One of Every Color
Chapter 17
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characters and settings, are property of Capcom, and are being used here
without permission. This fic is rated
NC-17 for adult male/male content and some violent material.
Chapter 17
23rd, 2019
Feys. Maya treated them to a large
lunch, as promised, and all through the meal she chatted on about the village,
her new responsibilities in the clan, and a few of the clients she'd
taken. Even
training, which prompted many words of praise from her older cousin.
conversations. If the idea had been to
cheer him up after his loss, it was working.
After lunch they walked
together back to
rent a few videos. Everywhere they went,
return home to hole up for a while. The
girls didn't mind. After talking him
into getting all manner of junk food and old movies, they raided his apartment
and set themselves up for an afternoon marathon.
sofa. He wasn't in much of a mood for
Steel Samurai, due to his many run-ins with the studio and the memories it
raised, but he wasn't sure he could deny anyone anything at that point.
As Maya started episode
#39--something about a rampaging monk--
card?"
"Hm?"
"No, I was…just
wondering."
He dozed off at some point,
only to be awoken in the evening. He
ordered them some pizza for dinner, and after that it was back to chattering
and movie watching.
curls and a two liter of soda. It was
loud, a little hectic, and worth it.
And then it was getting
late. Thankfully
offer them some clean T-shirts of his as sleep shirts.
"I'll sleep on the
sofa," he told Maya. "You guys
don't mind sharing, right?"
"Of course
not." Maya bounced on the edge of
the bed, pulling the tie out of her hair.
"Feel better, okay, Nick?"
"I already do," he assured.
"Goodnight, Maya."
"G'night."
moved to the kitchen. It wasn't that
late--not for him, anyway--and he wasn't sure he'd be able to get to sleep so
easily. Usually he would put the radio
on while he filed papers, or watch the news until he felt tired, but the idea
of having either on at the moment was not appealing.
would still be talking about the same thing.
thought glumly as he pulled a beer out of the fridge.
think it would be appropriate around the girls.
He helped himself now, taking long gulps.
if he drank a lot of it….
"
back. He started again when he saw who
it was: Mia, dressed in one of the sleep shirts he'd
offered and wrapped in a bathrobe he never used.
glanced briefly away.
"Chief…?"
"I told Maya to call me,
once
kitchen table.
been so eager to gulp down. When she
raised an eyebrow at him he gave in and set it on the table.
"At court," Mia
elaborated. "
left as soon as it was over."
"Oh."
stomach as he lowered his head. He
twisted the beer can between his hands.
"So…you saw all that, huh?"
It was one thing for Maya to have been there, after all the cases they'd
won together, but Mia had been his mentor, and he owed nearly all his success
to her in one way or another. The idea
that she might be disappointed in him made him ache.
Mia's voice softened.
"I lost."
"Is that what you think
happened in there?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
myself." He took another long gulp
of his beer, suddenly not caring if Mia saw.
"The truth came
out." Mia leaned her elbow against
the table, setting her chin in her hand.
"Isn't that what you've always wanted, when going into court?"
"I've always wanted my
client to be innocent," he murmured.
Mia sighed, but there was a
kind of subtle humor in her voice.
"Of course, that's what most lawyers want."
"Mia…Chief, I know what
you're going to say,"
told her. "But I don't want to hear
'everyone loses sometime.' Not on this
case."
When he glanced at her their
eyes met, and
face her directly. "Why this
case?" she asked evenly.
"Because
all!"
arms on the table. "Viola fed me a
story and I completely believed it! I
challenged the police, the district--almost got Edgeworth killed--and all just
to prove Chassie even more guilty
than she was before. It was all a total
waste."
Mia touched his shoulder--he
flinched, but didn't pull away.
"You did nothing wrong,
mistake."
"I…can't accept it that easily.
I didn't become a lawyer to help people like that."
drink. Edgeworth still wants to talk to me, but what do I tell him?
evening…and then he railroaded me and I ended up the failure.
I have a right to be mad at him. I'm the
one that was wrong
Mia was watching him.
past, so it didn't make sense for him to reject any advice or wisdom she had to
offer now. But for once, she didn't seem
to have any. "I'm sorry,
than it's something you have to come to terms with."
the truth before the verdict."
quietly. "I…turned down my
fee." He sighed.
a long time, and I blew it. It was
stupid of me. I can barely pay rent as
it is, and…."
"Hey."
you do with--or without--it is up to you.
You don't need to worry about me."
"Yeah, I know."
already dead.
hide it with another drink. His
discomfort would have been obvious to anyone, let alone his mentor of several
years. Her face reflected honest concern
as she straightened once more. "
I really never did know how to act
when it came to romance. It makes me not
myself. "There is," he
confessed. He finished the rest of his
beer in one long gulp. "But I don't
think I'm ready to tell you, Chief. I
haven't told anyone."
She looked
surprised--withholding truth was not something
"All right. You don't have
to."
himself. I'm just going to brood all night, not get any sleep, and still feel
awful by morning.
"Chief…."
"Now?"
"I know, but there's
someone I have to see." He ran a
hand over his hair, frowning at how limp it felt.
here to make things right. I at least owe
him the same."
"Him?"
"Yeah…."
him, her detective-like brain probably whirling.
out, but he couldn't worry about that now.
"I'll leave Maya a note," he promised, hunting up a slip of paper.
of."
"All right."
puzzled but accepting. "Just watch
out for the paparazzi--they're bound to still be about, even at this
hour."
past. Maybe I can…go in
"disguise", like he did?
As he passed Mia she reached
out, taking his hand. He started at the
unexpected contact. Though worried he
was about to receive some kind of reprisal, Mia only smiled at him.
wishing him luck on, but he blushed darkly nonetheless.
nervously. "I might need it."
As his "disguise"
baseball cap. It flattened his hair out
even more, but considering that it--and his blue suit--was his signature, he
figured it would be enough to hide his identity from any night-time
paparazzi. Just to be extra safe,
however, he slipped out the back of the building.
to have a car of his own. Not that he
had ever been in a situation quite like this.
The wind was starting to pick
up. It was actually somewhat welcome after
the dead still from earlier, even if it meant rain was on the way.
He had never been fond of storms, and showing up on Miles' doorstep,
drenched and pathetic, probably wouldn't help matters
any.
reminded himself, tugging his hat on more firmly before the wind could take
it. The trees along Miles' street were
rustling eerily, not helping his mood. As
often as he'd walked down this street as a child, the only time he'd been here
this late was on Halloween.
he has something in mind.
At a few houses away,
they had been chased off by the impending storm.
part, but he wasn't about to be scared off by the mere possibility of someone spotting
him there. With a deep breath
There was a long moment of
nerve-wracking silence, followed by quick footsteps that were even worse.
finally the door was jerked open, revealing the man
*****
At first, Miles had been
hesitant--he wouldn't put it past the reporters to still be at his door at this
hour. It was for that reason that he
hadn't changed entirely out of his suit, in case one of them managed to catch a
shot. But the second potential visitor
that came to him inspired a moment of self-conscious panic, and he hurried to
answer. Would he really come out this late?
He threw off the locks and twisted the door anxiously open.
It took Miles a moment to
realize just who the bundled figure really was.
"Wright!" he couldn't help but exclaim when it finally
occurred to him. Despite how many times
he'd checked his phone messages that evening, expecting a call, he was still
surprised to see
"Hey."
Miles shook himself, and
quickly took
to come out like this," he scolded, peeking quickly out the front door
before closing it behind
"I couldn't,"
His shoulders crept up in embarrassment.
"I, uh…my phone is broken. But
I wanted to see you."
Those words made Miles'
stomach tighten, and he turned slightly to face
was making him feel guilty, and he lowered his eyes.
with me."
"So did I,"
pockets of his jacket. "But I
really don't know what to think right now, so I figured I might as well come
over."
That didn't make much sense
to Miles, but he was grateful.
all day, he told himself.
Miles opened his mouth, but
all of a sudden he forgot everything he'd planned.
that a moment later he doubted that he'd prepared for this at all.
stepped forward, cupping
face with both hands to draw him up into a firm kiss.
It was too soon to think that
did. He shivered as he sank into the
kiss, and soon his arms were wrapping around Miles, his fingers clenching
against the smooth material of his black vest.
Miles relaxed in elation--if
wasn't so mad after all.
He was still quivering a little as he rested his chin against Miles
shoulder and released a long sigh. His
relief must have been just as great.
Miles rubbed at
so late at night. "You've been
drinking," he noted. He could smell
the cheep beer they'd shared last week on his breath.
"You, too,"
Miles smiled thinly.
offered.
Chuckling quietly,
"I think I could use some."
the kitchen, both of them struggling awkwardly for something to say.
from the bottle of whiskey he'd been nursing for the later portion of the
evening.
quickly discovered that to be a bad idea.
"Ah--it burns," he declared, wiping his mouth.
"That means it's
working," Miles replied, refilling his own glass.
that if you were drinking beer earlier."
"It was just
one."
waiting for him to say more.
So
for
"Let's sit down."
They took a seat together in
Miles' living room, on a short, white sofa with no armrests.
sideways, facing his slumped guest.
"Wright…I owe you an apology," he began slowly.
thing, and he feared his voice came out sounding forced.
you. I'm not sorry for that, because I
was doing my job. But I am sorry…that I
didn't handle it better."
"I was pretty
pissed,"
"It was just like you, sure.
I shouldn't have taken it personally, but…."
glance at Miles' face. "But it was
just such a shock, after our date."
"I don't date,"
Miles replied by force of habit.
"Come on, Edgeworth, you
know what I meant."
half-heartedly away. He didn't look like
himself with his hair mussed and limp.
"I've had a hard enough time already without you being a
jerk."
"Sorry," Miles said
quickly. The last thing he wanted was to
make things harder on
didn't mean it like that."
front of him. "Edgeworth," he
went on slowly. "All that evidence
you presented in court today…it was all real, wasn't it?"
Miles tensed defensively, and
he forced himself to take a sip of his drink before trying to reply.
irritation from his voice. "Of
course it was. We spent all of yesterday
hunting it down."
"Yesterday…."
was worth, and he couldn't help but take it personally.
like that--now, on this case?" he challenged.
"No--no, I thought for a
moment maybe…."
just didn't tell me." He leaned
back to down the rest of his drink like a shot--not what Miles would have recommended.
"Why wouldn't
I?" It had been a long day, and the
stress was wearing Miles' already thin temper down.
won, to butter you up so you'd sleep with me?"
"No, I--"
"Because if I remember
correctly, you were the one begging
me to go to bed with you."
"I should be blaming you
for making me go soft," Miles continued, setting his own glass
down--unfinished--next to
was hurt by
unrivaled. "If you hadn't been so
eager to believe
you--without Ema we never would have found that evidence, and
"Well I'm sorry!"
it, all right?"
Miles started to reply, but
then he glanced down, finally noticing that
since
"I let you down,"
"You were right--I shouldn't have trusted her, but I did, and I
valued that more than the truth. I had plenty
of chances to check the autopsies, and I didn't."
declared. "I'm glad."
Miles snatched his wrist
before he could take a step. "Where
are you going?"
"Home--I don't even know
what I'm doing here."
He tried to pull away, but
Miles would have none of it; his other hand grabbed the waist of
thud. "Yes you do," he said
firmly. "You said you came to see
"So what?"
"You got to say 'I told you so' and I apologized.
"That's not true, and
you know it," Miles insisted. He
didn't let go of
"So tell me what you came here to say."
His face told Miles that he was right--there was something on his mind,
and from the looks of it he had been struggling to bring it up for some
time. After a long moment his brow
furrowed, and he spoke.
"Edgeworth…I screwed up, didn't I?" he asked simply.
Miles' eyes widened.
question, and yet he had asked himself the same thing years ago.
to say it aloud, but he clearly remembered the answer--the only one
"You did."
*****
what I wanted to hear? He couldn't
be sure because his stomach was suddenly hurting, and yet he didn't feel
disappointed, like he had when Mia offered him her assurances.
"Yes."
lying to you. You went to court without
knowing the full story. You didn't
investigate every possible lead. So I'd
say yes, you made quite a few mistakes."
able to ease his mind; he was at
fault. He did want Miles to blame him.
He had caused so much trouble that someone ought to hold it against him.
"I tried really hard," he murmured.
Miles sighed, sliding closer
across the cushions. "It's not like
you're the first, you know," he reminded the distraught defense
attorney. His hand slid to the back of
gesture. "Believe
better next time. That's all there is to
it."
tight. Miles' calm advice, and more than
that his easy understanding, wore down at the strong front he had been trying
to show after his defeat in court. But
there was no reason to hide how he felt in front of Miles.
full truth.
"I'm so sorry,"
"It's my fault your office was burned down."
Miles frowned at him, his
fingers flexing slightly against the collar of
"What do you mean?"
"Viola called me,"
entirely make sense. "We'd been
drinking--I told her I didn't want you to take the case.
you…."
His response was a long time
in coming;
and the helplessness he had felt slumped next to Lana on the curb.
it doesn't do any good to tell him that, but…I can't keep secrets anymore.
The fingers at the back of
replied. "I didn't want to have to
fight you, either."
abruptly, making it sound like a sob. He
quickly covered his mouth to keep any more alike sounds from escaping him.
many emotions at once, bearing down on him.
"I tried so hard,"
tightly shut. As desperate as he was not
to show this weakness in front of Miles, he was quickly becoming aware that he
might not be able to help it. "I
ran across the entire city, talked to everyone I could, collected
evidence--" He shook his head as
his shoulders hunched. "I haven't slept
right in days. God, I'm so tired of
it…."
Miles made a soft,
uncomfortable sound at the back of his throat, clearly not equipped to deal
with a crumbling
all the more surprising when he gave
him. "So am I," he replied
quietly.
through him as he pressed his face into the soft fabric of Miles' cravat and
sagged wearily against his body. When
steely fingers sunk into his unkempt hair another thick, pained sob fell past
his lips, but this time he didn't try to stifle it.
offered, and
apartment just over a year ago, the night Maya's life had been spared.
Defense Lobby when the first woman he'd ever loved betrayed him.
He cried, trembling like he
had almost eighteen years ago, when he had peeked into this very room one cold
January morning only to find it empty.