Chapter Text
Edgeworth’s office was on the 12th floor of the Prosecutor’s Office, so seeing birds outside his window wasn’t strange. Birds were really the only animal he could see from so high up.
But he wasn’t expecting to see a rather familiar hawk outside his window, trying desperately to get inside.
Edgeworth walked over to the window and opened it, and Taka flew in. The hawk circled around in his office, making quite the racket now that it was indoors. He screeched and screeched, and Edgeworth wasn’t sure what to do about it.
He leaned out of the window, trying to see Blackquill’s office window from there. It was a couple floors down and to the right of his office.
It was hard to tell from the angle, but….
He walked further into his office as Taka kept flying overhead, screeching. He saw something glint as it fell to the floor. He went over and picked it up carefully.
Glass.
Something wasn’t right here.
Edgeworth opened the door to his office, and Taka flew right out. Edgeworth followed him, recognizing the way as how he’d get to Blackquill’s office.
The few times Blackquill had gone with Edgeworth to his office as a free man with no police officers to guide him, he had taken the stairs with Edgeworth, and Taka was always on Blackquill’s shoulder. Somehow, the bird knew that Edgeworth did not do the elevator.
So down the stairs they went, Taka getting further and further ahead, only looping back to make sure he hadn’t lost Edgeworth.
When Edgeworth got to the right floor, he was surprised to see Detective Gumshoe and Detective Skye already there with Maggie Byrde.
“Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth! We had a report of Taka bursting out of a closed window,” Gumshoe said. “We came up to investigate, but the door was locked, and Prosecutor Blackquill wasn’t responding, so we had to then get Maggie to get the key and - AUGH!”
Taka flew over their heads, attempted to get at the door, scratched at it with its talons, then flew in circles overhead, still screeching.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Open the door!” Edgeworth said, his concern mounting.
“R-right!”
Maggie finished unlocking the door, then pushed it open.
Edgeworth stepped forward, being the second one after Gumshoe to enter the room.
His eyes widened as he saw Simon Blackquill laying on the floor, blood pooling around his head. His body was still on the floor, but the evidence of blood on the front left desk corner, the floor around it, and the wall made it clear that he hadn’t obtained his wound at the place where he now lay.
His hand held his cell phone, which now had bloody fingerprints on it, and a voice started to emit from it.
“Hello? This is Athena Cykes, defense attorney at the Wright Anything Agency! … Hello? Anyone there? Lemme see…. Caller ID…. Simon? Simon, are you there? Simon, did you butt dial me? Simon!”
Simon didn’t move. He didn’t look awake….
Edgeworth snapped out of it first. He quickly crossed into the room, stepping over the blood. He reached Simon and checked his vitals. Please, please don’t be…..
“Simon, c’mon, this isn’t funny….”
After he confirmed that he was definitely alive right then, he took the phone out from Simon’s hand.
“Ms. Cykes, this is the Chief Prosecutor.”
“Oh! Hello, Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth. Um, why are you calling from Simon’s cell phone?”
“There’s been an incident. He’s alive, but it seems he tried to call you in his last moments of consciousness. I’ll call you back when we have a better idea of what happened. I need to call an ambulance. I’m going to hang up. Please don’t panic.”
“O-okay!”
He could tell from her voice that she didn’t know what else to say; he had gone ahead and answered questions he knew she’d have.
He had a feeling they’d be seeing her sooner rather than later.
Ema was the one who called the ambulance, and while they waited for the medical response team, Gumshoe, Ema, and Maggie examined the crime scene. Edgeworth examined Simon’s head injury himself.
He had taken a rather hard hit to the side of his head, close to his temple.
“Boss, the window was definitely broken by the bird,” Gumshoe said. “All the glass indicates that it was broken from the inside.”
“Can a bird really break a window?” Ema quipped, examining the blood on the wall as she talked. “Hmmmm. These prints look familiar….”
“Meaning?” Edgeworth asked.
“I don’t know yet, but if they’re familiar, that means I’ve seen them several times already. But I’m a fingerprint junkie, so that could mean anything.”
It felt like forever for the ambulance to arrive, but Edgeworth went with them when they lifted Simon onto a stretcher and carried him out. He stopped just short of the elevator.
“Which hospital are you taking him to?” he asked.
“Hickfield Clinic.”
“All right.”
He went back to the crime scene, just long enough to tell Gumshoe where he was going.
“I expect a full report within an hour,” Edgeworth said.
“You got it, boss,” Gumshoe said, giving him a salute.
Ema didn’t stop her search for clues to give him a goodbye. He preferred it that way.
He called the Wright Anything Agency number and got Mr. Justice on the phone instead.
“Is Ms. Cykes there?” he asked.
“Yes, sir, one moment.”
He heard the echo of Apollo calling for Athena, telling her it was the Chief Prosecutor.
He could also hear how Athena practically shoved Apollo into the side of his desk to grab the phone from him. Did they not have separate lines where the call could be transfered like the prosecutor’s office did?
“Yes, Mr. Edgeworth!?”
“He’s being taken to Hickfield Clinic. He suffered a bad hit to the head. It’s unclear how it happened at this point.”
“Thank you!”
It sounded like she had forgotten to hang up as she yelled at Phoenix that she was leaving. He heard their office door slam shut, then Mr. Justice’s voice.
“Uh, sorry about that, Mr. Edgeworth….”
“It’s understandable. Prosecutor Blackquill is in the hospital, and they’re rather close after all.”
“Oh! Is he okay!?”
“He’ll live.” He hoped.
“Well, that’s good. Don’t worry, Mr. Edgeworth! He’ll be fine!”
“Thank you, Mr. Justice. I won’t keep you from your work any further. Have a good day.”
“Goodbye, Mr. Edgeworth.”
He heard Justice hang up, and he imagined he elaborated for Phoenix why Athena burst from the office so suddenly.
Edgeworth arrived at the hospital first. He was instructed to wait in the waiting room and that a nurse would come find him when there was news on Simon Blackquill’s condition.
A few hours later, Athena had arrived rather out-of-breath and full of questions, and the nurse came by to rescue both of them from their own nerves.
“Aside from the nasty cut left on his head, he’ll be fine. He’s received quite a few bruises, not out of the ordinary from a bad fall. He regained consciousness, but he’s a little out of it right now. Keeps asking about the well being of a Thena Ikes?”
“Athena! Athena Cykes, that’s me!”
“He had dialed her number before losing consciousness,” Edgeworth explained.
“He seemed rather convinced something bad had happened to you. Are you all right?”
“I - I’m fine! I’ve been safe at work all day…. Can we see him?”
“Allow me to consult with the doctor real quick. Rest assured that we’ll let you see him as soon as possible.”
Athena paced in the waiting room. Edgeworth took a seat again.
It wasn’t sitting right with him. Blackquill was … he had only recently gotten released from prison and working as a prosecutor without the chains…. He had only recently gotten his life back…. He was one of Edgeworth’s employees and companions, he was his responsibility, and he had gotten hurt on his watch.
When the nurse returned, they were allowed to go with her to Simon’s hospital room.
Simon was sitting upright, but he still looked a bit groggy. His eyes landed on Athena, and some of his stress seemed to be lifted.
“Cykes-dono…. Edgeworth-dono.”
“Are you okay? What happened!?” Athena asked.
“The nurse said you were safe…. Is that true?”
“Yes, I’m perfectly fine! What about you?”
Edgeworth tightened his hands into fists as Simon answered.
“Someone … managed to get into my office, despite the door being locked…. I … my memory is foggy, but they attacked me….”
“The investigation is underway as we speak, Prosecutor Blackquill,” Edgeworth said. “They won’t get away with hurting you.”
Simon managed to give a smirk.
“I … I remember hearing … their threat to hurt Cykes-dono…. I tried to call you, but I don’t believe I managed it….”
“I’m here now, and no body’s gonna get the jump on either of us! Not now!”
Edgeworth and Athena stayed with Simon until he was given permission to leave the hospital. They then went with Simon to the Wright Anything Agency.
“Apollo once drop-kicked a dude who was super skeevy to Trucy, and Mr. Wright never talks about it, but Trucy told me this kinda scary story about how he has a mean left hook, and I’m not letting you out of my sight, so it should be safe at the office - !”
“And I’ll be sending Detective Gumshoe over as well. If that’s all right with you, Prosecutor Blackquill.”
Simon nodded.
“I’ll allow it. You have my gratitude, Edgeworth-dono.”
“I’m merely doing my duty as your employer and friend,” Edgeworth said. “Take care of yourself, all right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Edgeworth, I’ll watch him like a hawk!”
Speaking of hawks, Taka flew down from up above and landed on Simon’s shoulder.
Edgeworth smiled as he watched Simon giving Taka chin scratches.
The smile faded when Ema gave him the report as Gumshoe headed off to the Wright Anything Agency.
“There’s absolutely no evidence of the other person Prosecutor Blackquill told you about. The fingerprints all belong to Blackquill. There are no footprints that belong to anyone else. There’s blood that belongs to the bird around the window sill. Must’ve happened when it broke through the window to go get you. I even checked the vent. There’s no way anyone came in here from there either. No evidence anyone crawled through it.”
Edgeworth had to grab the door frame to keep steady.
“There was only Prosecutor Blackquill and Taka in this room the entire time.”