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Sometimes, Gregory wonders if it's a mistake to take Miles with him to court; if it makes him a bad father, perhaps. Miles is such a serious child, too serious, sometimes, and he takes him to watch his trials – a murder trial, for instance, like today, like for the last year.
But then again, it's near impossible to say no to Miles' big, pleading eyes, and when he feels Miles' hand in his like he does now, when he hears him chattering away like he does now, he regrets nothing. After all, it's Miles' wish, again and again, he loves seeing him in court.
“Dad, Dad? Will you win today?”
“I don't know, Miles. But I'll sure try.” It's about time. This has been going on for far too long. He looks down at him and smiles, and Miles returns the gesture, big and innocent, and it makes his heart grow. When Miles looks at him like that, he feels like he can achieve anything.
“I'm sure you'll do well! And, Dad, do you want to know what Phoenix and I have been talking about?”
They enter the courthouse and wait for the elevator. “Sure, tell me all about it!”
“Well, you know how I said that I will work at Edgeworth Law Offices too? The plans have changed!”
At that, Gregory lifts an eyebrow. “Have they.”
“Mhmm!” Miles pulls him into the cabin as soon as the doors slide apart. “Because Phoenix and I will open up our own law firm! He said he'll be a defense attorney too. This way, we can be together forever!”
Gregory tries to hide his grin, but he doesn't exactly succeed, he nods and tells him that yes, this is an awesome idea, and God, he is so happy about the fact that Miles has found some friends now. Sure, Larry can be strange at times, but Phoenix is a nice kid. They are good for each other. Gregory has never seen Miles as excited as he is with Phoenix, and it's beautiful, really.
They arrive on their floor, and Gregory cards his fingers through Miles' hair. “I'm meeting my client now to talk some things through one last time. Be a good boy and take a seat in the gallery already, okay?”
“Yes, Dad!”
“And when the trial is done, we'll have take-out.”
Miles beams at that, and he half smiles, half grins back. He kisses him on the forehead, and then they part.
~
“I'm afraid the defense's argument stands. I will have to penalize you, Prosecutor von Karma.”
“This- This is preposterous! You have no right to-”
“I have every right to penalize someone when I see it fit! Now!” A slam of the gavel. “We'll take a twenty minute recess. After that, we'll continue the trial. Prosecutor von Karma, please see me in my chambers.”
Another slam of the gavel, and the courtroom empties. Gregory takes some seconds to pick up his notes, and as he looks up, Manfred is still standing there, arms crossed, glaring at him.
~
“This court hereby declares the defendant guilty on all charges. Court is adjourned.”
Gregory knew it. He could feel it, this trial wasn’t going good, and he was up against the God of Prosecution, after all, and he knew it, but still his stomach clenches painfully.
Shit.
He feels Manfred’s eyes on him, but when he looks up, he isn’t met with his usual pleased expression, the man is still glaring at him, has been glaring at him for the last two hours, and Gregory slowly but surely starts to fear that he might have done something terrible by inflicting this penalty on him, Manfred looks like he’s about ready to kill him.
For God’s sake, it’s just a penalty; he won the trial.
The courtroom empties, his client is being led away in handcuffs, and he tries to meet his eye for one last time, tries to lay all his feelings in that one glance, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.
He leaves the courtroom in a hurry after he's done packing up the mess which are his notes. “Manfred! Manfred, wait a moment, please!”
The prosecutor does stop, he turns his head only to glare at him again. “What do you want, Edgeworth?” He practically spits the words.
Gregory sighs. “Look, Manfred, I'm sorry about the penalty. I know how important your record is to you, but you have to understand that-”
“Dad!” He is interrupted by Miles trapping him in a surprisingly strong hug. He looks down at him and can't help but smile despite his loss upon seeing his son's happy expression. “I want you to know that even if you lost, you are still a hero to me.”
For a moment, Gregory feels like crying, and the weight on his shoulder gets a little lighter. It's always terrible – the feeling of disappointing his clients, the feeling of letting them down, not living up to the trust they laid upon him – but right now, with Miles hugging him like that, it's easier to bear. “Thank you so much, Miles. But, wait a moment, please. I'm talking to...” But when he looks up, Manfred is already gone. He's not surprised. He sighs and shakes his head. “Never mind”, he says and ruffles Miles' hair.
“Hey! Don't do that!” He pouts and tries to bring it back in order, and once again Gregory can't help but smile while making his way to the elevator.
One of the bailiffs – Yanni – is already waiting there. They exchange a smile.
“Good job in there”, he says. “This may be the closest someone has ever come to beating von Karma.”
“Yes, well.” He shakes his head and sighs. “Close is not enough for me, unfortunately.”
A little laugh. “It sure was enough for his ego, judging by the way he stared at you.”
Gregory smiles, but doesn't answer.
They enter the cage as soon as the elevator doors open, and Yanni talks about how he made a reservation at an expensive restaurant to surprise his wife, and Miles chimes in with “I'm getting take-out, Dad promised!” and then there's the much too familiar rumbling and with an abruptness which startles them all, the lights are out. Gregory immediately places both hands on Miles' shoulders and pulls him close, holds him, and Miles grips at his clothes. By the time the shaking ceases, Gregory is calm again. This was one of the bigger earthquakes, but he's survived worse, it's one of those things you simply get used to when you live in Los Angeles.
“Miles, are you okay?”
His son is still clinging to his clothes, and he can feel his hands shaking. Still he can feel the small nod. “Mmm.”
“It's fine. Power outages happen. We will be moving again in no time.” Another nod, but Miles doesn't let go, so he tries again. “Miles, it's going to be alright. I promise, okay? Trust me. We'll be fine.”
“Okay.” His voice is a little weaker then usual, but he slowly unclenches his fists.
“Yanni? Are you alright too?”
“Yeah. … Yeah. I just hope it doesn't take too long. These stupid courthouse elevators are too small for my liking.”
~
The earthquake catches him off guard; he hasn't grown up here, he knows of Los Angeles' proneness to seismic tremors, of course, but he hasn't experienced it all too often until now. So it catches him off guard, and this is the second time today that he is caught off guard, and that's not something that happens to members of his family.
Manfred von Karma slowly lowers his hand from the wall he steadied himself against and makes his way through the dark courthouse, thinking about the trial. That wicked trial which had, of course, ended in a guilty verdict, nothing else would have been acceptable, but-
But that penalty.
His perfect record is stained. Stained by that cursed defense attorney, stained by that cursed Edgeworth.
Edgeworth.
Oh, he will end this man.
This deserves punishment. He won't let him get away with that.
He and his stupid son.
You are still a hero to me.
How utterly ridiculous.
Hours must pass. He wanders the courthouse, and all the lights are still off, and he broods over that trial, and his anger only intensifies with every passing minute. Finally he stops in front of one of the elevators, and he hesitates for a moment because he thinks... He thinks he can hear voices from inside, shouting at each other, maybe, but he's not sure, and in the end he simply pushes the call button.
Nothing happens, and he realizes that this was absurd, of course the doors won't open as long as the power isn't back on, and he almost turns around to take the stairs when-
BANG
-a loud noise interrupts the silence on the hallway and he recognizes the sound immediately, it's the sound of a gun going off and only after that does he realize the intense pain in his shoulder and has he screamed? He's not sure.
Confusion replaces his anger, he stares at the closed elevator doors, he tries to make sense of everything, his shoulder- He turns his head and his suit is stained red and-
Someone shot him.
The anger returns immediately.
A low buzzing sound echoes through the hallway, and then the lights flicker back on and the elevator doors open.
The sight before him is absurd.
Three people lie on the ground of the small cage, all-
Dead? Passed out. They're breathing. The bailiff of today's trial and-
Edgeworth. Edgeworth and his stupid son. And directly in front of his feet...
A gun.
He's holding it. He can't remember picking it up, but he's holding it now while clutching his aching shoulder, and it's not locked, and he's aiming it at Edgeworth's motionless body.
He's going to pay for this penalty. For this stain on my perfect record.
But he's slowly lowering the weapon, his shoulder is protesting against the movement, and in the next moment
You are still a hero
he's aiming again, only that his target now is not Edgeworth, and the sound of another shot breaks through the silence.
His shoulder hurts.
He slowly lowers his arm and searches for something to wipe his fingerprints off before laying the gun down again and walking away. While on his way, he puts on his coat to cover up the red stain on his suit.
~
When Gregory opens his eyes, he's blinded by the bright lights and closes them immediately again.
“Gregory!”
… Ray …
He blinks again, and this time it's not as bad, because Ray is hovering over him, blocking out most of the brightness.
“What... What happened?” His voice sounds weak.
“Gregory … I'm so glad you're awake again. You... You're in the hospital, you...” Ray somehow manages to hug him tightly even though he is lying in … a bed, it's not his own … “You were in the courthouse, in an elevator, and the earthquake caused a power outage.”
Slowly but surely he remembers. He remembers fighting Yanni after the quality of the air inside the elevator got worse and worse … it must have been hours … He remembers holding Miles, comforting him and-
“Miles!”
He sits up abruptly and feels dizzy immediately. “Miles, where's... Is he okay?!”
It's then that he realizes that something about Ray seems off. His eyes are swollen and there are red spots on his face, he looks like he has been crying, crying a lot, and suddenly there's a sinking feeling in his stomach, he feels sick. Some looming knowledge that something is wrong, very, very wrong.
“Ah. I thought I heard voices. Good to see you awake again, Edgeworth.”
Gregory turns his head. Detective Badd has entered the room – it's a hospital room, he realizes now, of course – and next to him is some other officer he doesn't recognize.
Gregory looks at them for a second before turning to Ray again. “Ray. Where is Miles? Where is my son?”
“I-” Ray's eyes fill with tears. “Gregory, he-”
“Shh, kiddo. Leave the room, please. We have to take down his testimony.”
Testimony?
“Where is my son?!” The sick feeling in his stomach intensifies and there … are tears in his eyes although he doesn't know why.
“I'll tell you everything we know, Edgeworth. Calm down, please.” Detective Badd's voice is calm and collected as always, but the look on his face...
Gregory observes helplessly how Ray is being led out of the room by the other detective, he's crying again, sobbing, and God, no, this isn't good, this isn't good at all, this-
Detective Badd's words are a mess in his head; oxygen deprivation, you were really lucky, Edgeworth, power outage, trapped inside for hours, Mr. Yogi is okay so far-
“I don't care about what happened or about my own condition! What about Miles?!” He's shouting, he's yelling at an officer.
They look at each other for a moment, and then Detective Badd sighs and-
“I'm so sorry. Your kid's dead, Edgeworth. Shot.”
and everything after that is nothing but a blur.
~
He's staying at Ray's place. Ray tells him he wants to look after him – “I'm worried about you, Gregory, I'm worried you … might do something stupid ...”
It feels like he himself has died.
~
He can't do it. It's Ray who picks the flowers, it's Ray who picks the gravestone. Ray tries to pick the writing for it, too, but Gregory insists – Miles' name and the date. Nothing else. No words could do any of this justice.
Justice.
What a joke.
~
Phoenix Wright's seat in the school stays empty for two weeks, he's seeing a child psychologist, and his parents are worried, he's aware of that. He tries to be cheery again, he tries to laugh or smile at least, but he can't, it feels like an important piece of him is missing, it feels like the sun has been taken away from him, because that's what Miles was. He wishes he had hugged him a little more often; Miles had always been kind of irritated, as if the thought of hugging someone had never come to his mind, but he had enjoyed it, Phoenix could tell, and now, now he will never hug him again, Miles is gone, and this isn't right, this just isn't right.
He misses him so much, so much, and he had to stop watching the Signal Samurai because the intro music alone had made him cry, nothing is the same without Miles, everything is worse, everything feels … wrong, just wrong.
He's standing a little apart at the funeral, away from his parents because he can't take this, he can't take the proximity to others, not now, not when Miles is dead, he just wants to be left alone. He listens to the eulogy but doesn't listen, the words doesn't make sense because Miles' death doesn't make sense.
“Phoenix?”
A voice right next to him, he slowly looks up and... Mr. Edgeworth is standing there, he's smiling a little but it doesn't reach his eyes, he looks tired and sad, he looks like Phoenix feels, and Phoenix realizes that Mr. Edgeworth himself isn't really taking part in the funeral, he's standing just as far away, and-
“Thanks for coming, Phoenix.”
And before Phoenix knows what he's doing, he's hugging Mr. Edgeworth who immediately crouches down to put his arms around him too, and Phoenix is sobbing but this feels okay.
~
Gregory starts inviting Phoenix over. They talk about Miles and they watch TV (but never the Signal Samurai; Gregory starts crying as soon as he hears the theme song) and they hug a lot. And then, some day, Ray yells at him to stop this, because Phoenix isn't Miles, Miles will never come back, sorry Gregory, but this is reality.
Gregory throws him out of his house, but a few hours later, when Phoenix is over again and tells him about school, Gregory looks at him and looks at his distinct hairstyle and realizes why carding his fingers through his hair has always felt wrong.
Because yes.
He isn't Miles. Gregory lets him take Miles' keychain, the Signal Samurai one; he's giving it to him with shaking hands before sending him home.
(It hurts.)
~
The media coverage hurts as well. The amount of headlines is overwhelming, and he can't count how often he has refused to give an exclusive interview, the journalists are like vultures. Gregory just wants to be left alone.
The investigation is stagnant after only a short while, there aren't much leads; the incident (DL-6. Two letters and a number are his son's death) occurred in a closed elevator, after all. Yanni Yogi is the prime suspect, of course, but the interrogation doesn't go as smoothly as the police had hoped.
The possibility of channeling Miles to take down his own testimony was briefly discussed but then dismissed, because the victim is a child, and all the spirit mediums they had asked had refused to channel a little kid to talk about his own death. This news was a relief. The idea of bringing Miles back from the dead for only a short time...
No.
The trial date is set for three days from now, and Gregory enters the prosecutor's office. He doesn't bother to try and smile at the secretary, although he always found her to be rather nice. He simply nods a little and murmurs “Good morning, Miss Fright” before making his way up to the 12th floor. (He uses the stairs.)
He stands in front of the office door for almost five minutes before finally knocking.
“Come in.”
He closes his eyes. He got into a fight with Ray because of this. But he has to. He needs to. He opens the door and steps in.
He looks around for a few seconds. The room is filled with shelves full of law books and case files – the office speaks the story of a 25 years career.
“Edgeworth.”
Gregory is sure that it was meant to sound scolding, but he doesn't miss the surprise hidden in his voice.
Manfred stands up and walks around his desk. “What brings you here, Edgeworth? Make it quick. I have work to do.” He crosses his arms, but he does it in an odd way, he moves his right arm strangely cautiously.
“I... Manfred, I have … a … favor to ask from you.”
“A favor.” Manfred raises his eyebrows and shakes his head. “And why, pray tell, should I be interested in-”
He interrupts himself because-
Because suddenly Gregory finds himself kneeling in front of him, he's on his knees, on the floor, he doesn't remember it happening, but he's crying, he's sobbing.
“... Edgeworth! What in the world-”
“Manfred, please... Please prosecute this trial. God, please...”
“Edgeworth, stop this foolishness! What are you talking about?!”
“The trial against Yogi. He... Manfred, he killed my son, please, please...” Silence in return, and Gregory doesn't dare to look up, so he simply continues. “You... You have children too, Manfred, I... You never lost a trial, and I... I heard Hammond is defending. I... I need a guilty verdict for him, please, Manfred, please prosecute this. I can't... I...”
Again – nothing, no reply.
“Manfred, it feels like it's me who died inside of this elevator.” His voice is but a whisper now. “Please get me a guilty verdict. I'm... I'm begging you.”
A low chuckle, now. He looks up, and his sight is blurry but he thinks … for a moment he thinks … that there's a smirk on Manfred's face, and … and just for a moment … Gregory wonders. But then the moment is gone and Manfred's face is bare of every emotion, and Gregory surely just imagined it and-
“I see.” Manfred looks at him for a few long seconds. “The case has already been assigned. But I'll see to it that they hand it to me.”
At that, Gregory starts to cry again.
“And now stand up and get yourself together, Edgeworth! This is pathetic!”
Gregory does, and he tries. “Thank you so much, Manfred.”
~
It feels strange. He's never been to the prosecutor's lobby before. And now he's sitting on one of the sofas, looking around, feeling … out of place. The lobby looks like the defendant's, but it feels different.
“Now, we need to go over your statement, Edgeworth. Testify for me.” Manfred is standing in front of him, arms crossed again.
Gregory gives a little nod. “I … don't remember all that much, I'm afraid. We … were in the elevator when the earthquake hit, and the power went out. The elevator got stuck because of this and we... We were in there for hours. I first … talked to Miles, tried to comfort him, because...” He tries to blink the tears away. “Because he was very … nervous...”
Manfred looks at him, calm, collected, arms still crossed, no emotion visible. “Go on.”
Gregory bites his lower lip – it's trembling – and takes a few deep breaths before he continues. “After a while, Yogi got really … worked up. I... I mean, it was rather scary, I too realized that the air wouldn't last much longer, but Yogi suddenly started yelling at me and we … kind of got into a fight. … That's all I really remember. I passed out after that.” He's silent for a moment, and then he shakes his head. “No … that's not true. I remember … something else. It is … odd. It doesn't … fit.”
Manfred quirks an eyebrow, and Gregory looks down at the carpet before finally voicing what had occupied his thoughts for the last few days.
“I … remember the sound of the gun when it fell to the floor. Yogi must have … dropped it or … it must have fallen down during our fight. And he... I'm not sure, but I think … he passed out … a few … seconds before me even, or... I'm not sure, I just... Something about him picking up the gun doesn't sound … righ-”
“Edgeworth.” Manfred doesn't raise his voice, but he doesn't need to. This single word makes him fall silent immediately. “You will mention none of this when we step into this courtroom in a few minutes. I forbid it.”
“... Manfred, I have to … testify truthfully. This is my job as a witness, I-”
“Your job as a witness is to give a testimony I can work with, Edgeworth. You came to my office. You begged me to take this case and get a guilty verdict for this scum of a bailiff.”
Gregory can't meet his eye. “But...”
“Your precious son is dead.”
He closes his eyes. Miles …
“He shot your son.”
Miles …
“And now tell me, Edgeworth. Do you want to risk opening up a hole in your own testimony that Hammond can attack only because something about the circumstances of this crime doesn't sound right to you?”
“... … No.” It's only a whisper.
“Good.”
~
“I call the victim's father to the witness stand.”
Gregory takes a deep breath and slowly steps up to the stand. It feels wrong, this isn't his usual spot in the courtroom. But then again... He doubts that the defense's bench would feel any better.
“Name and occupation.”
“Gregory Edgeworth. Defense attorney.”
“Tell this court what happened on the day of the crime.”
“Yes. … I had brought Miles with me this day. He had wished to watch my trial, and-”
“Objection!”
Already? Gregory closes his eyes, and he hates Hammond.
“You brought a little kid to see a murder trial? Isn't this-”
Don't … you dare …
SNAP!
He never felt so happy about hearing Manfred's finger snapping.
“It is hardly the defense's job to judge the witness's parenting skills.”
The judge's voice. “I agree with Prosecutor von Karma. Mr. Edgeworth, please continue your testimony.”
“Yes, Your Honor. … Anyway, after the trial was done, I used the elevator together with Miles and Mr. Yogi. After only a few seconds, the whole cage shook with the impact of the earthquake and the lights went out, thus stopping the movement of the elevator too. At first I thought it would be working again soon. Miles was … a little scared so I tried to comfort him, but …” He finds himself clutching the edges of the witness stand. “But hours passed like this and … and suddenly Mr. Yogi got very nervous because of the air. He yelled at me and … attacked me. We fought each other for … a while, I don't know … it couldn't be much more than two or three minutes. I...” He stops and shoots a quick glance towards Manfred. He's looking right back, observing him. “... I … don't remember anything after that. I fell unconscious due to the lack of oxygen.”
This time, he's sure he sees a little smirk pass over Manfred's lips, only for a split second, there and gone.
“Very well. The defense may now proceed with the cross-examination.”
And Hammond does. He tries to rip this testimony apart, he asks the same things again and again, but Gregory remains as calm as possible, he's careful to give the exact same answers, and in the end the judge slams his gavel down.
“I feel like we don't need to let the witness re-experience this sad incident any more.”
“Your Honor!”
The judge blinks, surprised. “Mr. Hammond?”
“The defendant would like to plead tempora-”
“No!” The sound of a chair toppling over. “I swear to God I didn't do it, I know I didn't do it, I-”
Another slam of the gavel. “Order! It seems the defense and the defendant could use time to discuss some matters. I declare a ten minute recess.”
~
Gregory meets Manfred in the prosecutor's lobby.
“They'll plead temporary insanity. And they'll get away with it.” Manfred's voice is stern, commanding, Gregory has heard it countless times, but this time feels different. “You'll revise your testimony, Edgeworth. Tell them you saw him reaching for his gun. I can work with that.”
“...”
“Understood?”
“... Manfred … I can't lie to a court of law ...”
“You need a guilty verdict. Your words, Edgeworth. This isn't about my win record. Right now, this is about your son.”
Gregory stares at him.
~
“Your Honor, I'd like to add something to my testimony.”
(Gregory feels like he's breaking apart. He feels like he's losing himself, right here, right now. But he doesn't care, because after all, he feels dead already.)
~
They try anyway. They try to plead temporary insanity, and Yogi yells at him, what are you doing, Gregory, please, why, but Manfred was right. He can work with that.
And in the end, it's a single word that echoes through the courtroom.
Guilty.
~
Gregory is waiting for Ray in the entrance hall of the courthouse. Manfred walks past him, but he doesn't look at him, and Gregory isn't surprised, that's how he is. And it's not like he feels like talking, anyway.
“Mr. Prosecutor! Wait, please!”
Phoenix. Did he... Has he watched the trial?
Gregory turns around, and it really is Phoenix, and he's walking up to Manfred. “Thank you, Mr. Prosecutor.”
“And who might you be?”
“I- I'm Phoenix Wright. Miles was my best friend.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes. I... Thanks.”
“I was just doing my job, boy.”
“... I … always wanted... I wanted to become a defense attorney, you know? But-”
Gregory doesn't listen further, because that's when he spots Ray, and he turns around again to leave together with him. He doesn't want to be inside of this courthouse anymore.
~
“... What … what do you mean, you … won't work here anymore? … Where's your attorney's badge?”
“... Please try to understand, Ray. I can't do this anymore. Not after... … …”
“... Gregory ...”
“You can of course change the name of the firm. I'll leave everything to you. … Good luck, Ray.”
“I- Wait! What … what will you do now?”
“I don't know. I'll find something.”
~
And he does. He's working in the library of Ivy University.
He still does so ten years later.
And he sees the headline as he puts out today's newspapers.
Von Karma disciple makes his court debut in L.A.
He hesitates before reading the whole article, and he decides to step into court again, albeit only as a member of the gallery.
~
He almost doesn't recognize him, not with this suit and that frilly cravat around his neck, not with the way he talks to the witnesses. But it's him. It's him, and he catches a glimpse of his briefcase and sees that two keychains are attached to it, a red one and a blue one.
The testimony of some of the witnesses sound … odd, they are strangely perfect, they fit the prosecution's claims just a little too well, and at some point, Ray, who happens to defend, accuses him of having manipulated the witnesses, and-
And just for a moment, Gregory wonders.