(A/N: this story is in progress on the PW Kink Meme. It's going to have a little romance (P/E) but a lot of violence, hence the rating! I've never written in this fandom before, but I thought it would be easier to follow the story here than just as comments on the meme, so I set up a account. This was written in response to a prompt that wanted someone to take revenge on Edgeworth by kidnapping and torturing Phoenix. Enjoy! I'll post more chapters when I can!)

"Mr. Edgeworth!"

Miles Edgeworth turned at the familiar voice. After the day's success in the courtroom, it was easy to offer Gumshoe a hint of a smile. "Detective. My compliments to the force. The evidence your investigation turned up was beyond question."

Wright had tried to discredit their findings, of course, but all his cross-examinations had accomplished was to remove one of the Rhodes brothers from consideration as a murder suspect. The first brother had been found guilty of all three homicides, and Miles had still managed to get an accomplice conviction on the second.

"Thanks, Mr. Edgeworth," Gumshoe said. If he were a dog, his tail would be wagging. "We tried real hard to get it for you."

The murders had been unspeakably brutal, and Wright's voice had shaken more than once as he pressed the witnesses. When it became clear that one brother must have stayed out there to baby their ancient car's engine, Miles was happy to let Wright ferret out the truth of Second Brother: Not Actually a Murderer. In return, he'd cut through Wright's weak protestations and pinned the murders firmly on one brother and the escape on the other.

Wright would be upset, of course, but Miles was in a wonderful mood. Justice had been served, to each man according to the precise crime he'd committed. Their victims' cries had not gone ignored.

"You should be commended," Miles assured Gumshoe. "My report will be glowing." Catching sight of dark hair over a blue suit, he offered Gumshoe another hint of a smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me." It wasn't that he wanted to gloat, but he did want to... offer Wright a helpful assessment of his performance. Courtroom battles didn't seem complete without a post-verdict talk with Phoenix Wright. And he really wanted to have one. Especially after he'd won.

Gumshoe began to nod, then started. "Wait, Mr. Edgeworth! I nearly forgot. I came over here for a reason." He dug through his cavernous pockets, frowning, and Miles looked for something else to occupy his attention as he waited.

Above the heads of the departing crowd in the lobby, Miles managed to meet Wright's eyes. Wright nodded, solemn, and began to make his way toward them. Good.

There was also a dark glare coming from a corner of the lobby, but Miles ignored it. He had, after all, earned one man a death sentence that day, and so he anticipated those reactions. Any prosecutor who put away criminals for anything worse than a parking violation had to be prepared.

"Here!" Gumshoe said proudly, and thrust his fist toward Miles with an envelope extended. The sudden movement nearly caught Wright in the side of the head. Gumshoe echoed his yelp. "W-Watch it, pal!"

Miles allowed himself a larger smirk as he read Gumshoe's letter. Halfway through he snorted and crumpled the paper, but Gumshoe snagged it before he could throw it away. "That seemed real serious," Gumshoe said. "It came from the sister of those crooks."

"Yes, I used my infamous powers of deduction to notice where she signed her name." Miles retrieved the letter from Gumshoe's hand. Perhaps he'd shred it, instead. "Thank you, Detective Gumshoe. Again, your work on this case was appreciated."

Gumshoe might be a fool, but he knew a firm dismissal when he heard one. With one last proud smile, he nodded and left the attorneys alone.

"Good arguments today," Wright said, with what at least sounded like sincerity.

"Oh? You haven't come to call me a monster for twisting the evidence and sending an innocent man to his death? I'm disappointed, Wright. Is your sense of moral outrage slipping?" If so, Miles would need to find some other way to goad him toward mistakes in the courtroom. It was good to face a friend behind the defense's desk. They knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, and still respected each other after even brutal matches.

"No."

"No?"

"They killed those people," Wright said simply. "One held the knife while one just got him away from the scene of the crime, but they worked together and killed all those people."

Miles' eyes narrowed. He admitted it so easily? "Then why on earth did you take this case? Why argue so vehemently against my witnesses, if you thought your clients were guilty?"

"By the end of the first day I knew they were guilty of something. But something told me that they weren't both guilty of murder like they'd been charged with, and I wanted to find out the truth." Wright shrugged. For a man who'd lost ninety percent of his case, he didn't look too distraught. "I saved a man who didn't earn the death penalty under the law, and I'm glad for that... but I'll admit, I'm not going to lose sleep over the idea of him going to jail for a long, long time."

Miles couldn't help but smile again. Really? He cared that much about the ten percent of his case that he'd won? Phoenix Wright certainly was an idealist. Of course, Miles had been accused of the very same thing, thanks to his recent willingness to pursue hard truths over an easy conviction, but that was hardly the same.

"Soooo," Wright began, with that look on his face like he was going to suggest a noisy post-case dinner with everyone involved.

None of that, please. "I have no idea how you came up with the idea to question the family's neighbor." That neighbor was a mechanic by trade, who'd pleaded with the siblings to let him repair their noisy, smoking car before it died somewhere on the freeway. "How did you even meet him?"

"Uh..."

Miles decided not to ask. Wright had probably been snooping around the family's house for evidence, only to accidentally fall over the neighbor's picket fence while running away from a bee.

Wright stayed silent, too... as he snatched the letter from Miles' hand before Miles could react. When Miles did recover and made a grab for his stolen possession, Wright handed it off to Maya, who'd appeared at his side. "Edgeworth, this sounds serious," Wright said, frowning. "Are you going to show it to the police?"

Miles laughed. They thought that letter constituted a serious threat? They'd never survive a career as prosecutors.

Maya's forehead furrowed as she read the letter out loud. "Hello, Mr. Edgeworth. You killed my brother today. I want to talk to you. Meet me under the tallest palm in Vista Park tonight at eleven PM, or you'll live to regret it."

"Edgeworth, she's going to try to hurt you," Wright said intensely.

With a tolerant smile, Miles replied, "Of course I can see that she would hurt me... if I were foolish enough to listen to her demands."

"She does say she'll make you regret it if you don't show up," Maya said uncertainly.

"A week without a death threat is a week when I probably haven't put anyone away," Miles said, shrugging. "The vast majority of those threats are clearly bluffs. Ms. Rhodes, though..."

Lucy Rhodes had misrepresented herself as a witness and tried to clear her brothers' names. Her testimony was picked apart as both men found its holes, but she'd nimbly avoided perjury charges, which was more than most people in her situation would have managed. Lucy was clever, determined, had the same ruthless gleam in her eyes as her brothers... and wasn't under police control.

Miles tapped his chin thoughtfully. "If I had to guess, I'd say that Ms. Rhodes has every intention of killing me."

Wright and Maya both jerked back, horrified. "B-b-but!" Wright protested.

"You need to get Detective Gumshoe back!" Maya said. "And have him be your bodyguard or something!"

Or I could hire a real bodyguard... if it were even necessary. "Where is my office located?" Miles asked.

"Uh, kinda near a corner of two hallways..." Wright trailed off.

"Many floors up, inside a building," Miles corrected, "that is crawling with armed guards and metal detectors. Where is my home?"

"Uh..." This time, that was all Wright said. Maya stayed thoughtfully silent.

...Oh. No wonder they're not answering. I've never actually invited anyone over to see it. Miles cleared his throat. "It's also well off the ground, in a building with secured entry and a doorman. Everywhere I go, I'm surrounded by security. This isn't by chance. Lucy Rhodes isn't the first person to threaten revenge after a conviction and she won't be the last."

Maya bit her thumbnail. "Should she be arrested?"

"On what charge? She very carefully avoided making a death threat in her letter, and the implied threat isn't enough for a conviction, or even to hold her on." Miles smirked. "Give her a week, and all of her outrage will be focused on whatever guards her brothers don't like. The threats never seem to last past that first call from prison."

"And you're okay with this?" Wright asked in disbelief.

Miles shrugged. "I can't say that I enjoy it, but it's a necessary evil."

Wright still looked vaguely ill. Maya gnawed her thumbnail more.

"Dangerous criminals associate with other dangerous criminals, and we seldom lock up an entire fleet of them with a single case. The ones left on the streets will naturally look for revenge." Oh, the two of them looked ready to cry! This was absurd, and more than a little insulting. Did they really think he was so breakable? "The job I do is worth the risk, because it means that some of them do get put away."

"Wow, Mr. Edgeworth," Maya said. "You really sound like you care about this."

"You saw those crime scene photos," Edgeworth said. Innocents' blood had made Pollack paintings against the walls. "Those men will never have a chance to repeat what they did on that day, and yes, that is something I care about. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should go behind some of those security doors before Ms. Rhodes stops simply glaring at me and tries to pull an officer's gun from its holster."

Wright and Maya spun on their heels. Lucy's glower was visible even from across the room, burning like some dark sun, and each of them grabbed one of Miles' arms and tried to drag him away. "Come on, Mr. Edgeworth!" Maya said as she tugged. "She's here!"

"She's been watching us all this time," Miles said, annoyed. "Just because you overlooked her doesn't mean that I did."

"Come on!" Wright insisted. "You can't just let her come after you! You could, uh..."

"Stay with Nick!" Maya suggested. "She doesn't know where he lives!"

"Yeah!" Wright said. "Stay with wait what?"

Miles snorted. "So you think it would be safer for me to forgo my well-secured home in exchange for the couch of an apartment that you can afford."

"I'm sure Nick would take the couch and let you have the bed," Maya said.

"Uh, can we talk about this a little more, first?" Wright asked. Maya glared at him, and, abashed, he said, "Please stay at my place tonight, Edgeworth, and yes you can have the bed."

Miles' irritation eased. Yes, they were being totally illogical, but their fear for him was plain to see. The idea of Phoenix Wright sprawled across some poorly-stuffed couch just to keep him out of danger was... unsettling. Yes, it was thoughtful and kind, but Miles Edgeworth simply wasn't a fan of unexpected developments. And Wright—Phoenix—offering Miles his bed just to keep him safe was most definitely unexpected. "I appreciate the offer," Miles said, as nicely as he knew how. "Truly. But the best thing I can do after a letter like that is to go behind the security I've already arranged. I know that it will hold up. It's been tested."

"Oh, you had the police run tests on it and stuff?" Maya asked happily, but faltered a second later. "No... that's not what you meant, is it?"

"People like her have tried to kill you," Phoenix said. With that hurt puppydog look over Miles' safety, it was hard to even think of him as 'Wright' at all. "They've really tried."

"And once they did," Miles said more lightly than he felt, "they all got arrested, too. If Ms. Rhodes is foolish enough to make an attempt on my life, she'll be joining her brothers shortly." Jokes weren't going to lessen their worry. He sighed, and lowered his guard enough to admit, "I'm not... all right with the threats. They do worry me. But if I have to deal with them as part of putting away men like the Rhodes brothers, I will. And in a week, it'll be better."

"You're really brave, Mr. Edgeworth," Maya said. Miles felt his cheeks grow warm. These two could be so emotional.

"What have people done?" Phoenix demanded in a low voice. "If they got arrested afterward, what have they tried?"

Miles hesitated. "Usually, it's lurking outside a door with a knife and several empty beer bottles, or something similarly straightforward. On the cases that do actually leave me concerned, well... I've learned to have my groceries delivered and dry cleaning picked up for a while."

"And this one has you concerned," Phoenix said.

Risking a glance at Lucy Rhodes showed her still glaring at him. Miles swallowed. She blatantly lied on the witness stand. A total fabrication like I've seldom seen. The judge was ready to lock her up for perjury, and yet she came prepared with an adequate defense. "I am concerned."

"Please, Mr. Edgeworth," Maya pleaded with him, tugging at his sleeve. "Let Gumshoe arrest her for something and keep her locked up overnight, okay? They can find something. They can... can try for perjury again."

"That would just make her anger last longer. Really, I should be going. I do want to get home." The lobby was nearly empty, and Miles felt more exposed by the minute now that he'd admitted to his fear. No, not fear, he wouldn't allow fear. His unease. His completely reasonable concern.

Phoenix caught the edge in his voice and nodded. "Stay safe, all right?" he murmured, still in that low tone that wouldn't carry to anyone but the three of them. "After what her brothers were capable of..."

Miles bowed his head. "Trust me, those photos are still deeply embedded in my memories." He had no desire to see if a taste for knifework ran in the family. Looking away, he bit his lip. "Thank you for offering me a place to stay tonight, even if it was misguided." Misguided, but sweet. The thought of sleeping in Phoenix Wright's bed, though... now, that was ridiculous enough to almost put another smile on his face.

"Nick could come stay with you tonight, instead," Maya said thoughtfully, one finger on her chin.

Miles snorted. "And now I'm the one giving up my bed in favor of the couch? I'm hoping for a good night's sleep." He waited for Phoenix to raise a similar protest, but the man actually looked to be considering it. "Go home, Wright."

"But-"

"Go home." Phoenix opened his mouth to protest. "Home."

"Stay safe," Phoenix relented, and actually flung one arm around Miles and patted him on the back. It was the least intimate, most socially acceptable embrace Phoenix could give him, but Miles still froze at the contact. "I plan for a full acquittal on my next case, and I want to see your face when I beat you again."

Now this sort of display, Miles understood. He smirked as Phoenix stepped back from him. "Get used to today's taste of losing. I'm sure you'll become intimately familiar with it."

"Jerk," Phoenix said affectionately.

"I do try." Miles gestured farewell, forcing himself not to look at Lucy Rhodes, and said one last time, "Remember: go home, Wright." He turned, gestured for a security guard to accompany him to his car, and left the duo standing in the lobby.

For the rest of his life, Miles Edgeworth would wish that he'd allowed Phoenix to stay over that night.