Phoenix choked on his drink. Mia hit him on the back as he doubled over, coughing and snorting. "M-Mia!"

"As I was saying," Mia continued with a teasing smile, "we had a talk about appropriate work attire, and I thought that was it. But then the love notes and little gifts started, and while it was flattering…" She smiled shyly. "…I had to set him straight." She frowned and had another sip of her drink. "And of course Diego got jealous, which didn't help the atmosphere any."

"So one of them had to go," Phoenix guessed. "And since you needed an attorney more than a secretary…"

Mia swallowed a mouthful of sake and gestured at him with her glass.

"Don't ever tell him that," she warned. "Larry's a sweet guy. He didn't do anything wrong except get a crush on me. I set him up with a new job and told him to call if he ever needed anything." She looked away. "It wasn't perfect, but since I couldn't knock any sense into my other employee, it was the best I could do."

Phoenix gazed into his drink. Armando had spent a lot of time glaring at him since that last case. Probably pissed that Phoenix and Mia had kept him out of the loop.

"Say, Chief – maybe I should clear the air with Armando, you know?" he suggested. "I don't want things to be tense around here."

"I'll talk to him," Mia said. "I'm the boss, it's my job. Besides, he's mad at me, not you." She swirled her drink idly, contemplating it with a sad smile on her face. "He's always been mad at me."

Phoenix frowned at that, but before he could think about it too much, Mia punched him gently in the arm. "You take care of Apollo."

"I'll ask Miles to have a talk with him," Phoenix replied, nodding. "He can relate to the whole evil mentor thing."

"I think that's a good idea," Mia agreed.

Phoenix glanced at her. (Well, now seems a good time to pitch my other idea.) He took a deep breath.

"Chief – how do you feel about hiring another lawyer?"

Mia looked at him mid-sip, one eyebrow raised.

"I met a law student while I was in Europe with Miles," he explained. "And – well, let's just say she reminds me of me. She's keen to come back to the States once she passes the bar and she'd really like to work for us." Mia was nodding slowly, thinking it over. Phoenix continued. "I didn't make any promises, but I think she'd be a valuable addition to the firm."

"If she's anything like you, I don't doubt it," Mia replied. "Besides, after a high profile case like that, we're bound to get a lot more work." She finished her drink. "Set up an interview and tell her to send in a resumé."

Phoenix smiled at her. "Thanks, Mia. For everything."

Mia smiled back.

"Enough shop talk." She patted his knee. "Care to escort me to your daughter's magic show?"

Phoenix rose, and offered her his arm. "Gladly."