A/N: Godot Rises AU. Not sure when in the timeline it is because . . . this AU is really just bits and pieces. Point of the AU is that Godot came out of his coma before Phoenix is actually a lawyer but is working for Mia as her legal assistant. Dracona returns, and her dad finally has a name! Yay!
Diego Armando sighed heavily as he had to take his mask off to handle the sweat-and-itching problem he was starting to have because of it. He felt around for the towel that he kept on the desk now, then picked it up and wiped his face off.
“Hey, kid, hand me the lotion, will you?” Diego asked.
He waited for the legal assistant to say something. Nothing happened.
“Kid?”
Still nothing.
“Trite? Hello?”
“Diego? What’s the matter?”
“Kitten, where’s the kid?”
“He’s late. What do you need?”
Diego sighed. “The lotion.”
“Here.”
She set it on the desk with a thump, and he felt around for the nozzle on the bottle, then carefully pressed it down and put some lotion in his hand. He then rubbed his hands together, then smeared the lotion over his face. It helped with the itching, but he wouldn’t be able to put the mask back on just yet. He needed a minute or two before he could put it back on unless he wanted his exact same problem to occur in fifteen minutes.
Just then, he heard the door click open.
“There you are! You’re late. What--?”
“Sorry about that, Chief! My grandfather paid me a surprise visit, and we got to talking, and he said he could use some legal advice, so I told him that--”
“Y-your grandfather?”
“Mm-hm! Grandpa, this is the Chief, Mia Fey. And--oh! Gosh, I’m sorry--!”
Diego growled as he picked his mask back up and put it on his face.
“Don’t sweat it, Trite, now--”
His vision took a moment to adjust to the mask once more, but now that he could see who was with Phoenix, he could see why Mia was having a hard time.
This “grandfather” looked awfully young to be the grandfather of a twenty-two-year-old. Diego’s own grandmother looked like she had a good twenty years on this guy. His hair was still black, though his skin was awfully leathery and dark, as though he had spent a lot of time outside. His body looked like he still worked out and did heavy lifting. He was twice Phoenix’s size, width-wise, but they were about the same height.
He also dressed like he was ready for some street punk biker fight. Complete with chains and a popped collar.
“Sorry, sorry.... G-Grandpa, this is Diego Armando. He’s a lawyer like the Chief.”
“It’s good to meet you both. My name is Oxford Naruhodou. Legally, anyway. My friends call me Ushiwakamaru.”
“You . . . you have an English given name? Aren’t you . . . from back when the country was still called Japan? Instead of Japanifornia?” Mia asked.
Oxford laughed.
“My father’s name was James Naruhodou! We’ve been giving our children English names for a while.”
He patted Phoenix rather forcefully on the back. He almost toppled his grandchild over.
“Eh heh. Yeah, it’s tradition at this point, but I do have another given name, a Japanese one, on all the legal paperwork,” Phoenix said.
“So, um, what was it you needed a lawyer for, Mr. Naruhodou?” Mia asked.
Oxford laughed again, but this time, it was nervous, and he was rubbing the back of his neck.
“Yeah, I . . . could I talk to you in your office? Alone?” Oxford asked.
Phoenix frowned.
“Is it about Momma?”
“It’ll be fine! You said she was the best, right?”
Phoenix bit his lip, eyebrows furrowing.
“So it is about Momma.”
“It’s not that big a deal. We just need a lawyer to take her case before they assign her some government toadie who doesn’t plan on winning.”
“What did she do now?”
Diego and Mia glanced at each other. Phoenix’s mother . . . regularly got arrested? His grandfather dressed like he was part of a biker gang? When their favorite (read: only) legal assistant regularly wore sweaters and fuzzy stuff when not at work?
What was going on?
Oxford managed to simply laugh the whole thing off, then disappeared into Mia’s office to talk to her privately.
Diego just stared at Phoenix.
“What . . . does your mother do for a living, kid?”
Phoenix just stared at him.
“Officially, she’s a vacuum saleswoman.”
His expression was blank, and somehow that was more irritating than if there was a tell that he was lying. He was clearly omitting information.
“And unofficially?”
“Um.... I can tell you what she used to do, not what she does now.”
“And why’s that?”
“I haven’t seen her since I was a teenager.”
Diego opened his mouth to ask more, but a yell of “ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?” from Mia’s office cut him off.
The door burst open, and Mia was running while pulling out her phone and dialing a number.
“Both of you! To the car!” she said, then, to her phone, “Yes! Hello, I need Chief Prosecutor Lana Skye on the phone! It’s an emergency!”
Phoenix didn’t hesitate. Diego grabbed his cup of coffee and hurried after them and Oxford.
He had no idea what was going on, but he had a big feeling that he wasn’t going to believe it.
A/N: Greg Lives AU. Things take a turn for the not-good.
The area with the cubicles was completely empty as Phoenix and Diego walked through the aisles, searching for Officer Marshall’s cubicle. Diego was a little impressed this kid seemed to know his way around the precinct. Judging from his age, he supposed it was possible this guy was a very-new police officer. It would explain why he knew his way around.
Diego Armando had not been around for the conversation where Phoenix and Miles had said they were going to Ivy U and that Phoenix was going to be an art student there.
All Diego Armando knew that this little punk had been flirting with Mia who 1) was Detective Skye’s girlfriend and 2) he was also interested in and no way was some kid gonna beat him to the punch. So sliding on in to interrupt their little flirt-fest had been his number one goal. Having him show him where some booze was in the precinct was a bonus.
“Here it is! They must’ve moved him from the last time I was in the traffic law division,” Phoenix said. “Oh, I’m Phoenix, by the way. Phoenix Wright.”
“Diego Armando,” Diego said.
He caught the shiver that ran up the kid’s spine when he said it. He raised an eyebrow.
“You cold?”
“Oh, me? No, no, I’m fine,” Phoenix said, smiling nervously.
He bent down in the cubicle to where a safe was near the rolling desk chair. He pushed the chair out of the way, then punched in the numbers for the safe.
Phoenix frowned a bit as it gave him an error message.
“That’s weird.... He must’ve changed it after he switched cubicles. Lemme see, if it’s not his birthday, then it must be....”
He punched in a different set of numbers, then it gave an error message again. Phoenix’s frown deepened. He tried a few other number combinations, but he kept getting the error message.
“. . . Shit. He must’ve figured it out.”
“Figure what out?” Diego asked, now a bit curious.
“. . . I know one other place we can get it, but we absolutely can’t be caught going into his office.”
“Sounds fun,” Diego said.
He watched as another shiver ran up Phoenix’s spine. Diego smirked.
Seemed the kid didn’t just like the pretty ladies.
They went through a door, then went up some flights of stairs, then went through another door and entered a nicer-looking hallway with important-looking doors.
They stopped in front of the one whose placard read “Chief Damon Gant.”
First, Phoenix looked around, checking all the corners in the hallway. Diego watched as he looked and saw that there were security cameras in several points on the wall and ceiling. But the ones pointed towards to office door were off for some reason.
“Wonder why those cameras are off, but this makes it convenient,” Phoenix said, taking a pair of gloves out of his pocket - rubber ones, like you might use for cleaning a toilet - then took out a bobby pin from his hair. After testing the doorknob to see if it was actually locked, Phoenix then started to pick the lock, then opened the door.
Diego had never been in the Chief of Police office before. It was rather impressive-looking in there.
The booze was a lot easier to find in here, though. He had a whole cabinet filled with either books or bottles of high-quality liquor. It even had the key sticking out of the keyhole.
Diego checked for more security cameras, but there weren’t any.
Phoenix opened the liquor cabinet.
“Which one would you like? It looks like Chief Gant has . . . burbon, rum, whiskey, vodka....”
“I’ll take burbon,” Diego said, still carrying his coffee cup, which hadn’t spilled a single drop on the walk to the office.
Phoenix pulled down a bottle of burbon that had already been opened, then unscrewed the top and poured some of it into Diego’s mug. Diego told him when it was enough.
Phoenix took a whiff of the bottle, then seemed to be contemplating, then he screwed the cap back on.
“Wow.... This is actually my first time in here,” Phoenix said. “Chief Gant really know how to decorate....”
“That he does. So, do all officers know how to pick locks?”
Phoenix gave him a blank look for a moment, as though he didn’t know why he was asking that question.
“Well, I know Detective Badd knows how,” Phoenix said. “But I don’t know about Detective Gumshoe or the others.... Oh, Ms. Mia said she had been interested in whiskey, but now I’m not sure how we’d get it to her. Unlike Officer Marshall, we can’t really just take a bottle down to her. Chief Gant would definitely notice.”
Diego sat in Chief Gant’s chair, sipping his alcohol-laced coffee, starting to spin a bit, looking around at his desk.
Gant’s computer was sleeping, but the little light told Diego it was still on. And there were some stacks of paper on the desk. Something in one of the folders caught Diego’s attention, and he lifted one folder off of another one to get a better look at it.
Phoenix was also looking around the office. Then his eyes landed on something on the other side of the desk.
Eyes widening, Phoenix grabbed the file and opened it, having to then catch everything that had subsequently fallen onto the floor.
Diego ignored him as Phoenix worked on picking the papers up, and he didn’t notice when Phoenix had suddenly stopped hurriedly putting the papers back in. Phoenix stayed knelt on the floor for a long moment. Diego was too preoccupied with the folder he had just discovered.
Mia would want to see this. And Diego had a feeling this file was top secret.
Phoenix had no impressions like that about the file that he had picked up. But it was very important to him.
Diego didn’t look back over at Phoenix until he had stood up, moved to the liquor cabinet, then pulled out a glass and the strongest thing Gant had in the office. Diego watched as he poured too much of it into the glass, then put the bottle back into the cabinet.
Phoenix then sat on the floor with the strewn-about papers and drank the liquor too fast.
Yup, he’s definitely a cop, Diego thought.
“What’d you find?” Diego asked.
“. . . It’s the Dracona Wright file. . . .”
“Wright?” That was a familiar name. “Isn’t that your last name?”
“Yeah....”
Now, Dracona had sounded pretty familiar.... But why . . . ?
His memory caught up with him after a moment, and he all of a sudden had no idea why he hadn’t recognized the guy when he first met him tonight. This was Phoenix Wright, that kid who was on trial for murder in the DL6 case, also known as the Boo Zhie incident.
Granted, it was four years ago, and he had been the most fledgling of fledgling lawyers at the time. About where Mia was now in her career, actually. And he had only been in the audience.
This kid must’ve been involved with the whole department since then, probably. Diego could imagine why someone like that would’ve become a cop.
“So that’s your mom,” Diego said, carefully unbuttoning his vest and sliding the file he had found inside, then buttoning it back up. It felt weird against his chest, but he needed to smuggle it out of the office without the kid noticing. It might even be too risky to make a photo-copy of it. He might just have to leave the party early (hopefully with Mia) in order to make sure they got what they needed from it.
Phoenix hiccuped, then answered in the affirmative.
Diego grabbed the same liquor bottle Phoenix had drunk from before, opened it, then poured more of it into Phoenix’s glass. Phoenix drank from it again after he did.
“Is there a photo-copier on this floor?” Diego asked.
“I don’t think so,” Phoenix said, not paying much attention to what he was saying or why it was a bit strange. “All the photo copiers that I know about are in the room across from the main hall.”
The main hall being where most of the party was happening. Yep, he was taking this baby home if he could get out of there without getting caught.
Diego knelt down beside Phoenix, looking at what had fallen out of the folder.
Now that wasn’t the DL6 incident that was on the floor. Those were photos that Diego had never seen before, of events Diego didn’t know about. Following Phoenix’s line of sight, it was clear he was most distracted by the photo of his mother, but the other files on the ground gave a lot of different information. Mostly locations of sightings of her, and they seemed to be all over the world.
Dracona Wright was an international criminal now, with several different aliases to her name.
Diego watched as Phoenix picked up a particular piece of paper.
“. . . Why are they charging her with the murder of my dad when . . . when he killed himself . . . ?” Phoenix asked slowly.
Then they heard a noise from the hall outside.
Diego quickly downed the rest of his coffee, burning sensation in his throat be damned, and gathered the papers of the Dracona Wright file off the floor, took the folder from Phoenix, stuffed the papers in it, put it back on the desk.
There were footsteps coming towards the office.
Diego grabbed the scruff of Phoenix’s suit jacket, then drug him to the window.
“Wh-where’re we going?” Phoenix asked.
Diego opened the window, then started to climb out.
“Wh-what - !?”
The footsteps were growing ever closer, and Phoenix heard them stop in front of the door.
Phoenix decided not to question it.
He followed Diego out onto the window ledge, then closed the window behind him.
Diego was already inching his way around the building, jumping from window ledge to window ledge.
Phoenix took a deep breath and tried to do the same thing.
He was regretting drinking any alcohol right about then, let alone the strong stuff in Gant’s cabinet.
Diego was trying the different windows, but all the ones they ended up coming near were latched shut.
Phoenix gripped the side of the building, too unsteady and dizzy to move any further.
Diego reached the drainage pipe that went down all the way and considered using it to help him get down. Then he looked back behind him and saw that Phoenix was clinging to the building three windows down from him.
Diego weighed his options.
“Hey, kid,” Diego said. “C’mon, you can do it.”
“I really don’t think I can,” Phoenix said. “I knew I shouldn’t’ve drank, I knew I shouldn’t’ve, I knew - and I’m scared of heights, why did I come out here, I should’ve just gotten in trouble with Chief Gant instead -”
Diego weighed his options again.
“Okay, I’m gonna go down and help you from the other side, okay? Think you can hold on that long?”
Phoenix whimpered.
Suddenly, the window Phoenix was at opened, and Phoenix screamed and let go in fright.
Wide-eyed, Diego thought he was witnessing this young cop fall to his death.
Then two pairs of tiny hands grabbed him, one wearing black gloves and one bare, and started to pull him back to properly being on the window sill.
“There you are!”
“K-Kay! Franziska?”
“You foolish fool, how did you even get there?!”
“I -”
Phoenix glanced over at Diego. Diego shook his head.
“I’m really drunk right now,” Phoenix said. “I don’t remember.”
Kay laughed. “Silly goose!”
The two children pulled him back into the building. Diego considered following, but he didn’t want anyone else to know he had been in Gant’s office.
So he went with scaling the drainage pipe down the building.
Phoenix was pulled into an empty office that looked like it was mostly for storage now.
Franziska hit him with her riding crop.
“Ow!”
“That’s for being stupid!” Franziska chastised.
Kay then hugged Phoenix.
“And this is for being okay,” Kay said.
“You scared us to death,” Franziska added.
“What’re you two doing up here?” Phoenix asked.
“Still looking for a good place to show you my trick!” Kay said. “Franziska said she’d help after I almost knocked Prosecutor Von Karma in the face, showing off for Detective Skye in a crowded area.
“You might just have to do it in a well-lit area outside. I’m sure we can find a street lamp,” Phoenix said.
“Also, off-topic, but do you think there’s any way for you to babysit both me and Franziska at the same time, sometime? I never met her before today, but she’s really cool! She rides horses in Germany!”
“Uh, we can ask Prosecutor Faraday and Prosecutor Von Karma about that,” Phoenix said.
Phoenix was a little surprised they were getting along so well, but it was really nice to see.
He followed them out of the room, then down the hall and back to where the others were. The girls made a bee-line for the front door, and he followed.
Immediately outside of the entrance was the best street lamp light, so they just stood around the police station entrance. Phoenix and Franziska stood to the side and waited for Kay to show them her trick.
Kay took a few steps back, then got into position. Then she took a short running start before performing a pretty impressive flip, then landed on her feet.
Phoenix clapped.
“Great job, Kay!”
Kay grinned.
Diego stepped into the lamp light, looking a little worse for wear. It was possible he had fallen part of the way down.
“You okay, Diego?” Phoenix asked.
“Yeah. Um, I wanted to talk to you for a moment.”
“Okay....”
“Could . . . it be a secret that I was with you back there?”
Phoenix opened his mouth to answer, then Franziska butted in.
“What does he get out of it if he does?” Franziska asked.
“. . . You already blabbed to children?”
“No, he didn’t, but it’s unreasonable to ask something like that without offering something in return,” Franziska said.
Diego sighed.
“All right. What would you like in return for your silence?” Diego asked, resigning himself to his fate.
“Oh! Um.... C-could I have your number?” Phoenix asked, hesitant.
“Ooooh, you like-like him?” Kay chimed in, appearing on Phoenix’s other side. “Ask for a kiss too!”
“K-Kay!”
“A phone number and a kiss sounds like an equivalent exchange to me,” Franziska said.
Phoenix blushed and looked up at Diego, clearly embarrassed.
“Y-you don’t have to kiss me if you don’t want to,” Phoenix said.
Diego, however, smirked.
“All right, girls, Bird Boy gets a kiss AND my phone number if the two of you also don’t say anything about meeting me today. And I’ll throw in some treats for the two of you for free. How ‘bout that?”
“Deal!” Kay said.
“What kind of treats?” Franziska asked.
“I know where they sell some really good chocolate.”
“. . . Well, what are you waiting for, get your number and kiss, Phoenix Wright!”
“This feels like you’re pimping me out for sweets. Prostitution’s illegal, you know!”
Diego snorted.
“Here’s the number,” he said, pulling out his business card; he hadn’t specified which number.
Phoenix took the business card, not seeming to mind that it wasn’t a personal number.
“And here’s the kiss.”
Diego reached out and tilted Phoenix’s chin up, then pressed his lips against Phoenix’s.
Phoenix started to feel light-headed. He had never been kissed before.
And Diego was still really, really hot.
None of them noticed Miles Edgeworth had just walked through the sliding doors of the police station.
Godot is a huge jerk, but every time he misses something because he can’t see red-on-white, I feel bad for him. Because the main reason he keeps losing these cases is because his disability is literally preventing him from seeing key evidence.
Like, I’ll never forgive him for calling Franziska a horse, and I will forever think he’s not good enough to be dating MIA FEY of all people, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck any less for that to be constantly happening to him. The red jewel on Atmey’s glove, the ketchup stains, the blood in the snow. And if he took the visor off, he wouldn’t be able to see ANYTHING. he’s basically blind without it, and yet even with his accomodations, he’s still getting a bit screwed over in court. It’s a big reason why he got caught in the first place.
And like, yeah, it’s that whole “cool motive, still murder” thing and he shouldn’t get away with it just because he’s disabled or because he did it for Mia and he was a HUGE asshole to Phoenix the ENTIRE time for no actual good reason. Like, he thought it was a good reason, but it wasn’t, it was chauvinistic bullshit, but . . . . But the red-on-white thing wasn’t a punishment for being a jackass, it . . . I’ve felt for a while that Godot is THE best prosecutor Phoenix goes up against, and I think that Phoenix literally wouldn’t have ever beat him if it wasn’t for Godot’s disability getting in the way of Godot actually seeing the evidence properly. And it’s hard to feel good about that, y’know?
