Finally, Chapter 2 rewritten.
I want to thank everyone who's been showing me support. It's awesome knowing you guys are still interested in this story. :)
I do not own Phoenix Wright or any known associates of the franchise.
Phoenix ran blindly down the hall. His thoughts focused only on the scream that had attracted his attention only seconds before. The flashlight bobbed in his hands, bouncing lightly off the walls and arcing wildly with each swing of his arms. He ignored the wild lights' movement as he ran. His attention was on the only other occupant in the building, whom he'd heard scream not moments before.
A faint sigh escaped Phoenix's lips as he stopped for a moment to catch his breath. A stitch presented itself and his breath hitched. In the brief silence another noise met his ear, weeping that was soft, quiet and almost indistinguishable from the storm. He followed the noise to the end of the next hall but a long thin piece of leather intercepted him and knocked him onto his back. The whip then arched back and struck him again and again mercilessly. The dizziness that came from landing on his back was quickly shaken off as the whip continued to bite against what skin was exposed around his hands, neck and face.
The whip spared nothing, almost every inch of skin it could find was inflamed from the multiple blows. As Phoenix felt his consciousness slip away, the whip ceased. Slowly, he felt the world fade back into view. The pain was searing and felt like it'd never end, as the world slid back into focus he saw Franziska. Pure hatred and rage was embedded on her face. Tear stains lined her cheeks and she looked at though she'd very willingly kill him on the spot. None of these had any effect on him, her eyes did. The pain-filled, questioning stare that he saw startled him.
Slowly, Phoenix watched as Franziska walked around him, giving him a wide berth and making her way down the hall towards her office. He got up and followed her quietly, knowing better than to open his mouth for a second time. A small while passed as they walked down the various halls before he was overcome with guilt. He walked slightly faster to catch up to her.
"May I say something?" He asked her. She slowed and stared at him angrily.
"Personally, Phoenix Wright, I feel that you have said more than enough." She spat. Phoenix winced.
"I wanted to apologize. My behavior was out of line and I had no reason or right to say what I had." He said gently, pleading that she'd listen. "You are a tough adversary in the courtroom, that I will say but, to say you are anything like your father is wrong." He stopped as Franziska turned to glare at him murderously.
"What is it then, that my father has and I do not?" she asked.
"You have it backwards, you have something he doesn't." Phoenix corrected, keeping his tone soft. "You have a heart."
Of all the foolish things Franziska had heard him say, she was startled by this. In Germany, she'd been compared to her father for an entirely different reason. 'Not good enough. Not as good as her father', they had said. She had learned that being cruel and unpleasant was how she won cases and over time she perfected these skills.
"Heart?" she asked. "What is so special about having heart?"
"To be perfectly honest, I think it's something you need to find out for yourself." He said gently.
As they approached the door to her office Phoenix rubbed the back of his neck. He knew that although things had been rocky between them they were forced to stick together. They also had no way of getting rest.
"Ms. von Karma, I just happened to notice. We'll be staying here a while, but we don't seem to have any blankets or pillows. This may be a court of law, but there's sure to be an emergency supply here." He said cautiously. "It might be a good idea for me to search for them."
Franziska looked at him and nodded. "You aren't going alone. I know where the emergency items are."
Slowly Phoenix followed Franziska down the hall to a closet that Phoenix was sure he'd passed many times before on his way to the courtroom. The room was pitch-black and the flashlight cut through the dark, splashing on the opposite wall and giving light to that small area of the room. Phoenix picked up two large blankets and turned around to see Franziska carrying two pillows. He nodded as she walked out the door back towards her office. He followed her slowly, turning to look over his shoulder every now and again. He couldn't shake the feeling that slowly overwhelmed him. They were being watched from somewhere.
Upon entering the office Phoenix placed a blanket on one couch, allowing Franziska to have the other. He lay down, trying not to fall asleep as the streetlamps outside cast a soft glow on the room. The snow was still falling, but it was not enough to be called a blizzard. Phoenix got up and looked out the window, the snow was built up over the doorway to the courthouse. It covered stop lights and was gaining ground on the street lamps. However, it was not an entirely unpleasant sight.
It was then that Phoenix thought of food, his stomach grumbled lightly in protest to going so long without anything decent. With a soft sigh, he pulled a pre-made sandwich out of the bag. He broke it in half where the cut was made and offered Franziska the other half.
"I'm sorry for my behavior earlier, it was out of line." He said.
"Yes, it was." She stated as she took the offered sandwich. "However, I feel like it was well deserved. I have been too much like my father. It's just taking me a while." She was startled when Phoenix laughed.
"Ms. von Karma, it's not taking you a while to do anything, being prideful about your job is not a bad thing, but you can't let your pride over your record cloud your judgment in the courtroom. I've seen you lately. You've improved a hell of a lot already. You judge conditions in the court based on facts, not your record. That's a good thing." He explained happily.
"And yet during the Matt Engarde case you showed the same pride I have shown countless times before." She stated, causing Phoenix to flinch.
"About that," he began slowly, taking a drink from his water bottle. "I didn't exactly have a choice. After all, when an assassin threatens to kill off your assistant what else are you to do?"
"You— Is that why you kept fighting? Even though you knew he was guilty?" she asked, still shaking slightly as the windows rattled. Phoenix nodded. Franziska continued, "Why? You knew it was hopeless, why keep fighting?" Phoenix looked thoughtful before answering.
"Let me ask you a question that will have a similar impact that the case had on me." He chose his words carefully, as if chewing over each word before saying it, "If you were to prosecute your father's case, would you have gotten a guilty verdict to protect your record, or would you have tried to get him a not guilty, with him being your father?"
Franziska fell into a quiet reverie. Phoenix's words had stung her. What would she have done? Facing such a choice seemed impossible. She hated the very idea of it. She didn't want to answer. The choice would be obvious to any other prosecutor. Find the truth, and then pass judgment based on it.
"I'd check over every possible factor before passing judgment." She said quietly. "But I can't deny it would kill me to find out like that, if he really was guilty."
The next hour passed in silence as they finished their respective dinners and bid each other goodnight. Phoenix quietly looked at Franziska as they lay in the dark and he couldn't help but notice the tears she'd been holding had begun to fall down her face into her pillow. He turned over and fell into an uncomfortable sleep.
The next morning was loud, snow still fell heavily and wind rattled the windows. Phoenix then noticed Franziska reading over a file propped up against a vase. "DL-6" was planted firmly on the front of the file. She looked puzzled, as if searching for some alternate reason behind the deaths. He could see dark circles beneath her eyes and a tired frown creased her lips. She looked exhausted.
"Hey," he called for her gently, but instead of jumping she merely looked up and the frown lessened. "Didn't you sleep?"
"No," she answered, her exhaustion leaving little room for sarcasm and anger. "It's still hard to accept."
Phoenix nodded. He knew the feeling, the overwhelming sense of betrayal. He stood up, shaking the horrible memory from his head and walked over to the window. The snow sloped down towards the courthouse, a sure sign that more windows had broken under the pressure. The storm had taken a harder toll on the city than previously thought.
As an uncomfortable silence lapsed over then scene, Phoenix stood by the window watching for any sign of life in the snow draped city. The blizzard had finally begun to calm down but the sky was still a dark and dreary gray.
"Too bad the phone lines are dead. It would be nice to be able to see if the girls are ok." Phoenix sighed.
Without answering, Franziska opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a small radio. He stared at the small device, he'd seen one before, but he couldn't remember where.
"Miles and I bought them just in case of an emergency, although I highly doubt it would help since his is probably in his office." Franziska noted the look of confusion and said, "One just like it was used in the Matt Enguarde case."
"Well, I think this would qualify as an emergency." He stared as she shook her head.
"It would, but like I said, I doubt he has his transceiver on him at this point in time. He usually leaves it in his office." She explained bitterly.
Heeding his companions' words, Phoenix placed the transceiver on Franziska's desk. He then looked around the room and examined everything he had missed the night before. The room was dark, but gave off an air of calm.
One entire wall of the room was dedicated to a large bookcase. It carried mostly books on Law, but as he browsed he also saw hints of fantasy, science fiction and even a few old fairytale books -written in German he was sure- that dotted the bookcase.
The walls themselves were painted a soft mauve color, giving an air of seriousness to the room. Small splashes of variation were found in the paintings that lined the wall opposite the bookcase, soft pastels or shocking bright colors dotted the canvases. Portrayals of Paris in winter or Venice in spring counted among the few paintings. They were not what Phoenix expected to find in an office meant for prepping witnesses for trial. If anything it felt almost warm compared to most of the offices he'd been in around the courthouse.
A loud crackling noise broke Phoenix from his reverie. He looked over to see Franziska looking at the transceiver. He then silently cursed himself for not turning it off, but then felt his heart jump when a voice came through.
"Hello? Hello? Can someone, er, anyone hear me?"
It was Maya.
Both he and Franziska grabbed for the transceiver. He felt his insides freeze as Franziska turned the dial and spoke loudly and clearly into the device.
"Hello?!" She called into the transceiver, static crackling wildly as she did so.
"Ms. von Karma?! Is Nick still there with you?" Maya's response swept over Phoenix like a wave. Relief filtered through him. At least they were okay.
"Yes, He's here. He alerted me to the storm and we're been holed up on the second floor since." Phoenix felt grateful that she left out the technicalities. "How did you get your hands on a transceiver, if I may ask?"
"Edgeworth is here, He was on his way back to pick you up when the storm hit. Thankfully he was able to get inside before the storm became as strong as it was. He had the transceiver with him." Maya sounded more serious and mature than Phoenix had ever heard her. He also winced in guilt at having not told Franziska about Edgeworth being holed up with the girls. "He's exhausted though, he's sleeping on the couch and I'd rather not wake him."
"That's fine, I'm just glad he's alive." Franziska said. Phoenix felt alarmed with what she said next, "Listen though, these transceivers do run on batteries, and they run out faster than I'd care to admit."
"Point taken, we'll only contact each other in extreme cases, not idle chatter." Maya cut Franziska off, sounding slightly fearful. "We'll contact you if we're rescued though, just to make sure you're ok, deal?"
Phoenix could see fear in Franziska's eyes as she answered, "Deal."
The conversation ended, and the transceiver was turned off. Phoenix sighed and ran his fingers through his hair as a knot of uncertainty pitted in his stomach. Looking up, He saw that Franziska had the same tortured look.
"Are you ok?" He asked, not expecting an honest answer.
"I'll be fine." Phoenix hated those words, in every problematic situation he'd ever been in, he heard or spoken those damned words.
"Ms. von Karma", she seemed slightly stunned by his sudden serious tone. "I've have been in far more situations involving danger than I care to count. Trust me when I say I have come to hate the term "I'll be fine.", because I can see plain as day that you are not fine. That and the fact that when you ran off earlier you screamed without reason. Now please, don't try to ease my uncertainty with a bald faced lie."
"I screamed earlier because I was frustrated." She said quietly. Her resolve had slackened at his words. "I know my father was overly protective of his pride. He was also vengeful, so it makes sense. My anger and frustration comes from inheriting those traits. I don't like being compared to my father but, it seems I'm pretty much just like him. It doesn't matter how hard I try to deny it. As for why I'm not 'fine' as you put it, It may be days or even weeks before we're rescued and although rationing our food and water may help, rationing doesn't do anything if the food is perishable within a week of use."
"Do you know why I loathe the term "I'll be fine."?" Phoenix sighed. Franziska looked at him fearfully. It looked as though she was scared that he would snap at her. Her facial expression changed and she raised her whip in warning as he continued. "It's because of what you just said. People often bottle up painfully destructive emotions. They don't care if it's damaging, just as long as no one else knows about it."
"What does that have to do with anything I just said?" Franziska asked.
"It has everything to do with what you just said. Every time I've heard that phrase, people have been bottling up emotions or putting themselves in harm's way. They think only of hiding the pain, not of the consequences that result from doing so." Phoenix stated, his voice sounded agitated. He sighed and apologized, "I'm sorry. There are times I'm hypocritical on the matter and make myself sound like a dunce because of it. Yes, lying once or twice to protect someone you love is okay as long as it doesn't end up killing you. However, people are needlessly bottling up emotions that don't need to be. That seems like it would be less helpful and more destructive for everyone involved."
"Of all the foolish—"
"Call it what you will. Doesn't change the fact the bottling up emotions can be extremely damaging. If you want proof, think about how you felt before you told me all that." Phoenix interrupted.
An uncomfortable silence loomed over the room, the next few hours broken only by the soft ticking from a clock on the wall. Shadows were thrown around the room in odd and distorted shapes due to the soft light from outside. In the semi-darkness, Phoenix tried to stop his mind from wandering into the void where his worst nightmares lay, and Franziska scanned her bookcase for something to read.
"I'm still feeling unsure about anything right now." Franziska's voice sounded shaken. "I feel as if my entire life has been a lie. I've been following people blindly and what good has it done me?"
Phoenix contemplated her question quietly. He wanted to answer, but knew that she'd probably need to find the answer out for herself. An uneasy feeling of being watched had washed over him again.
"Sit down, please." He said weakly.
"P-pardon me?" She'd expected a long winded response about how life could be cruel or unfair.
"Ms. von Karma, I'm uneasy enough as it is without you pacing in worry about which direction your life is going in. Please, sit down." He drew a shaky breath which emphasized his point of nervousness. Franziska glared at him, but acquiesced to Phoenix's request and sat down on the couch across from him. After a few tension filled moments Phoenix stood and walked to her desk to examine something, as he returned to the couch Franziska noticed a stress ball in his hands.
"What's making you so uneasy, if I may ask?"
"I'm not sure, I'm just overwhelmed by this feeling that we're being monitored or watched."
"Ridiculous, we're the only ones here, Phoenix Wright." As she said it, a chill raced up Franziska's spine.
"What makes you so certain?" he asked.
"We would've noticed if another person was here." She said.
"Some people have a way of escaping notice, Ms. von Karma." He countered.
An eerie silence lapsed over them. The room seemed to be closing in on them as darkness fell outside. Franziska stared quietly as Phoenix played with the stress ball he'd retrieved from her desk.
"Never expected you to have one of these." He said, slightly amused.
"Well if you lived under that same roof as my brother you'd carry one around with you too." She countered, causing Phoenix to laugh outright.
"Franziska, look at who I live with, A 20 year old spirit medium who acts like she's 15 and a 12 year old spirit medium who acts 18. It's insanity, and you think I don't have one of these?" He laughed again, a sound that Franziska found to be amusing in its own right. "I'm lucky I haven't hit the bottle yet with those two under my roof!"
"What do you mean, 'under your roof'?" she asked thoughtfully, surely he didn't mean…
"Maya refuses to get a job, every time I talk to her about it she counters with 'Being a spirit medium IS my job, Nick!' and Pearls," he paused, overwhelmed by sudden anger. "That poor child, Heaven knows where she would've ended up if I hadn't have taken her in, her father being gone and her mother in jail. She had no where to go to."
"So your assistant lives with you because she's too stubborn to get a real job?" Franziska sighed then said in a bemused tone, "She seems like a keeper." Phoenix laughed even harder.
"You know, you're not the first person to say so, Pearls has been trying to hook us up for a couple of years now." He chuckled. "Maya and I, We're like oil and water, yet everyone and their mother sees us as a couple. Honestly, I don't think I could date her even if I tried."
"Ouch! What deserves that kind of comment, if I may ask?" Franziska seemed alarmed, did Phoenix really hate his assistant that much?
"I don't hate Maya," Phoenix sighed. "I'm just annoyed. She's my assistant for one, and she's my ex-boss's sister. Ever since I first took on her case, all I've ever seen her as is a little sister. Seeing her any other way feels wrong on multiple levels. Not to mention she's not exactly the height of maturity."
"Well, everyone matures at a different rate." Franziska countered. "The only reason I became a Prosecutor when I was 13 was because of my father. I wasn't allowed to play with any toys as a child, my free time was spent reading books to learn various languages. As a I grew, language books became Law books. I had a college reading level at age 5." She watched as Phoenix's eyes widened.
"I hated it, every second of it. My life was nothing a child should ever have to go through unless they are willing, having to read about murder and rape cases at 10 years old. It's pure and simple torture because everyone you see after that becomes a statistic. How likely is one person to end up being mugged or raped or murdered during their daily commute? How likely is it that this person is holding a concealed weapon?" Franziska stopped and shivered.
"Franziska, I've noticed something. When you speak about your introduction to law, you speak only about your father." He watched as her face darkened. "I'm almost scared to ask, but what about your mother?"
"You're right to be scared, I hate her more than I could ever hate my father. That bitch abandoned me to a life of hell so my sister could live normally. I found out shortly after I had begun reading law books. When my parents were married, my father expected a perfect family. He wanted one daughter and one son, one child to live her life freely and one to inherit the family business." She sighed and bit her lip before continuing. "When I was around 6, my mother left. She and my father divorced and when I begged the judge to put me in with my mother, he said no. Turns out my parents had reached an agreement. Since my sister was already living the life she wanted, it seemed unfair to take it away from her. My mother's exact words were, "Keep the mistake, mold her as you will." Needless to say, I never forgave her."
As Franziska finished speaking a loud creak alerted both her and Phoenix. A sharp pain ripped through Phoenix's skull as a blunt object struck him from behind. As Franziska prepared to fight, she felt someone much stronger than her lift her off the ground by her neck. A soft cloth was pressed to her lips and she struggled to hold her breath. She inhaled sharply as her leg struck the leg of the table and the chloroform affected her instantly, a wave of exhaustion engulfed her and the world went black as she was dragged out the door.
Made one last small edit, as one line particularly felt out of place and just wrong to put in. Sorry.