An Average Day At Work

"See you for our get together tonight, then?" Miles questioned. "It should be a good match."

"Yes, Miles," Phoenix smiled at him before leaving, dragging Apollo with him before he could say anything else to annoy Edgeworth.

"How do you expect to get anything else out of Ms. Fey if we dont have any new evidence? We'll still need something to prove that we know that she was there, and for what reason. We can't prove it just by saying that Mr. Edgeworth told us!"

"I got a plan," Phoenix said cheerfully. "It should work, it's worked before when I didn't know what I was doing...C'mon! He ran towards the Fey and Co. Law Office."

"E-eh." He sighed. "Goodbye Mr. Edgeworth, I'll give you a call when the Steel Samurai bed sheets come in, they're taking a while." He hurried off, following Phoenix back towards the office.

Mia was still waiting at the office, eating popcorn and now watching romantic comedies. She didn't notice Phoenix and Apollo enter, as wrapped up as she was in it.

Phoenix entered the office, and watched Mia for a short while. "Hey, Chief?" he asked tentatively. "Will you tell me what you and Edgeworth have been doing?" He then presented his attorney's badge. "MIA, THIS BADGE MEANS YOU ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH. OR ELSE IT'LL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU."

He looks down in awe at the badge of his own. THAT'S what this thing does? I thought it was to rub into peoples faces when you ran out of other evidence...Man, I could have used that knowledge earlier on in my life.

Mia sighed. "Phoenix, I haven't lied. I can't tell you anything. I literally cannot tell you. Don't push it."

"But...I wanna know..." Phoenix looked sad. "It's like you guys are hiding something from me..."

"Either that. Or it concerns us. And you were told by a higher authority then us, not to tell us. You can't tell us because it involves us, doesn't it." He asked, getting a rather serious tone, as he was curious about it more then ever now.

"Not you, Polly," Mia smirked. "Him!" She pointed at Phoenix. "That's all I will say on this matter. Good evening, gentlemen." That said, she got up and turned to leave for her apartment.

Phoenix sighed, and began to walk towards his place, his head swimming. 'Either it's an awesome surprise, or they're really good actors, and they are having an affair,' he thought sadly as he trudged along.

"It's...something about Mr. Wright? Is he in trouble? Is his birthday coming up soon?" Apollo stared deep in though with his finger pressed against his forehead, trying to figure out what they would be keeping about Mr. Wright.

Phoenix headed into his apartment, his mind reeling. He wasn't sure what to do. He sank onto his couch, staring off into space. Was Mia trying to steal Edgeworth away from him? He doubted that, but he couldn't think of any other reason why they'd spend so much time together.

He waited at the door of Phoenix's apartment, not wanting to invite himself in. "Well, I guess this concludes investigation for today, don't forget we still have to talk to Mr. DeLite again tomorrow, then do some research on that. So you get some sleep, and I'm going to go check on Trucy, then get some sleep of my own. If I can get her to move the levitating spaghetti off the couch." He yawned and closed the door before heading for home himself.

Phoenix nodded, not really listening to Apollo. He absentmindedly turned off his cell phone, not wanting to talk to anyone. He sighed, and curled up on his couch, trying not to cry. 'Phoenix, a lawyer never cries until it's all over,' he could hear Mia saying in his head.

It was about 10:30 and Miles was sitting in his grand living room, a pizza cooling in the kitchen and a bottle of cheap wine sat unopened on the table in front of him. The rugby match was almost over and he was getting worried. 'Phoenix hasn't missed a rugby date since he got food poisoning... Something doesn't seem right.'

He picked up his cell phone and called his boyfriend. Voicemail. Since Phoenix normally had his phone on, Miles knew something was wrong. He turned off the television, grabbed his keys and started to drive to the apartment.

Phoenix had moved to his bedroom, curled up in his closet, still trying not to cry. A thousand scenarios were running through his head, each more terrible than the last. He had convinced himself that Edgeworth was just toying with him, and Mia was laughing at how he believed her blatant lies, and soon he couldn't help it, the tears began to roll silently down his cheeks as he relived the horror of dating Dahlia.

Miles got to Phoenix's apartment complex and made his way to the door. 'His bike is here... Please let him be sick, in the name of all that is holy, please let him be sick...!' His thoughts were made known by his expression, one of worry. It looked very foreign on his normally stoic face.

He arrived at the apartment door and immediately started knocking. "Phoenix? Are you alright in there?"

Phoenix was so far back in his closet that he couldn't hear anything, and he was so mentally worn out that he didn't want to get up. He continued to think back on all his failed relationships, and then wondering when Edgeworth and Mia were going to break the news to him. He imagined what it would be like, watching his boss steal his boyfriend away from him, and cried more, burying his face in his knees.

"Phoenix?!" Miles was now banging on the door. "Phoenix, I know you're there! I saw your bike on the way up!" Still no answer.

'Ok... calm down, Miles... There has to be a reason he's not answering... asleep? No... Ignoring me? Possibly... Dead?' The next thing he knew he had broken down Phoenix's door. 'I'll pay for that later...'

Phoenix heard his door break, but it didn't quite register with him. He bit his lip hard, still thinking about that one relationship with a charming young lady, so many years ago. He admitted it, he sucked at judging character, but this...It felt like history was repeating itself.

"Phoenix!" Miles was now searching around Phoenix's apartment, trying to locate the younger man. The last room he checked was the bedroom, which was pitch dark. "Phoenix? Are you in here?!"

Phoenix dimly heard Edgeworth's voice through his own thoughts, but recoiled further into his closet. He could hear Dahlia's voice ringing in his ears, 'Honestly, how could any woman ever depend on you for anything?' He bit his lip harder, trying not to sob as he imagined Edgeworth saying the same thing.