Chapter Text
The sun is full and bright in the sky.
Simon Blackquill gazed out across the city. Los Angeles hadn't changed as much as he thought it might've in the 7 years he'd been behind bars. He'd seen it in passing, of course, as being assigned to prosecute cases led him out of his cell for a time. But to really see it. To drink it all in like this from the balcony of a high-rise apartment... Seeing the ocean beyond the buildings. It felt different.
It was hard to believe that less than 12 hours ago, he'd been in his cell, believing he only had one more day to live. So much can change in just a few hours. And yet... The prosecutor felt himself feel almost nothing about his predicament. His psychologically-trained mind identified it as a form of shock or denial, maybe both. Considering what happened within those last few hours... He could hardly blame himself.
"Don't stay out there too long, okay?"
He was pulled from his thoughts by a voice behind him. Recognizing it immediately, he didn't bother moving. A sly smile crept onto his face.
"Are you really attempting to confine a man in my position indoors, Cykes-dono? You would have me back in a cage?"
"Agh, no! I can hear that little smile of yours!" Athena replied with a faintly indignant tone. She exhaled as she continued, "I just don't want you getting any bad ideas in your head. Being that high up, after the trial, and what happened to B-"
"I am fine, Athena," The jailbird swiftly cut her off with a distinctly not-fine tone, his smile falling. He continued, slowing his words down. "You and your comrades saved me from the jaws of an execution. I shan't be throwing that chance of life away so pointlessly."
A few seconds of silence permeated the air. Then the attorney responded, her voice softer.
"I trust you. But... You don't have to pretend you're fine." A beat of silence, then she continued, "I set up the couch for you when you're ready to get some sleep. Wake me up if you need anything, okay? G'night, Simon."
He raised his hand slightly in a silent wave behind him, then lowered it as he heard the glass sliding door roll closed behind him. The silence hung in the air like fog.
Bobby Fulbright.
Blackquill didn't want to think about him. He hated thinking about him. But memories were plaguing his mind. As he gazed out across the city, watching the sun get closer to the horizon, all he could do was sigh.
The sun will always inevitably dip beneath the horizon, the brightness dimming into darkness.
The future had once seemed so bright. Had his own darkness snuffed it out? Or had the world simply decided that getting sunspots in its eyes wasn't worth the warmth of his light?
Sunspot.
Blackquill had called his old partner that once. Back when he was his partner. But he had known him long before that. Back before he was a twisted samurai... When he was young and naïve.
The sun is full and bright in the sky. But for how long?