A/N: Finally, after two days of writer's block, here it is! Ok, disclaimers...Madeline is mine, Rei belongs to bak602 (check out Turnabout Griffin, great story), and everything else belongs to Capcom, savvy? Ok, enjoy! Don't forget to review, please!

~Diana

About 10 minutes later, there was a knock on the door of the Wright Anything Agency. A young 14-year-old girl opened it. "Hello, is Apollo there?" Madeline asked.

"Madeline," Apollo greeted her, appearing in the doorway. "This is Rei. She's been serving as my assistant for a little while."

"Nice to meet you," Madeline said, smiling at the girl. Rei grinned back.

"You have information for me?" Apollo asked.

Phoenix appeared in the door behind Apollo and Rei. "Madeline?" he asked.

"She says she has information for us," Apollo said.

"Yeah I-" Madeline began. Suddenly, her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed onto the ground.

"Madeline!" Phoenix yelled, pushing past Apollo to his friend. Madeline was shaking on the floor, her back arching.

"Rei, call 911!"Apollo shouted, crouching by his mentor beside the unconscious Madeline. Trucy slipped out of the office, hearing the noise.

"What happened?" she said, kneeling down next to Apollo and Phoenix.

"Someone got to her," Phoenix said grimly. "She knew too much."

"The paramedics are coming," Rei said breathlessly, reappearing at the door.

"Thanks Rei," Apollo said.

Madeline was still trembling on the ground when the paramedics arrived. They whipped her into an ambulance, which took off into the night.

Apollo, Phoenix, Trucy, and Rei were seated on the hard, uncomfortable chairs that were a staple of hospitals. It had been about 6 hours since she was admitted, but Madeline was clinging on to life like a defense attorney to a contradiction. Phoenix had only stepped out once to make a phone call, and they had spent the rest of time talking about the Misham case, getting food, and sleeping.

"Madeline Brent?" a nurse called and the foursome stood up. "She's still in critical condition and in a comatose state," the nurse said, shuffling through the papers in her hands. "It looks like she was poisoned. We found atroquinine in her bloodstream, just barely under the lethal amount. However, there's still a high risk of death."

They just stood there for a minute, processing this information. "Did you say atroquinine?" Apollo asked. The nurse nodded.

"Isn't that the poison that killed Mr. Misham, Polly?" Trucy asked.

"Yeah," said Apollo, thinking. He was jolted out of his thoughts by the nurse.

"Would you like to see her?" she asked.

"Yes," Phoenix said for all of them. He sent Trucy and Rei home, then the nurse led them back through the winding hallways until they reached the room. The nurse opened the door for them and they stepped inside.

Madeline was unconscious, still shaking a little. Phoenix went and sat next to her. "Madeline," he said quietly. "This is my fault. I should have stopped you." He looked at the ground. "Not to mention he's going to kill me," he muttered. No one else knew what he was talking about.

The mood in the room was somber, the silence broken only by the beeping of machines and the autumn rain beating against the window. Apollo saw Madeline's purse on the chair and picked it up, hoping to find a clue to the 'information' Madeline had talked about. He pulled out various pieces of makeup, a cell phone (her last call had been to him and there was nothing else helpful on it), and finally, a small box of chocolates. He opened it. There was a single tiny bite out of one.

Apollo reached in again and his fingers brushed a piece of paper. Pulling it out, he read the note and deduced that it must have been on the chocolates because the note and the box had the same design on the corner. "I need to get these tested," he said quietly to himself. Right on cue, Ema rushed in.

"What happened?" she said, taking in the scene.

"She was poisoned," Apollo said quietly. "Atroquinine." Ema's eyes went wide.

"Isn't that-" Apollo nodded.

"Do you still have that poison-testing stuff on you?" he asked. Ema opened her mouth to tell him exactly what it was, but thought better of it and handed the small spray bottle to Apollo. He carefully sprayed it on the bitten chocolate. The reaction was immediate: a bright blue glow spread over the candy.

"Atroquinine," Ema whispered. Apollo wordlessly handed her the note. Ema's sharp eyes skimmed it. "The fop? No…he wouldn't do that," she said confusedly.

"I know," Apollo replied. "She said she had 'information.' Someone did it to keep her quiet."

"Madeline," Ema whispered, looking at her friend. "What did you know?"

Suddenly, the door flew open and Klavier Gavin rushed in, shaking rain off his perfect hair. Ema groaned and turned away, crossing her arms and pouting. Klavier either didn't hear or ignored her. "I only just heard," he said. He took in the scene. "What happened?"

"Atroquinine poisoning, same as Drew Misham," said Apollo from the corner. "Traces were found in these chocolates." He handed him the box, with the note on top.

Klavier's blue eyes scanned the note. "What? Herr Forehead, you don't honestly think I did this, do you?" Out of the corner of his eye, Apollo saw Phoenix raise his head briefly, listening.

"No, Gavin, I don't think you did it," he said slowly. "Before she…" He gestured wordlessly to the body on the bed. "Before she got like this, she said she had information. Someone must have done this to keep her from talking."

"Well, now I have to prepare for the Misham trial myself?" he huffed.

"Wow, way to put things in perspective, fop," Ema hissed, pulling out her emergency bag of Snackoos and munching angrily.

Rapid footsteps were heard from the hallway. Everyone turned toward the door as it was thrown open for the third time that night. A man stood in the doorway, searing gray eyes burning the room until coming to rest on the body on the bed. His burgundy suit was rumpled and his cravat was askew. His eyes moved to the person next to the bed who was steadily looking at the ground. "Wright," the man said, making an effort to keep his voice steady. "What the hell is going on?"

Sorry if it got a little repetitive at the end, but not everyone could run in at the same time! That would be boring and...much easier to write. Yeah. Hope to post next chapter tomorrow if I get inspired. Tell me what you think!