Work Text:
Apollo Justice was not a workaholic.
Yes, he had a heavy workload. Yes, he hadn’t had a break in a while. That was just because it had been a busy few months, not because he had a problem. The cases had just kept flooding in, one after another. Important cases too, not ones he could even think about turning down.
It started at the beginning of January, with a high profile case that made nation news. A foreign emissary had come to him, saying that her lover was charged with murder. Not a case he could refuse. Then after that, as soon as he’d put his feet up, he got a call from the police department that a childrens’ mermaid performer was being charged with drowning her coworker, and she’d asked him to represent her. Then, after he’d laid down on the couch to take a nap after the trial, a man had burst into the office, claiming that the police were after him for theft and assault, but the real culprit was his pet orangutan. That wasn’t to mention the case of the living statue gone wild and the client who found a lump of TNT roasting in their oven.
But that was it! No more cases for a week, at least. Maybe even two. He was going to relax. Catch up on the TV shows he missed. Make a hot cup of coffee and rest outside in the breezy spring air.
When he got back to the office after proving, indeed, the orangutan had done it, there was a letter on his desk. It was from the police officer at the precinct in charge of assigning lawyers to the accused. A new case. He sighed, and slipped it off the table.
Before it was snatched from his hands at a speed that took him a moment to grasp what even happened.
Apollo spun around, to be greeted by Trucy, gripping the letter tight, her fingers wrinkling the paper.
“Trucy…” Apollo sighed. “I’m not in the mood for a magic trick. I need that.”
“Nope!” Trucy said jovially, crushing the letter to her chest. “No more cases for you, Polly.”
Apollo weakly grabbed for it. Trucy easily spun away, vaulting over the top of the couch to put it between them. Just watching the movement made his head spin. He put his hand on the arm of the couch, less to get closer to Trucy and more to keep himself from falling over.
“Trucy, I mean it. Give it back.”
Trucy waved the letter high in the air. “No! You’ve been exhausted for weeks. Case after case with you, and you’ve worked them all on your own. You need a break. And frankly, I’m tired of hearing you always moaning about how sore you are and falling asleep during my shows.” She popped a hand on her hip, and wagged her finger at him. “No more cases. Not until you’ve had a break at least.”
Apollo flopped down onto the couch. “Who’s going to take the case then, huh?”
“Daddy can do it.”
“He’s working on that smuggling ring case.”
“Athena, then.”
“On that case about that actor and the seal.”
Trucy thought for a moment. “Well, they could just assign someone else to the client.”
“But what if they’re terrible! I’d be letting that person down! I have to take it.”
“If you take it, you’ll be so exhausted and worn out that you won’t be able to do a good job! What if your client got sent to jail because you refused to take a break?”
Apollo recoiled at the thought. “That won’t happen.”
Trucy plopped down next to him on the couch, setting a gentle hand on his arm. “You’re a great attorney, Apollo. But you can’t do anyone any good when you’re this exhausted. You need to let someone else take the case.”
Apollo thunked his head into his hands. “Who, then?”
“Me.” The letter was quickly snatched yet again by Phoenix, appearing silently from behind the couch and stealing the letter from Trucy’s lap.
“Hi Daddy,” Trucy said, leaning her head back so Phoenix could plant a kiss on her forehead.
“You’re back early,” Apollo noted, watching Phoenix stride behind his desk.
Phoenix sat down and popped the seal on the letter, perusing it quickly. “Case got solved quicker than I expected,” he said absentmindedly, eyes never lifting from the page. “One of the members from the ring ratted all the other members out in return for a lower sentence. It all wrapped up nicely, actually. It's refreshing to have a simple case for a change.” He raised his eyes finally, looking at Apollo. “Which means, I can take this one. And you can get started on that break.”
“But–”
“Nope. I’m with Trucy on this one. Go home, kid. Take a nap or read a book or something. Whatever kids your age do these days.”
“I’m only ten years younger than you.”
Phoenix waved his hand to usher him out. “My point. Go do something a normal 20 something year old would do. Get drunk and pass out in a gutter or find some random bear to make out with. Just don’t do it here.”
“Mr. Wright, I’m perfectly capable of taking on the case–”
“Apollo. Get out of here. Get some rest. That’s an order from your boss.”
Apollo sighed, leaving the office door slightly ajar as he left. Just in case they called him back. Just in case they needed him after all.
The call never came. Apollo shrugged on his coat, and went home.
-
He couldn’t sleep.
He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, turning the day over in his mind. He’d never even gotten to look at that new case. What if it was really important? What if they had needed him specifically on the case, and now he was here, trying and failing to sleep, instead of helping?
He should be there, on the case. A life was on the line. What if someone got sent to prison because he’d been sleeping of all things?
No. He couldn’t let that happen. Not when there was something he could do about it.
He squinted at the clock on the bedside table. 1:30 in the morning. That would give him plenty of time before Trucy and Mr. Wright arrived at the office.
Swinging himself out of bed, Apollo slipped on his shoes and coat, grabbed his bike and left without sleeping a wink.
-
Apollo woke up asleep at his desk, head pillowed on crushed papers and various manilla folders. The letter from the police department was crumpled in his left hand, scribbled over with wild strokes of pen, notes that added up to nonsense. He must have taken it from Phoenix’s desk at some point in the night.
Last night. Right.
He’d gone back to the office to study up on the case. So he could help. So he could be useful. But now, sun beating on the back of his neck from the open windows, well into the morning, he found he couldn’t remember a single thing he’d learned last night.
He picked his head up with a groan, blinking into the sunlit room, only to be met with Trucy’s head two inches from his face.
“Gah!” His chair sped back behind the desk as he jumped a foot in the air. “Trucy! What the hell!”
“Apollo unknown-middle-name Justice!” she screeched. “What are you doing? And why does it look like working? Something I remember you being told not to do!”
Apollo put his head in his hands. His temples were beginning to throb with a burgeoning headache. “I don’t know anymore.”
“How long have you been here?”
He squinted at the table clock, the numbers hazy and melting together in his vision. His brain tried to come up with the mental capabilities to do math. “Uh…it’s ten now, and I got here around two…”
“Two?! Polly, what were you thinking!”
Trucy’s face melded from a look of shock and anger to one more of concern. Even pity. It made Apollo’s heart sink in his chest.
Apollo leaned back in the chair and ran a hand over his face. “I just…wanted to help.”
Trucy hopped up and sat on the edge of the desk, nudging his knee with her foot. He looked at her from under his fingers. She had that smile again. That hopeful one. That smile that made you want to spill all your secrets, knowing she’d give you a hug and a pep talk no matter what you said. That smile that was impossible to say no to. Apollo hated that smile. Hated that it worked.
Trucy wiggled her foot on the top of his knee, leaning in closer so that smile was impossible to ignore. “Apollo. What is this all about?”
“I’m good at this,” he started, bouncing his leg. Trucy’s foot bounced along with it. “I know I am. Defending, investigating, interviewing, all of it. It’s one of the few things I’ve been good at in my whole life.” He paused, running a hand through his hair. “It’s not just the feeling of accomplishment. I like helping people. I like knowing that I’m good enough at something to truly help people in need.” He looked up at Trucy, throat suddenly going tight. “But what happens when I’m not there to help them? Who’s going to save them when I’m gone? What kind of attorney am I if I don’t use the gifts I have to help people every chance I get?”
He expected Trucy to admonish him and tsk. To pull him into a hug, maybe. Anything but burst out laughing.
Apollo’s face reddened. He crossed his arms. “Why is that so funny?”
“Because you’re being silly!” Trucy said through giggles. “Can you hear yourself? I think your lack of sleep is stopping you from realizing how crazy you sound.”
“What?”
Trucy scooted closer on the desk, grabbing him by the shoulders. She tried to tamp down the giggles, but a grin still cracked through her face.
“Polly. You may be named after a god, but you’re not one. You need to eat. You need sleep.” She grabbed his shoulders tighter and lightly shook him back and forth. “How about saving yourself once in a while?”
Apollo sighed. For the first time in weeks, he truly realized just how tired he was. How much his body ached for sleep. The way his eyes kept slipping closed of their own accord.
“Maybe you’re right,” he admitted.
“Of course I’m right,” Trucy said, hopping off the desk. “I’m always right. Now it’s time for…” she beat a drumroll on the back of the desk. “An office nap!”
“What?” Apollo said sluggishly, half allowing Trucy to pull him towards the couch. “But what about Mr. Wright? The case?”
“He’s off helping Uncle Miles with something.” Trucy plopped down on one end of the couch, pushing him to lay down on the other end. “He’ll be back in a few hours. Then maybe you could help out a bit. When you’ve actually slept. ”
Apollo huffed, puffing the pillow beneath his head and resting his feet on Trucy’s lap. She was still sitting up, scrolling through her phone and toying with a deck of cards she’d pulled from who knows where in her other hand.
“Aren’t you going to sleep too?” Apollo mumbled, already drifting off.
“I just woke up a few hours ago, dummy. And I got my full eight hours, unlike someone.” She pulled up a video on her phone. When he squinted, he could just about read the title: 10 New Card Tricks to Amaze Your Friends. “This way, I can practice for my show, and make sure you’re not doing something you’re not supposed to. Like working.”
Apollo barely heard her. His body sunk into the ratty couch, his head feeling as light as a feather. He drifted away to the tinny voice of the magician on Trucy’s video and the flutter of cards, and the feeling of being safe, cared for, and relaxed.
Distantly, he felt a hand smooth down his hair, and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. A palm that lingered for a moment on his shoulder, and the image of a fond, yet smug smile, before the touch was gone, and so was he, awash on a sea of comfort and deep, deep sleep.