Author's Note: Greetings! I managed to get this chapter up before I leave for my trip and the next update will depend on how much I end up writing while I travel. Thanks to everyone for sticking with me!

Titration by HawkofNavarre

Chapter 5

Time Well Spent

"...was found guilty of second degree murder today. DNA evidence was found in the young male's locker which he was renting at the bus stop at..."

Ema was changing as she listened to the news, pulling on her vest next and grabbing her lab coat. They were currently covering a story about one of the murders she and Klavier had solved recently, with the trial only proceeding yesterday. Of course it had been a guilty verdict with the damning decisive evidence they'd found. That had been happening a lot recently, especially with the extra effort Klavier was putting into help with the investigations as well, despite disliking them. With both of them being workaholics, it often concluded with nights of working late with each other. It was something she never thought she'd do without someone dragging her kicking and screaming into. Instead, she was surprisingly alright with working with him now and certainly preferred puzzling out cases with her prosecutor as compared to the coworker who continued to pursue her romantically.

Dayton's presence was starting to become unbearable. He made every effort possible to work with her. Ema was through with giving him second chances. She'd seen the date through "for science" and she simply didn't like him. Their perspectives clashed time and time again, which was definitely not something she was looking for in a relationship. What bothered her even more was how much he disrespected their boss, which was hilariously hypocritical coming from her, but he had proven to her over and over again that his work did deserve respect. To her own eyes, she felt he did too—at least, when he wasn't acting like an ass. Of course, she would never tell him that. If Klavier ever found out that she had basically made a scene on her date with Dayton for his opinion, that smug expression he wore whenever he knew he'd gotten under her skin would be permanently plastered on his face.

And then, of course, she was still dealing with her revelation that Klavier was actually a guy because she had idiotically chosen to recreate a crime scenario with him. Acknowledging that being pressed up again him felt nice was nearly impossible to swallow. Spending more time with him didn't make anything any easier to process, and yet there he was every day. Work, Klavier, work, Klavier, and work, Klavier.

Ema sighed. With that thought, it was about time to head off to work again...for Klavier. Ugh. This would be his third concert over three months, halfway through his overall schedule, meaning she still had three more nights where she would see his face outside of her usual police work. For now, she had to deal with this one.

It wasn't all that bad, she supposed. With all those cases they'd been closing, she felt like she and Klavier were getting along with each other the best they ever had. Even the volume of her snacking had reduced. She wasn't stressed out, she got paid double, and talking to Gavin was relatively easy if she didn't take his flirtations seriously. She honestly didn't mind it all too much, even when he annoyingly got in the last word.

Of course, when she thought about the letter sitting on her coffee table right now, the whole night didn't seem so bad at all.

The detective glanced briefly at her watch, switching the TV off. She shoved the letter out of her mind. It was time to go. Securing her firearm in her holster, she flew out the door.

It was slow night, which was exactly what Ema had been hoping for. Things were far easier to keep an eye on with these much smaller concerts and only a couple hundred people coming in. Then again, it also made the night a little more boring. When her primary job was to keep everyone organized and keep an eye on her boss, things got old pretty quickly. Coincidentally, her earpiece buzzed to life as soon as that thought hit her.

"Miss Skye? I have three guests here with backstage passes," one of the officers relayed to her.

Ema considered this. Klavier hadn't told her he'd given away any backstage passes, but it would be best to check these people out anyway. She didn't want them to cause a scene if they didn't take rejection well.

"Hold them there," she ordered, hastily making her way down the hall.

To her surprise, the three faces that came into sight were familiar to her as well. Standing in front of the officer she'd stationed there was Phoenix Wright, his daughter Trucy, and his protégé Athena Cykes. All of them were dressed more casually for the occasion, even Trucy out of her magician outfit for once.

"Mr. Wright!" she exclaimed, rushing forward to meet the group. "I didn't know you guys were coming today!"

Phoenix smiled. "Well, Trucy is a big fan and Prosecutor Gavin invited us to come whenever we wanted."

"Today was the best night since I don't have a show coming up for another few weeks myself," his daughter supplied as she cheerfully rocked from her heels to her toes. "You and Mr. Gavin are welcome to come watch me too!"

"Just please don't make me be your assistant again," Athena groaned from the side.

Ema ushered them through and was about to escort them to Gavin's dressing room when she spotted that familiar brunette leering at them a ways down the hall. This woman was showing up to practically every place Klavier was going and Ema was starting to get concerned that she might actually be a stalker. It certainly wouldn't be the first time a fan got out of hand.

"Make sure she doesn't come through," she told her subordinate, eyeing the lurking lady one last time before she headed back to Mr. Wright's entourage.

Of course, nothing could escape Trucy's watchful eyes. "Prosecutor Gavin sure is popular! We're lucky we can talk to him whenever we want!"

"He's just a normal guy. Maybe a flashier one, but a normal guy nonetheless. It's not like anyone should break down doors and knock out guards just to get to him," Ema sighed as she led them down the hall.

Phoenix chuckled. "As disillusioned with Prosecutor Gavin's charm as ever, aren't you, Ema?"

She felt her cheeks burn. She certainly had no problem with his charms, but she wasn't faring well with the revelation that she could possibly be attracted to him. Why couldn't he have to just stayed an alien in her perspective? No, of course he had to go be an especially responsible prosecutor now that he wasn't being a giant, nerdy rock star every night.

"Well, there's more to life than good looks and fancy words," she answered instead, feeling like that was good enough justification for her snark.

"I like his music too," Athena said a little defensively. "Plus, watching Mr. Gavin in court is like a show in itself. You can't help but root for him."

"Athena, we were up against him in court a few weeks ago when he was trying to jail our client," Phoenix reminded her.

"Yeah, and we won, Boss, which is super great! That doesn't mean I wanted to watch him lose!"

Ema let out a soft laugh. It was true that Klavier did a good job as a prosecutor. Law students and fans flooded into the courthouse whenever it got out that Klavier was prosecuting a case, and then when it got out that the legendary defence attorney Phoenix Wright was the lawyer on the other side, the courthouse got really crazy. That last trial had been such absolute chaos it was a wonder anything had gotten done.

They reached the door of the musician's dressing room and she knocked a couple times before opening the door. "Prosecutor Gavin? I've got some guests."

He had been at the keyboard in the corner of the room, which Ema could only assume meant that he had been in the midst of doing his vocal warm up. He rose immediately, beaming at the group that entered the room. "Ah, Fräulein Cykes and Fräulein Wright! I am glad to see you both!" he greeted them eagerly as both young girls skipped up to him. He turned to face Phoenix and extended a hand with an amicable smile. "Herr Wright, good to see you again."

The older attorney firmly shook the hand offered. "You as well, Prosecutor Gavin."

As the two dropped the formalities, Ema couldn't help but crack a small smile. Mr. Wright and Klavier hadn't crossed paths too often since the former's disbarment, but it was nice to see there were no hard feelings between the two. Mr. Wright didn't seem to hold any resentment toward Klavier for the role he'd played in essentially ruining his reputation and getting him disbarred and Klavier didn't seem to begrudge Mr. Wright for trying to prove his brother was a criminal for seven years.

Trucy was animatedly talking about her magic show while Klavier listened intently with Athena occasionally chirping, "I helped!" Mr. Wright stood next to Ema a few feet back, looking fondly at his daughter.

"You know, I'm glad you and Prosecutor Gavin can get along even after everything that's happened," she commented as they watched the other three start snapping pictures together on Trucy's phone.

"Haha, come on, Ema. Give me a little credit! I'm closer to 40 now than I am to 30, and Prosecutor Gavin was hardly a legal adult at the time of that trial. Honestly, I shouldn't have let my guard down just because he was a rookie," Phoenix replied, leaning back against the wall. He looked cheerful despite the grim topic they were discussing. "It's all in the past. Prosecutor Gavin was just doing his job. He's always been a good person."

She grinned cheekily at the attorney. "Why, Mr. Wright, did you become a fan?"

"Ema, his first single was two minutes and fifteen seconds. It was a total rip-off."

"Touché."

"On the other hand, you seem to be getting along better with Prosecutor Gavin. I didn't expect to see you here," he remarked in observation.

"I didn't expect to see myself here," Ema agreed, "but I guess we've gained some respect for each other over the past couple of years."

"Well-deserved on your part. You're a good detective, Ema," Phoenix complimented her and she could feel herself warm at the praise.

"Thanks, Mr. Wright, but you still rip my testimonies apart on the stand all the time, regardless of how good I am," she replied modestly.

It was then that Ema heard Klavier's manager in her ear, telling her that the show was starting in a couple of minutes. Murmuring back a response, she stepped forward to grab the group's attention.

"Sorry to break up the party, guys, but Prosecutor Gavin needs to be on stage soon," she told them, much to the chagrin of the two girls who probably now had more photos of Klavier than they knew what to do with. "I'll walk you guys to your seats. Gavin, Officer Eskhort is going to walk you to the stage."

Klavier thanked her and headed to the vanity to primp, the group relaying their excitement to see him on the stage. Ema opened the door to lead them out, passing Officer Eskhort in the hall.

"It's so nice to see Mr. Gavin outside of the courtroom!" Trucy exclaimed, bouncing down the corridor beside her.

"That's my life story," Ema drawled tiredly. "We have another trial coming up in a couple of days that I really need to work on tomorrow, which means seeing him yet again."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Athena said in comfort, Widget piping up with a "You sound kinda glad!"

"Glad?" she echoed in confusion.

"Widget doesn't know how to shut his mouth," Athena grumbled in irritation. Quickly, she tried to explain herself. "What he means is...you definitely sound grumpy about having to work with Mr. Gavin again, but I can also hear a touch of happiness in your voice as well."

"Well, it's probably doing the science that I'm happy about," Ema replied, nodding. In truth, she was thrown off by the statement. She had seen Athena's use of emotion and psychology in court many times, but it had never been used on her before. Maybe she didn't mind working with Gavin so much anymore, but that didn't mean she was happy about it. She wasn't really sure what to make of the assertion.

"Probably," the young attorney agreed, but didn't seem convinced.

She felt eyes on her and turned to see Phoenix shooting her a knowing glance. Embarrassed, she returned her gaze forward and continued marching back to the entrance of the theater hall. She couldn't fathom exactly what he "knew" or what Athena was picking up on, but she had the distinct impression that she didn't want to know.

"By the way, Ema," Trucy started just before they entered the theater, "did you manage to get that guy on your forensics team to stop bothering you yet?"

She cracked a weary grin. "Not quite. It's going to take something monumental to stop that guy. I'm almost tempted to go along with that plan you mentioned a while back."

"I've got some new ideas now, too! Let me know if you want to set him on fire!"

"Trucy, what did I say about combustion tricks?" Phoenix asked as he rubbed him temples. Clearly, his daughter's shenanigans were a common occurrence.

"Oh daddy, you don't have to worry! I'm a professional!"

They exchanged their goodbyes and parted ways, Ema heading backstage again to wait out the show. She couldn't help but entertain the thought of what would happen if she really did let Trucy set Dayton on fire—of course, not for real, but it would appear real enough. She knew it would probably do nothing to address their situation, but it definitely gave her something to laugh about.

It was already close to midnight when she entered Klavier's dressing room. She had spent some time with the Wright Anything Agency employees before they caught a taxi home. Seeing them under better circumstances had been nice considering she usually saw them only when working cases. Apollo, she often only saw when working with Prosecutor Sahdmadhi in Khura'in, and neither of them ever had any downtime to catch up. The last time she'd seen him was the time she'd been ranting to him and Trucy about Dayton, and since she hadn't been back to Khura'in for a while, she hadn't found time to speak to Apollo at all.

When she walked into the dressing room, Klavier was reading his phone intently. Ema saw his odd need to be around until his employees were done clean up rather pointless, especially when he just stayed in his room while everyone else was working away. Of course, when she got closer, she found that he was reading over the case files for their upcoming trial. She should've known—the guy was always doing some form of work, even if he didn't consider it as such.

"I liked your set list today," Ema told him as she snuck up beside him, leaning against the back of the sofa, "and by 'like,' I mean it didn't make me want to drown myself in styrene."

Without looking at her, Klavier clicked the button to put his phone to sleep and she could see him smirking. "Each time you offer me such words, my heart warms a little more, Miss Skye."

"The feeling isn't even a little bit mutual," she retorted dryly, but her words lacked the animosity that they used to have. The banter just seemed to be a part of their dynamic now and it worked. Well, besides the fact that he still had a way of getting under her skin and getting in the last word.

"Argin says the crew is just about done, so you're good to go," she told him, and Klavier got to his feet.

"Then I suppose it's time to call it a night. We have an early morning to prep for the case, ja?" he said, way too chipper about having to work in the morning than anyone should be.

"Unfortunately," she sighed, crossing her arms just before her stomach growled. Loudly.

Klavier blinked at her for a moment, then his face broke into a grin, unable to hold back his amusement. Ema's cheeks went red in turn. Of course she had to embarrass herself in front of him. It just gave him more material to tease her with. If only she hadn't eaten all her Snackoos during the first half of the show... She never thought she'd say it, but she was extremely disappointed that there wasn't any music blaring through the speakers to cover up the sound of her stomach.

"Shut it, Gavin," Ema hissed, glaring at the stupidly entertained expression he was wearing on his face.

"I didn't say anything, fräulein," he replied, still looking awfully amused by what had occurred earlier. He threw on his sport coat and leaned over her—an action that she used to roll her eyes at, but now reminded her that he was an attractive male more than she cared to admit. "However, I am feeling rather famished myself, now that I think about it. Shall we get something to eat?"

Sulking and annoyed by his proximity, she pushed him back with her index finger. She fixed a firm look upon her face, trying to appear taller than she was in order to intimidate her superior. "I am just going to pick up some food on the way home," Ema responded with emphasis.

Klavier took a couple steps back, chuckling. "Miss Skye, I know for a fact that you don't own a car. We can just go to a drive-through and I'll take you home. There's no need to be cute."

"Cute?" she sputtered in outrage.

"The very definition of it!" he confirmed, smiling despite the wrath-filled woman in front of him. "Come on, just accept the food and ride home. It is not worth arguing over, ja?"

A moment of silence passed between the as she considered her options, ultimately deciding that refusing him really would be more trouble than it was worth. By now, Klavier was well aware that her acceptance of his requests did not mean that he was allowed to flirt with her...not that deterred him in any way. The guy just didn't know how to turn off the charm. Ema was immune to it, and yet...

"Why do I always end up agreeing with you?" she groaned in concession, hating the self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"Miss Skye, please remember you are up against an international prosecutor. I am always thorough about my cases before I lay them out," he boasted, guiding her out the door by the small of her back.

Ema rolled her eyes, swatting his hand away, causing him to withdraw it with an innocent grin. Nevertheless, she followed him to his car in the parking lot and dismissed the remainder of the security staff, letting them know she was escorting him off the premises through her radio. Meanwhile, Klavier was firing off ideas of where to go and get food with Ema categorizing them methodically into lists of rejection and possibility.

As they got into Klavier's shiny black BMW, they finally agreed on grabbing some burgers since they were the only places opened at this hour with dedicated drive-throughs. Ema let out a breath of relaxation as she sank into the comfortable leather seats and let the seat warmer send to her paradise.

Klavier was chuckling at her delight as he drove out of the parkade. "If I'd known how taken you were by my car, I'd have offered you rides more often."

"I'll ride in anything that isn't your over-glorified bicycle," she said, snickering and eliciting a laugh from the prosecutor. In the moment, she was having this odd sense of clarity, knowing that she was actually enjoying her time spent next to her boss.

"Hey..." she started quietly, feeling a bit uncertain about what she was saying although she had delivered the same message to her old friend earlier. "You know...it's nice that you and Mr. Wright are on good terms now."

Klavier nodded but didn't turn his attention away from the road. "He is an honest lawyer, something I did not believe when I first started my career. We need more of those in this dark age," he responded, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the steering wheel. "Actually, Miss Skye, I've been meaning to ask you about that opening as Prosecutor Sahdmadhi's head detective."

Ema froze nervously. He knew about that?

"He sent the request around the prosecutor's office in case we knew someone who would be interested if you turned down the job," he explained as if he had read her mind. "It's been a week, fräulein, and the posting is still open."

"That, it is..." Ema muttered, knowing exactly where this conversation was going. "So?"

"So I thought for certain you would accept the job. I don't think you would have stayed in Khura'in for as long as you did if you weren't fond of Herr Sahdmadhi," he stated nonchalantly. She couldn't get a read on him about this job offer at all and that frustrated her. There was this burning urge to know if Klavier would care about whether she stayed or went.

Of course, she wasn't so immature that she was going to hide the truth from him to try and see how he felt about it. "Prosecutor Sahdmadhi and I are good friends, but I've gotten everything I can out of a job that primarily consists of being in Khura'in. They're behind in technology and I had to train a bunch of people there how to analyze evidence scientifically, so I doubt I'd learn anything more there about forensics," she informed him. "And frankly, Khura'in is not my home. The time difference sucks and I barely had time to talk with my sister while I was working there."

She neglected to tell him about Nahyuta Sahdmadhi's terribly longwinded and educational punishments on Khurainism that she had little interest in, but she really didn't want to make the prosecutor sound worse than he actually was. She really had enjoyed working with him when she wasn't helping him build cases against her friends.

"In that case, can I assume that you're staying?" he asked.

Ema hesitated, knowing that if she gave her answer, she would have to flow through in her response to Prosecutor Sahdmadhi. She'd been putting it off, partly because she didn't want to disappoint her friend who truly appreciated her forensic talents and partly because turning it down would mean she was happy enough with where she was to want to stay. Obviously it wasn't all dependent on Klavier, but a lot of her job satisfaction was. Even if she was a forensic investigator now, if she still hated Klavier, she would be way less happy with her current situation. Going to Khura'in would offer her a way out and seem a lot more appealing if that were the case. Still, admitting that she was happy here felt like giving Klavier more power over her.

"Yeah," she said finally, seeing no point in putting off answering further, "I'm staying."

"I'm glad," Klavier told her warmly. "I was worried I might get assigned a new detective again. Working with your replacement was...difficult."

"Difficult? Who'd you have?" she asked curiously.

He let out a tortured sigh. "Herr Tunnel. He does his best, but..."

"He focuses only on one lead all the time," Ema finished for him.

"Ja. It was a good reminder never to undermine your investigation skills again. You are a very good detective, Ema," the prosecutor conceded, shamelessly admitting his past transgressions.

Her chest tightened a bit at the compliment. For some reason, this was affecting her differently than when Phoenix had essentially said the same thing. He was both praising her skill and addressing her personably and sincerely; she wasn't just another nameless face among detectives who could have been assigned to him anymore. For the first time, he really, truly used her name like it wasn't a tool.

"I know," was all she managed to say in return.

He pulled in to the drive-through and ordered some terribly unhealthy meals for the night. As she sipped on her drink, the remainder of the ride home was spent in comfortable silence. Ema's mind was drawn into thinking about her earlier conversation with Phoenix, because he wasn't the only one whose relationship with Klavier Gavin had changed.

They weren't judging each other anymore. They were just having normal conversations and listening to each other, connecting on a human level. She wanted to pull back, not give him the honest answer about how she felt about her job because that would be putting her happiness in his hands, but she found herself trusting him, just as he had trusted her to be the head of his security. It was a vast change from a year ago when they would exchange cutting remarks about each other regardless of where they were. Now, this almost felt like a friendship. They were constantly spending time together (even if it was for work), bantering with no real malice, and now she was getting a ride home from him.

She thought she would die before she ever thought that hanging out with Klavier Gavin was alright, but here she was thinking it.

He pulled the call over in front of her apartment building and she exited the vehicle with her bag of goodies in hand. It had been a long day and the introvert in her craved the solidarity of her empty room, topped off with a classic burger and soda to finish off the late night.

"Thanks for the food and the ride," Ema said as she readjusted the bags in her grasp to close the door.

"Good night, Miss Skye. I'll see you tomorrow," he replied with a smile.

"Yeah," she agreed, noting the lack of dread she was feeling about the upcoming work day. She shut the door and waved before he drove off.

Maybe Athena was onto something after all.