[RL] In honor of the earthquakes we had over the past 24 hours...

[samuraiprosecutor]

Who: Phoenix, Edgeworth
What: Earthquaaaaaaaaake!
Where: Los Angeles, CA - The courthouse
When: DDD-verse, pre-relationship.
Warnings: None as far as we know!



Edgeworth lingered in the restroom during the recess, wasting what was for him an unusual amount of time on simple actions like washing his hands and rinsing his face with ice cold water. Unlike some people, he didn't find anything calming in the routine activities. If anything they only bought him a few extra minutes to perform the mental wrangling that was required to rein in his thoughts.

He didn't hate Wright anymore, but by god, there were days when he could remember all too well how it felt. Standing across from him in court was a singular experience. Some days it brought the most exhilarating feeling he'd ever known.

Other days, like this one, he ended up desperate for a way to bring Wright's endless arguments to a screeching halt at almost any cost. There would never be another opponent capable of burrowing under his skin with such vicious and completely unconscious efficiency.

Comments

[attorneyatlol]

The feeling was entirely mutual.

With a sigh, Phoenix gave his client a weary smile and politely excused himself. Although things had been looking up for them, strange twists of fate had taught him time and again not to count his chickens before they'd hatched, so this current turnaround shouldn't have been wholly surprising.

Except for the part where it was.

Phoenix rubbed his temples in a vain attempt to alleviate his headache. His throat was dry from shouting, his hands aching from repeatedly slamming the desk, his whole body exhausted from waging war in the courtroom. This was one of the most trying cases he'd had in a while, and Edgeworth was in true form, beating down his objections at every turn. They were so close to uncovering what seemed like the truth before, he could taste it, and then his client had to open his mouth, had to say that one, little thing that only the murderer could have known...

And then all hell had broken loose. He and Edgeworth were on the front lines, on opposite sides of a bloody battle, and there was more yet to come.

Phoenix still believed in his client. In fact, there was no doubt in his mind that he was innocent. There had to be a reason he knew what he knew, but questioning him in the lobby hadn't gotten Phoenix anywhere but Psyche Lock City. Without that information, Phoenix knew more than anyone that, if he was going to prove his client's innocence to the judge, he was going to have to prove it to Edgeworth first, and so far, all of his efforts were proving futile.

With another sigh, he walked into the men's restroom. He didn't notice Edgeworth standing at the sink until he was halfway in, when he caught a glimpse of the prosecutor's weary face in the mirror.

He paused then, staggering for a moment as he thought about whether walking out now would be too foolish, and looked from the mirror to the door and back.

[samuraiprosecutor]

As was often the case, his hesitation cost him dearly. Before he could make up his mind to act, Edgeworth shook his hands off in the sink and turned towards the door. He locked eyes with Wright, immediately fixing him with a cold glare. First the man ran him ragged in court, now he had the audacity to interrupt what may be his only opportunity to tend to his wounds before jumping back into the fray?

Back stiff, Edgeworth stalked past Wright to snatch a couple of paper towels from the dispenser.

[attorneyatlol]

If Phoenix had the opportunity, he would have gladly chosen a different restroom. Why the courthouse supplied separate lobbies for the defense and prosecution yet insisted on a communal bathroom was beyond him. Didn't they know uncomfortable encounters like this were bound to happen? Geez...

He saw the glare aimed at him when his gaze landed on Edgeworth again, and he allowed pettiness to get the best of him by putting all his frustration into returning the look. Going so far as to afford the man an unnecessarily wide berth as he passed, he promptly headed to the first stall without a word.

[samuraiprosecutor]

The glare Edgeworth got in return was an unexpected boon. If Wright's response had been typically sheepish or apologetic, it may have dredged up feelings of guilt to mar Edgeworth's satisfying sour mood. This way he was free to wipe his hands with a blatant edge of aggression and silently curse his friend's name without remorse.

As Wright passed and kept walking, Edgeworth cast a weary look at his back. He hesitated for a moment then, "Do you ever stop to ask yourself, 'Do I believe in them or do I want to believe in them?'"

[attorneyatlol]

By the time Phoenix got to the stall, he'd paused with an inward sigh. Maybe if he just talked to Edgeworth, they could put their heads together and come to some sort of conclusion without resorting to shouting matches again. Maybe they could return to the courtroom with cool, clear heads and solve this by working together, like they'd done the last few times, the way that always worked out best.

The way they both probably really wanted to solve it, even in this case.

He was about to turn and suggest as much, before Edgeworth's words effectively stopped his train of thought.

Brow furrowed, Phoenix turned to him with a questioning look instead. "What...?"

[samuraiprosecutor]

"Your clients, Wright. You fight for them when they refuse to fight for themselves. You fight for them when they fight you. You fight for them in spite of overwhelming evidence that they might not be worthy of your trust." His voice picked up volume as he went along, though it never reached an aggressive level. On the contrary, there was confusion and perhaps a bit of concern hidden in his tone.


For a moment, it seemed as if he might go on, but in the end he stopped himself. Shaking his head, he asked, "I'm curious to know where those endless reserves of trust come from."

[attorneyatlol]

Phoenix willed himself to relax, having braced himself for an argument. Not that he was thrilled to be having this discussion at the moment, but he was at least relieved that Edgeworth's accusatory tone had subsided.

He turned on his heel to face him, sighing. "Trusting them is all I can do, sometimes," he replied, echoing the words Mia had drilled into him. He cast his gaze to the floor. "How can we give them a fair trial if I don't? Even with the evidence stacked against them, if there's even the shadow of a doubt..." He trailed off and shook his head, leaning some of his weight onto the stall as he lifted his gaze again. "Besides, can you really ask me that without asking yourself the same thing?"

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth's jaw clenched. Even as he asked the question he half expected that answer. Turning weapons back on the people who wielded them was one of Wright's specialties. After a pause, he shook his head and sighed softly.

"You truly believe your client is innocent?"

[attorneyatlol]

"Yes," was the emphatic reply. Perhaps a little too emphatic, Phoenix realized as soon as it left his mouth. He lifted his hands in an effort to smooth it over, before Edgeworth could respond. "I mean... Look, don't get me wrong. What happened in there was a major curveball. I don't think anybody expected it," least of all me, he silently added, "but we can't overlook the fact that virtually every other piece of evidence points towards that witness. I just..." He shook his head, frustrated, tired. "There's a reason he's not telling me why he knows what he knows. I just haven't been able to get it out of him, yet."

[samuraiprosecutor]

Wright's obvious frustration tugged at his chest. They were on opposite ends of this fight, but it was taking a similar toll on them both. In closer quarters that was all too obvious.

"There are only so many reasons a man might trap himself in such a position," he offered. "Is he protecting someone else? Is he guilty of this or some other offense? If he won't hand you the right one, you'll just have to do the work yourself. Consider what every possibility might tell you."

[attorneyatlol]

"I'm trying," Phoenix assured him. "But there isn't enough time to gather evidence. I don't even know if there's enough time to hash this out in court."

Had he mentioned he hated the three day trial limit? Because he hated the three day trial limit.

[samuraiprosecutor]

"You'll make time," Edgeworth said. Then after a moment, "We'll make time. I won't allow a trial to conclude with anything short of the unequivocal truth."

[attorneyatlol]

That was what Phoenix wanted to hear. At once, he could feel some of the tension leaving his neck and shoulders, and his expression reflected the change. The look he gave Edgeworth was much less haggard and much more focused now.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If only we had some sort of diversion..."

[samuraiprosecutor]

That look put to rest any lingering doubts Edgeworth might have had about aiding his opponent. Instead of wasted anger and unnecessary struggling he now saw justice gleaming on the horizon. He was still worn and it showed, but his newly revived spirit was reflected in his eyes.

"Do you have something in mind?" he started to ask.

And that was when Mother Nature helpfully provided the very diversion they were looking for.

[attorneyatlol]

"Well, not exactly, but I... er..." Phoenix trailed off when he felt the room begin to sway. At first, he thought it was his imagination (maybe he was more exhausted than he thought), but a quick survey of the stall doors swinging lightly back and forth disproved that theory. He knew then that it was an earthquake.

His gaze immediately snapped back to Edgeworth, eyes wide, just as the full force of the quake hit and shook the restroom from the ground up.

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth barely rode out the first, tentative tremors long enough to catch a glimpse of Wright's eyes, wide with alarm and concern. He knew what was coming. They both did.

Shame was the last coherent thing to pass through Edgeworth's mind before the world turned upside down and the terror dropped him like a crumbling building. He hit the cold, hard floor with a painful thud and instinctively curled up in a fetal position. Between his own uncontrollable shivering and the earthquake, he felt as if he was being shaken to pieces.

[attorneyatlol]

"Edgeworth!" Phoenix dropped to the ground next to him, grabbing onto the sink for balance. Although he anticipated this sort of reaction--and, in fact, had been witness to it on at least two occasions--it never ceased to alarm him.

Unsure of what to do, he fisted his free hand into Edgeworth's jacket, if only to let the other man know he was there. The room continued to shake for at least twenty seconds, the stall doors to slamming shut repeatedly.

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth didn't feel the touch. Everything in him was focused on his own black panic, the quivering in his organs, the way the world would not stop moving. But still he sensed the touch was there, providing an anchor. He tried to reach for it, but only his mind started to make the move. Every muscle in his hands was taut and unyielding. His entire body twitched and jerked with each thunderous slam of the stall doors.

When the quake finally began to subside, he was still struggling to make himself reach for that anchor, but the only external evidence of his frustration and fear was his tightly shut eyes and soft whimpering.