A/N: Sorry it takes me a long time to post new chapters. I can never predict when I'll have time, got work and other stuff going on.

Anyway here it is, hope it was worth the wait.

Note: First part contains some dialogue spoilers from the final case.

The Past – Courtroom No. 4:

No! Your Wrong! Gumshoe screamed in his mind. Witnessing the trial from the back of the courtroom.

He never thought his pal would be accused of murder.

He wouldn't do that! He would never do that!

It all felt like a bad dream.

He's not a spy! He's not a murderer! He would never cause a threat to anyone!

"B-but I'm not a spy!"

There you see pal!? He's not a spy! He just said that himself–

"I'm an undercover investigator."

Huh?

"I've actually been after the Phantom myself."

What?

"I was working to track down the Phantom… but sadly… even though I was suppose to catch the spy, the spy ended up catching me."

What are you talking about Bobby?

"He took my family hostage and forced me to cooperate with him."

You don't have a family!

If anyone knew Fulbright they would know about his family life is none existent – parents died years ago, no other living relatives – Gumshoe was confused, why was he saying all of this?

Why 'are' you saying this?

It didn't make sense; Fulbright had no reason to lie, no reason to–

"Now I hope you see how foolish it was to think I was the Phantom!"

Gumshoe felt a chill go down his back when hearing those words. Those words sounded cold and the serious but the flat expression on Fulbright's face made those words sound darker – something that Gumshoe has never known him to do.

Did you really do it Bobby?

The trial continued on, as they continued to look into Fulbright deeper and deeper, as the doubt in Gumshoe got wider. He thought he knew Fulbright, he thought he knew his feelings his beliefs were all genuine but as the trial continued on the more distance Gumshoe felt thinking he knew the real Bobby Fulbright…

Bobby…why…?

Hold It!

"It looks like I made it just in time."

Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth?

"I've uncovered some very crucial facts… I started by looking into the first people on the crime scene seven years ago. All three, an employee and two officers, were registered in the robots' recognition systems. But none of them looked the least bit like Detective Fulbright."

Yes!

Gumshoe sighed in relief, all doubts lifting from his mind.

I knew you would find something sir! They were all wrong to even accuse him of–

"But there's more. I've yet to share my most important finding."

Huh?

"The man you see there before you…Bobby Fulbright… is already long dead."

He felt his heart stop in stunned silence; it felt like time had slowed down.

W-what…? B-Bobby… dead?

"An unidentified body that was found a year ago… has now been proven to possess Bobby Fulbright's fingerprints."

What are saying?

"That man there is an impostor pretending to be Bobby Fulbright."

N-no… that is Bobby… Bobby Fulbright… From skin and bones to–

"Enough of your trickery. If you will not reveal yourself to us, then I shall do it for you!" There was a moment of stunned silence as Blackquill cuts down the pretend Fulbright's face by with an air slash – whatever it is that Blackquill throws at his opponents, it has great effect – breaking his sunglasses in two and cutting through his skin.

"Aww. Look what you did to my mask."

M-mask…?

"Okay. You got me. I guess I have to show you who I really am now."

He rips his face off.

From that moment on, Gumshoe stops watching the trial. With his head down, staring at the floor in stunned silence, every voice in the courtroom sounds distant and muffled, as his mind struggles to process what had just happened.

The Present – Hospital:

There was a long uncomfortable silence, only the sound of the heart monitor filling the room.

Fulbright stared blankly at the wall on the other side of the room, while Gumshoe looked to the floor. Neither meeting the others gaze.

Gumshoe had told Fulbight everything, he told him everything that had happened – about the Phantom, about the UR-1 incident, the HAT-2 launch, Blackquill, and even the body.

"So none of you…" Fulbright hesitates, finally breaking the silence between them, he still continues to stare at the wall, but his eyes were not focused. – He just found out he had been held captive for a year, and no one knew he was missing – "None of you even realized... that this guy…wasn't me?"

Gumshoe shakes his head. "It wasn't until they did a background check on you, and found the body had your fingerprints. Don't ask me how but… that confirmed you as dead."

There was another moment of silence between both detectives.

"And that's why no one expected to find me… when they raided the building?"

Gumshoe stiffens, swallowing a few times before sighing deeply, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry."

The silence continued. The atmosphere was tense.

"A year… I spent a whole year in that place, not knowing where I was, and the world just continued on without knowing the torture that was being inflicted on me?" There was bitterness in Fulbright's voice, but he didn't break. His tone was more flat then expressing any kind of emotion.

He would be lying if he said, he couldn't believe everything that was just said to him – how could one man be able to pass himself off as someone else, for a whole year and everyone was none the wiser? Is the question that Fulbright couldn't get his head around – sounds like the Phantom was the center of all of this!

"I'm really sorry pal… we didn't know." He felt Gumshoe's eyes staring at him, but he still doesn't turn to look at him. "Are you ok?"

How could you not have realized it wasn't me? Was what Fulbright wanted to say, but couldn't bring himself to saying the words – Not that he needed to, as Gumshoe seems to know what he was thinking.

"Look pal I know this is a lot to take in… but if you had meet this guy–"

"You said he claimed to have no emotions." He interrupts, finally turning his head around, "And we've known each other for a long time, so how can a guy be able to impersonate-"

"Just because he said he had no emotions doesn't mean he couldn't impersonate you perfectly! He's an international spy pal…he was a pro."

Sounds like this Phantom acted like a figment of everyone's imagination, Fulbright thinks to himself.

Fulbright's mind was spinning, how is someone able to pass themselves off as another person and not found to be an imposter – they would have to had known everything about them, friends, family, hobbies, interests, tastes, quirks… the list can go on – No one can be that good at impersonating someone for over a year… could they?

"Bobby?" Gumshoe calls out to him.

Fulbright instantly snaps out of his thoughts, and looks up at Gumshoe. He felt drained, whatever energy he had from waking was almost depleted. "…Dick, please… don't tell me anymore." Fulbright voice sounded strained, he turned his head away to face the wall again. "Could you leave me? I just want to sleep."

He heard Gumshoe get up from the chair he was sitting in, and then heard the door opening and closing, leaving him alone – just like he asked.

He turned his head and stared up at the ceiling. "A whole year," he whispers to himself, "I've lost a whole year," a year which felt like an eternity to him.

He was locked away in a horrid place, each day being tortured and beaten for god knows how long, trying to get information from him. – He was amazed they never gave up trying to get information, and just killed him – Were they so desperate that killing him was not an option? Either way it didn't matter, because while that was happening, everyone else got on with their lives not knowing of this torture.

No one had missed him, nobody looked for him. The police who found him weren't even there to look for him; they didn't even know he had been locked away from the world.

Now he finds out they were all fooled into thinking he was someone else, someone who was pretending to be him. Only once they hadrealized it wasn't him, they then mistaken him for a body, a body that had his fingerprints – how was that possible? Who would be sick and twisted enough to do all of this?

Fulbright could feel a lump forming in his throat. None of it seemed real – none of it felt like reality – his whole life was taken from him.

Everything, I've lost everything.

He closed his eyes and let tears quietly fall on the side of his face soiling the soft pillow beneath his head.

The Past – Outside the Courthouse:

Gumshoe could only watch as the ambulance drives away from the courthouse taking the phantom to a special location, where he will get the treatment he needed before being put in prison with solitary confinement.

He couldn't stop going over in his head what happened in that trial, what came out and what was discovered – Gumshoe felt his heart stopped the moment Fulbright ripped off his mask to reveal he wasn't the Fulbright he had been buddies with – the trial was insane. Finding out his best friend was dead…

And he didn't know he was dead.

So shock by the current events, he doesn't hear Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth approach him.

"I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting this turn of events. Even before I decided to look into his background." Gumshoe doesn't reply, he's still staring at the ambulance disappearing, sirens still heard from the distance. "I know none of this can be easy for you." Edgeworth emphasizes, he was very well aware of the friendship Gumshoe had with Fulbright.

Gumshoe shakes his head but he doesn't deny anything. "He was never the type who would do anything wrong, he's intentions were… they were always for good." Gumshoe had to swallow the lump that was forming in his throat; it was taking everything he had to keep himself together.

He couldn't believe it. His best friend was dead, what remained of his body was stored away preserved and untouched. While the man he thought was his friend was in fact his murderer, wearing his face, and he was none the wiser.

Words cannot describe what he was feeling right now.

There was a moment of silence once the sirens could no longer be heard; a cold breeze blew into their direction making Gumshoe's dewy-eyes feel like ice. He lowers his head, closing his eyes taking a few deep breaths to stop the trembling.

"We should go back inside. They'll be closing the case." Edgeworth calls out to him.

He shakes his head, taking a moment to lift his head up opening his eyes to respond, he never looks at him. "Sorry sir, but I won't be going back in. I… I've heard enough." Gumshoe replies going quiet at the end. He walks away from the courthouse, choosing a direction the ambulance didn't take.

Edgeworth lets him go, never calling him to come back.

The Present – Chief Prosecutor Office:

"You shouldn't have told him." Edgeworth says, "I agree he would have needed to know, but not from the moment of awakening."

Gumshoe lowered his head "I know sir, I realise that now. But I thought–"

"You shouldn't have been the one to tell him." Blackquill cuts in.

After his release from prison, it didn't take long for Blackquill to get set up at the prosecution office, it was thought that this move happened too quickly, but Blackquill was very insistent.

The news of Detective Fulbright did come as a shock to him – like everyone else – but then every time he tried to think about Fulbright, the flashbacks of the phantom took over his thoughts.

We only knew what Fool Bright may have been like by the Phantom portraying him, we didn't know him as a person.

With a bitter taste in his mouth, all he could feel was anger towards the man who took away seven years of his life – the man who was the center of everything that had happened.

He only pretended to be Fool Bright for his own reasons.

"How do we even know this is the real Fool Bright?" Blackquill may have never met the real detective, but can never seem to stop himself from using the name he gave him.

"He is the real Bobby pal!" Gumshoe snaps at him, "I know it's him-"

"Silence! Do not address me with that informal term detective! Unless you want me to cut you down, you will address properly, like you would do with all your other superiors."

"Yes pa… I mean sir- Ah!" He recoils from the bladeless strike, the white bandage on his cheek flies off, and floats to the ground.

Blackquill growls, preparing to strike him again, "Make that mistake again, and I'll-"

"Blackquill! There is no need for violence! We have more important matters to attend to." Even though Edgeworth stood by him and believed in his innocence – one of the only few people who did – he would still get angry when the younger prosecutor decides to act up into his twisted samurai persona – though it doesn't come to any surprise that he would still do that, even weeks after his release.

After several incidents that occurred during the time he allowed him to prosecute again – particularly when he decided to go out for a stroll in the middle of a trial – Edgeworth had to pay him an unwelcome visit. Warning him to behave otherwise he wouldn't allow him to prosecute anymore.

Blackquill wouldn't have cared if it wasn't for the fact his next case would take place around the Space Center. The same place where another crime occurred – the one he was prepared to give his life for – seven years prior.

Not wanting to anger Edgeworth, Blackquill set his jaw and bows his head, "Yes sir, and my apologies." After everything his superior had done for him, Blackquill knew it would be an insult to disrespect the man that had to take every amount of criticism for the decisions he made allowing him to prosecute again. "Has anyone spoken to the media about this?"

Edgeworth shakes his head, "No, I have asked for this to be kept quiet for the time being. Especially when the Phantom is still making the front headlines – speaking of which... what is the latest on the Phantom's recovery?"

"He's doing rather well, still hazed from the drugs the doctors give him, but is making a good recovery. His mental state is still questionable however. Once his psychical condition has improved a bit more he'll be transferred to a isolated prison cell." Blackquill pauses for a moment, reaching up to rub his chin and smirks, "And then the interrogation will begin." He concludes, not hiding his satisfaction.

Edgeworth makes no comment he just nods in approval. "I suggest you hold back about the situation with Detective Fulbright, its still unclear if his involved or its just coincidental."

"You think he cross paths with another crime?"

"This is a very unusual circumstance." Edgeworth replies, adjusting his glasses. "We don't know when and how long Detective Fulbright had been down there, and we still have a body we need to identify."

"Y-you mean… you're going to dig it back up… from the grave?" Gumshoe asks with hesitation.

Blackquill turns to see Gumshoe was really pale. Probably from the thought of disturbing a burial ground to bring a body back to the surface – Blackquill thinks – But what choice do they have? The body is not of the man everyone thought to have been, and it would be an insult to Detective Fulbright if they were to keep it in the grave that was meant for him.

For a moment Blackquill wonders how the Phantom even got Fulbright mixed up with another man. Doesn't he analyze his victims before he takes their identities? Blackquill knows the Phantom would make sure he knew everything about them, to the tiniest detail. So how did he get the wrong guy?

"The body will need to be re-examined, I've requested a more thorough look by forensics. Also I want to know why the fingerprint analysis was not picked up when the body was first discovered."

Blackquill nods, "I'll question the person who originally examined the body-"

"That won't be possible!" Everyone turns around to see a man – slightly tanned with spiky black hair, slim built figure, white shirt top two buttons unbuttoned, opened black blazer, dark blue jeans with black shoes and gloves, and his police badge attach to his belt for everyone to see – leaning his back on the door, adjusting his black sunglasses as he gives a lopsided smile. "The guy who originally examined that John Doe died not long before he could give his report… Sorry I'm late by the way, had a few errands to run."

"Cease your jabber Vainwin, if the errands you speak of reflects how infatuated you are with your own self. Then that's no reason to be tardy."

The man – Vainwin – sarcastically laughs, "Prosecutor Blackquill I'm hurt! Do you really think that I – Andy Goodwin – would be so interested with my appearance, I would rather arrive late for important meetings?"

Andy Goodwin – a well-groomed man, in his mid forties – knows how to look his best. So it comes to no surprise why Blackquill thought Vainwin would be a good name to call him.

"Do you even know what this meeting is about?" He asks bitterly.

Goodwin smirks, leaning his body slightly to one side, putting both gloved covered thumbs in his trouser pockets, like he was posing in front of a camera. "Can't say I really do, no one told me what this meeting would be about... As you're new partnering Detective Blackquill, I would've thought you'd tell Andy before the meeting even began."

If one were to ask Blackquill what's the one thing he hates the most about his newly assigned Detective, Blackquill would not hesitate to are times where Goodwin would switch from talking about himself in first person to third person, which irritated him considerably.

Before he could respond to his partner Gumshoe steps in. "It's about 'Bobby' Goodwin… he was found last night during a police raid."

The smirk on Goodwin quickly fades, "…I see." He says quietly, he walks over to the couch and flops down, with a sigh. "Are you sure it's really him?"

Gumshoe glares, but only for a brief second, before he nods, "DNA analysis confirms its him."

"Can DNA analysis even be trusted?"

"Forensics confirmed that only the fingerprint analysis was inconclusive, while all other DNA testing matched with Bobby's file."

"So we're looking for someone who could access the DNA database." Blackquill concludes. It's not much to go by, but it's a start.

"But who would go to all that trouble?" Gumshoe questions.

Goodwin smirks, "I think I know."

"The Phantom?"

"That psychopath? No!" Goodwin snorts, before he sits up, lowering his eyebrows looking more serious, "I was talking about… Leonardo DeCarlo." He carefully says, causing Gumshoe to stiffen.

There was a brief moment of silence, before Blackquill raises an eyebrow, not missing Gumshoe's tense reaction. "Who's Leonardo Decarlo?" He watches Gumshoe carefully, like a hawk.

Gumshoe hesitates, "He's Mafia sir–"

"He's not just Mafia." Goodwin says coldly, cutting him off. He lowers his sunglasses slightly, revealing his dark blue eyes, "He's the head of the Mafia… this is a crime lord we're talking about!"

"He was trailing Leonardo DeCarlo until…"

"Until what?"

Gumshoe lowers his head. Not saying another word. Blackquill stares at him with content.

"Fulbright is all about crime and justice, is it not surprising that he would go after a Mafia gang?" Goodwin says, "But… there are some things we shouldn't talk about."

The statement puzzles Blackquill, lowering both his eyebrows at Goodwin, not knowing what both detectives were talking about, "What do you mean?"

Goodwin pushes his shades back into normal position, "…I've said too much."

"Anyway…" Edgeworth says breaking up the intense discussion – he had spent the whole time sitting at his desk, listening to the whole thing. "I will not interfere with your interrogation with the Phantom. However there are reasons to believe he may have some connection to last nights discovery, I trust I can rely on you to find out any information the Phantom has regarding these turn of events… Unless you would prefer me to assign someone else for that side of questioning?"

For a moment Blackquill ponders the thought. Ask him about the man he fooled him into thinking he was, the man that's currently in hospital?

Blackquill wonders how Fulbright must feel. – He was a prisoner, locked away from the real world, which Blackquill can sympathies, as he too had been through the same. But Fulbright wasn't missed by anyone – His life, his whole identity was stolen.

Fool Bright deserves justice.

"There is no need to call someone else Chief Prosecutor, I will personally question the Phantom and investigate Fool Bright's capture."

If anyone is going to find out the truth, it might as well be him.

The sound of the door closing awakens Fulbright from his long undisturbed sleep. The room was pitch black, the moon shinning on the bed Fulbright laid on.

He slowly opened his eyes noticing the unknown figure that had just entered the room. He watches them carefully as they start taking a few steps closer to him.

In his tired daze – the doctor's gave him some drugs to ease the pain from his injuries to help him sleep – Fulbright makes the figure aware of his presence. "C-can… can I help you?"

He gets no answer.

The figure stands still, staring at him with content, like they were taking in everything they could see in front of them.

Like a hawk watching its prey.

"Have you also come to see if I'm for real?"

"I already know you are." The person answers, stepping closer to Fulbright's bed. "How can no one not think your real, when you look like this?"

"Apparently it is possible… from what I've heard." Fulbright says flatly looking up at the figure now towering over him. – He knows its not Gumshoe, his mind was clear enough to know that. – Still unable to see their face, but he could see they're wearing black clothing, and from what he could make out possibly long black hair.

Fulbright stares up at the figure, unsure of what to ask. For a moment they say nothing, until the figure speak.

"I know you've had to go through a lot, but I never wanted any of this to happen, it was never my intention to put you through this."

Before Fulbright could respond, the figure quickly pulls the tubes out of his nostrils, and covers his nose and mouth with his hand, using his other hand to pin down both Fulbright's arms.

The person brings his face forward out of the darkness to reveal what he thought was hair, to turn out to be black feathers, and the face – that was kept hidden in the darkness all this time – was covered with a black beaked mask.

"…I'm sorry for everything that's happened." The voice could not be recognized through the mask.

Fulbright struggled to break free from the person's grip, but it was proving to be impossible. He was weak, being held hostage and starved from food and water has caused his muscles to shrink, there was almost nothing left. He looked up into the eyes of the masked. – Whatever expression they were holding could not be seen.

He was scared, he couldn't breath, he tried to scream but it was muffled.

"Don't bother screaming for help, no one will save you."

Fulbright's heart was racing, head pounding while his lungs screamed for air, there were spots dancing in his vision.

Eventually he could feel himself growing tired, unable to think straight, eyelids becoming heavy. His body felt light like it was floating, the sound of the heart rate monitor becoming distant, just like the sound of something being thrown and the mystery person screaming, falling on the floor with a–

Fulbright quickly sits up gasping for air, as soon as he was released from the tight grip. Before realising the mysterious person had already escaped out the window.

He looks over to see the black feathers scattered on the floor beside his bed.

Those feathers.

Fulbright tears his eyes away, when his savior walks over to the window and gazes outside.

"Impetuous person." He says before he turns to him, the moonlight shining on him like a spotlight. "You're lucky I got here in time Fool Bright."