No matter how horribly wrong her day went, Maggey Byrde made it a point to hold her head high.

Except doing so today had only transformed what was an already bad day to no-good, awful, and downright terrible.

In the five miles she'd walked between her bus stop and where she was now, at the entrance to People Park, she'd caught the chunky heel of her loafers in the uneven sidewalk, and for the first time all day, succeeded in something: breaking said heel clean off, and making the two-hour journey even more arduous.

Of course, this was just another typical day in the life of Maggy Byrde. She wouldn't have even had to walk those five miles if she hadn't, in the midst of distress from her failed interview at Gatewater Land, boarded the wrong bus and been forced to disembark at a point only vaguely familiar to her.

Maggey hurried across People Park as best she could, now with her gaze fixed on her feet. It was a shortcut, though barely, but the dirt path cutting from one side to the other was significantly more level, easier to traverse. And although for quite some time the setting of a park only dredged up bad memories, it was a much more pleasant atmosphere compared to the blank, concrete trail of streets and avenues she'd just trekked over.

Really, it was far easier to imagine, to pretend, that she wasn't as lonely and pathetic as she truly felt, surrounded by nothing but cheerful families, smitten couples, groups of laughing friends...

..and barking dogs.

Maggey shrieked as a heavy set of paws came seemingly out of nowhere, landing on her thigh. In any normal circumstance, she would have merely stumbled, but being the fabulously unlucky Maggey Byrde and lacking any balance at the moment, she tumbled to the ground.

While being attacked with the cold wetness of a curious muzzle, a voice she knew too well carried out over the dog's loud yipping.

"Missile! Hey, cut it out, boy!"

Her furry assailant backed away, and just when Maggey had been stupidly postive enough to believe her day couldn't get any worse, she found herself staring up at the one person whose presence made her believe it was possible for her luck to turn around.

And he had to see her like this, at the most unfortunate she'd been in a long time.

Either oblivious to her state or just completely disregarding it, Detective Gumshoe – Dick – helped her to her feet. "Geez, I'm so sorry, Maggey! I guess he was just excited to see you. Can't blame him though. Huh, boy?" Dick patted the Shiba, who ruffed in affirmation.

"It's okay..." She muttered with very little conviction, dusting her slacks off. A pointless gesture, considering she'd already torn a small fray in the knee from falling earlier, and soaked the entire front of them in sticky soda when she'd spilled it before her interview.

"Imagine running into you here! I thought you'd be home, chilling out. What, with your interview this morning."

Dick had known all about her interview today; he'd come to know a lot about the ins and outs of her life, and she his, lately. In fact, he'd even been with her two weeks ago, when they'd gone to Gatewater Land together and run into one of their old co-workers, Mike. Mike currently had a job as one of the Badger mascots roaming the park, and when Maggey had gushed about how cool it'd be to be an official Badger, Mike had informed her that while sadly there weren't any openings for members of the Badger family, there were positions available as ride operators.

She should have seen it coming from a mile away: a job recommendation from Mike Meekins combined with her own horrific fate? But Dick had been so excited, so encouraging, for her to give it a shot, she hadn't the chance to dwell negatively on it, until today. When it all blew up in her face.

"Yeah." Maggey's exhausted sigh conveyed as much as she wanted to share about her miserable experience, causing that smile she'd grown to adore to wilt away. A short silence followed, and Maggey inwardly berated herself for spreading her bad luck with Dick.

It wasn't his fault she'd mistakenly addressed the man who'd interviewed her, Mr. Bonner, as "Mr. Boner." It wasn't his fault she'd accidentally knocked over a little old lady when boarding the bus (which she'd only taken because her car wouldn't start).

"Say, um..." Dick glanced down at his feet, over his shoulder, and then back at Maggey. "Have you eaten dinner yet? I was just in line to get some Samurai Dogs before this guy decided to make a break for it." He nodded back to where he'd previously been looking, over to a vendor with his cart some twenty-odd yards away.

Maggey shook her head; she hadn't even had lunch. She couldn't really afford to eat out much, being unemployed. And considering the day's events, she'd been utterly void of any appetite.

"Well, then it's on me, pal!"

He was so sweet, kinder than anyone should be to someone as cursed as her. It terrified Maggey – no one had been this nice to her since Dustin – but somehow Dick didn't seem to have the least bit of fear struck into him. It drew her to him even more, despite logic pleading with her that friendships – or anything beyond that – was not something written in the stars for Maggey Byrde. At least, not the part where it ends happily.

Maggey stationed herself on a nearby bench, and Dick passed Missile's leash to her before wandering off to grab their dinner. The dog tilted his head at her, a quizzical expression (as far as dogs go) on his adorable face.

Something about his innocence, how he was blissfully happy and wagging his tail even though he was sitting with the Goddess of Misfortune, pushed out the sob she had stuffed down in her throat for the past few hours.

Missile yapped, setting his front paws up on her knees. Maggey obliged him with long, gentle strokes along his neck, ignoring the fact her glasses were becoming stained with tears. If she was going to cry, let it be in front of Missile, and not in front of the man who didn't deserve the number of burdens he had to deal with, let alone hers.

Suddenly, Missile hopped off, turning around and signalling Dick's return with a series of barks. Maggey hastily removed her glasses to rub them clean with her shirt cuff, and slid them back on to see Dick approaching, hands full with little cardboard trays of Samurai Dogs.

Handing her a Samurai Dog loaded with chili sauce, he took a seat beside her. For a few minutes, they ate in silence. A silence that, while not uncomfortable, felt uncharacteristic for how talkative they tended to be with each other, especially out like this.

Maggey was very aware of their proximity, which redoubled the nerves in her stomach, that she only managed a few bites of her dinner. To distract herself, she stared out into People Park, wondering what chain of events led the other people in the park to be here now, this day, this minute. It could be something as mundane as taking their dog for a walk there, like Dick did with Missile every week, or it could be altogether more grand or complex.

Whatever the case, fantasizing about other peoples' fates, and their lives in general, to the point it was a form of escape...it was a habit for Maggey Byrde, or perhaps a coping mechanism. If she herself couldn't be blessed, it was a relief of sorts, to imagine fortune shining on any-and -everyone else.

One person, in particular, seemed to preoccupy those hopes and desires for a charmed life.

Maggey glanced out of the corner of her eye to see Dick finishing up his first Samurai Dog while a disappointed Missile whined at his feet. She couldn't help a thin smile from curving up. "Thanks for dinner."

"No problem! It's good to share the wealth!"

Maybe "wealth" was a bit of a stretch, but the raise Mr. Edgeworth had given Dick a few months ago provided him with more than he'd had before, and it was certainly more than what she had now, only scraping by due to visiting her parents frequently for free meals and free laundry.

And while Maggey wasn't keen on the fact that he paid for her nearly every time they went out – movies, dinner, a wrestling match at the Sunshine Coliseum – she had to admit being able to spend more time with Dick (and Missile) because of his insistence to pay poked bright, shining holes in her otherwise gray existence.

"And um..." Dick scratched at the back of his head, eyes darting between Maggey and his feet. "...You look really nice, by the way."

"Oh..." It was tough to genuinely accept his compliment, feeling as low as she did, but it was even tougher to think Dick would say that without really meaning it. Her smiled inched a little larger. "I...Tha-"

"I mean...!" He cut her off. "You always look nice, pal, but now you do too!"

Something about Dick's honesty – however awkward it was – made Maggey want to be brave enough in return.

"I don't feel too nice." She finally confessed, not overly sad or dramatic. Just resigned. "My interview today was maybe the worst I've ever had. And that's saying something, coming from me...GYAAH!"

Missile, again, bounced up on his hind legs and this time, set his paws on Dick's lap. However, he wasn't looking to be petted; in his pointy teeth, he snatched up Dick's second Samurai Dog, knocking the tray from his lap onto the ground below so he could gobble it up.

"Hey, bad boy! Missile! Bad!" Dick scolded Missile as he lay in the grass, ears folded back and whimpering, confused.

Maggey hadn't even intended to finish her Samurai Dog and would have probably offered it to Missile. So the fact that the pooch had taken Dick's instead, and was now being reprimanded for it, sent her over the edge.

"D-Don't, it's not his fault. Don't yell at him... It's just...it's my fault! It's..." She drew her hands to her face, slipping them under her glasses to cover her eyes.

"Maggey...?"

What was she saying? It didn't make sense for her to say it was her fault, and yet it was the only thing she could believe anymore; that everything bad she witnessed was, in some way, caused by her simply being.

She couldn't recall if he'd actually asked her to elaborate or not, but Dick's strong hand taking hold of hers was invitation enough.

In a reasonably composed manner for the tears freely flowing down her cheeks, Maggey relayed the day's events; every last painful, miserable, unlucky detail.

"...Oh, Maggey, I'm sorry. But it's not your fault, okay! It's..." he stalled, although the rest of the sentence couldn't have been any easier to finish.

"Just my luck," she exhaled in a tired monotone.

"Hey, pal, what are you talking about?! It just means that you've got something better on the horizon! It means you can only have better days from here on out. And...and I'll make sure of it!"

"Don't say that..." Really, it sounded ominous, almost a too-good-to-be-true guarantee. Much too similar to the promises her and Dustin had made. And the way her heart soared when she was with Dick – it wasn't wholly different than those days with Dustin.

And somehow, it was so much more.

"...Well, okay, maybe I can't, but...even if I can't change things for you, I'll be here no matter what." He squeezed her hand; she wasn't sure whose was sweatier, his or hers and yet she had no will to yank it away. "No matter how bad it gets! I mean, look at all Mr. Edgeworth's been through, and how many times I coulda said 'See ya, pal.'"

Her tears having mostly subsided, Maggey chanced a peek up at Dick, to see not just sincerity but vulnerability as well, like he'd just entrusted her with supposed-to-be confidential info about a case. While this wasn't a competition, and Dick certainly wouldn't try to make it that, Mr. Edgeworth could really give her a run for her money in the "bad luck" department.

"So...what made you stick with him?" She focused back on the half-eaten Samurai Dog in her lap, and used her free hand to set it aside. Missile had, apparently, learned his lesson, only lifting his head momentarily before nestling it back on his front paws with a defeated whine.

"That's what you do when you care about someone! He can be really strict, but he's stuck by me too, even when I've messed up – and boy, have I messed up. He's been there for me since the beginning, believing in me."

Maggey knew a lot of this, about Dick's first encounter with Mr. Edgeworth, but hearing it now, edited down to the bare bones - one sentence, even - was so much more impactful.

Before she could say as much, Dick moved both his hands to Maggey's arms, turning her clumsily to face him.

"And I believe in you, pal. Got it? Maybe you think you're nothing but bad luck, Maggey, but every day I spend with you, all I think is that I'm the luckiest guy in the world. And that's enough of a reason for me to not let you give up! I know it sounds dumb, but I just want to see you happy!"

Maggey stared – gaped, really – unable to process the gravity of Dick's words, and certainly unable to respond to it.

Also having realized the implication of his outburst, Dick dropped his hold away. "Um...sorry, I guess that was uncalled for. Mr. Edgeworth's always telling me to control my -"

"I'm happy...right now." She whispered as all the smiles she'd been unable to find over the past several weeks came spilling out as one huge one.

Curling her legs underneath herself, she scooted as close to Dick as she could, burying her face against his shabby coat. His arms encircled her, hugging her tight and warm, and Maggey Byrde felt something infinitely better than all the luck she'd been hoping and searching for.

She felt loved.

Here, enjoy this great big ball of cheese that I wrote for the person who is the Gumshoe to my very Maggey-ish existence. I realize it's cliche and rushed but whaaattt the hey, this is really just a combination of vent writing and a way of expressing my gratitude for said lovable derp.