Work Text:
Maya has been kidnapped. Maya has been kidnapped. Maya has been kidnapped.
Those words are all that runs through Phoenix’s head as he stands in court, leaning against the bench to stop himself falling over. He isn’t sure if he might faint or vomit or burst into tears the moment he lets his guard down, so he keeps staring down at the case files before him.
What is he going to do? It’s been two whole days since he last saw Maya, and the thought of her locked away somewhere, starving and scared and crying makes him want to scream. Why did this have to happen? Maya is his assistant, his friend, a young woman he cares about even more than his own family, and the thought of losing her… he’d rather die than lose Maya.
But the worst thing is he can’t win no matter what he does. If he gets a guilty verdict, Maya will die. But if he gets a non guilty verdict… an innocent woman will take the fall and a guilty man will get away.
Because… he knows the awful truth. Matt Engarde is guilty of hiring a hit man to get the victim murdered, meaning he is guilty of murder. Now, defending guilty people is part of a lawyer’s job, but trying to get them acquitted when they clearly did it (like, actually admitted it to Phoenix whilst giving him a creepy smile) is not part of the job. If he gets this man a not guilty verdict, poor Adrian Andrews will get sent to prison and Engarde will walk free. But if he gets this evil man the guilty verdict he deserved, the hit man will… kill Maya.
God, he wants to be sick. What should he do? What does justice even mean? What does being a lawyer mean?
This hurts so much. Why did this have to happen?
---
Maya is there, right in front of him. And she is alive and smiling and even though she looks tired he knows she is okay.
“Nick, you did it,” she says.
“No, you did it too,” Phoenix says. “If you hadn’t left that clue, we’d never have got de Killer to abandon Engarde. You did just as much as me and Prosecutor von Karma and everyone else. Mays, thank you.”
But as he stands there and stares at his friend, the relief hits him so hard he nearly falls over.
“Maya… I really thought I was going to lose you,” he says, and his voice cracks.
“Nick…”
And even though he hasn’t cried since Mia’s death despite all the other awful stuff that has happened to him, his eyes fill with tears. Phoenix swallows, trying to rid his throat of the sudden lump making it ache, but his eyes keep stinging and…
“Maya, I—”
His breathing hitches and the tears spill over.
“Oh, Nick, don’t cry,” Maya says, stepping closer. “It’s okay now. Everything’s okay.”
“It’s just, the relief, you know,” Phoenix says, voice wobbling. “I was so stressed, and now… I’m not even sad, just so relieved.”
“It’s okay to let it all out. I cry all the time when I’m happy, you know. But can I hug you?”
Phoenix sniffs, nodding. “Sure.”
And Maya hugs him and he wraps his arms around her, and even as tears run down his face, Phoenix smiles. He did it. Maya is safe.