A/N: Once again i apologize for any misspelling.
When Goro Akechi had been brought in Mitsuru-san had assigned Labrys to watch over him. Her assignment was to guard him and keep him safe but to also fight against him if necessary.
Labrys doubted the ICU patient could pose any danger to them with his wounds but Mitsuru-san had said she'd rather be more safe then sorry.
Labrys could understand that. When dealing with Shadows and Personas things were never what they seemed and if Naoto-kun's speculation was correct, he had some connection to them.
What she couldn't understand was how a teenager got roped up with a politician. There was still debate on whether the 'Shido' Goro-kun had mentioned was the politician or not but since Yu-kun had found him behind the Diet building they were working under the assumption he was.
"Poor guy…" Labrys said out loud. Shifting her position on her chair to get more comfortable. She had pulled it up to his bedside in the hopes that sitting close to him would cause him to react but…
His eyes continued to stare vacantly at nothing. The only difference from yesterday was that he was looking out the window at the bloody rain instead of straight ahead.
"Well," Her accented voice forced a little cheer, "At least he ain't lookin' at the wall anymore."
"That's always an improvement, right?" A rough but kind voice spoke from behind her.
Labrys turned around and smiled at the Police Officer.
"Akihiko-san! It's been awhile!" She stood up to great her old friend. He was in uniform but he held his cap in one hand while his other loosened his tie.
"It really has." He smiled as Labrys pulled up another chair for him. "How are you doing, Labrys?" he asked as he sat down.
"I'm doin' great!" She smiled. "And you?"
"About as good as can be expected, all things considered." He nodded out the window with his head.
"I suppose that makes sense." Labrys gave a nervous little laugh. "But what are you doin' here?"
"I'm here to visit Goro-san." Akihiko replied. "I promised to keep him updated on a certain case. Although, Mitsuru has been keeping me posted on his condition so I'm not sure if he'll hear any of it…"
"That's true." Labrys glanced at Goro-kun. He was still staring out the window. "Can I ask what kinda case?"
"Hm? Oh, sure. Thanks to Goro-san's help, the case was closed, so I'm able to talk about it know. Let's see," He paused in thought, sorting out what he wanted to say. "He helped me out about three months ago. It was a case were a single Father supposedly committed suicide but his teenage son refused to except it."
"Oh… that's…" Labrys looked away for a bit.
"Yeah, the poor kid keep begging the police to investigate more but since the kid was an illegitimate child no one was taking him seriously. But I remembered Goro-san had helped me on a similar case before so I brought it to his attention." Akihiko-san explained.
"He helped you on a case?" Labrys asked surprised.
"Yeah, seven actually." He admitted.
"What?! Why am I just know hearing 'bout this?" She raised her brows in surprise.
"Because Goro-san asked me to remain quiet about his involvement in those particular cases." Akihiko-san sighed. "In fact after each case was done he made me take the credit for them."
"You're kiddin'…"
"No, I'm not." He let out a tired laugh. "It was a well kept secret but there were certain cases that he would solve and for some reason not want his name attached to them, so he picked a handful of officers, whom he'd work with, and then arrange for them to get all the credit. I was apparently one of them. Without me even realizing it he made me take credit for four of those cases."
"But… why?" Labrys asked, confused.
"All these cases were very similar to each other in many ways. They all had to do with ether illegitimate children, single parents, orphans, or children born out of wedlock…"
"Oh…" Labrys looked down as she remembered what Naoto-kun had said about Goro-kun's past.
"Yeah, I heard from Mitsuru." Akihiko-san sighed. "I suppose it make sense why he was so determined to help on those cases and why he didn't want his name attached to them. If word got out that he was also born out of wedlock…"
"His career would be over…" Labrys finished.
"Yes."
"So… What happened with the boy? The case you wanted to update Goro-kun on?" She asked, getting the conversation back on track.
"Oh right. Well, Goro-kun thanked me for bringing it to his attention and proceeded to basically kidnap me to help him solve it. Before I knew it I was driving him everywhere, from the library, to the crime scene, to gathering whiteness statements, and more." Akihiko-san continued. "Eventually we discovered that the son had been right, his Father didn't commit suicide. He was murdered by his lover's legal husband. The worst part is that the man had no idea his lover had been married until she was pregnant."
"oh…" Labrys flinched.
"Yeah… when you work with the police force you come across all kinds of tragic stories." He sighed. "But Goro-san closed the case and quickly moved on. There was still some loose ends that needed to be tied up but he left them to me and made me promise to update him on how the kid was doing."
"How is he doin'?" she asked
"Good." He smiled. "His grandmother took him in and is taking good care of him. He did have to transfer schools but he's doing well."
"That's wonderful!" Labyrs smiled. "Did you hear that Goro-kun?" She turned towards the bedridden teen not expecting much. "That kid…is…"
Goro-kun was looking at Akihiko-san.
His eyes were still vacant and empty but there was no doubt he was looking at the officer.
He didn't say anything or move. He just simply stared.
Silence stretched out before them and the sound of the clock ticking was unexpectedly loud. After awhile though, Goro-kun lifted his hand and feebly reached for Akihiko-san.
Wordlessly Akihiko-san and Labrys switched chairs so he was closer to the teenage detective and, gently, he took hold of Goro-kun's hand.
Goro-kun gazed at Akihiko-san for a moment longer before turning his attention back towards the window.
"I think… that's the first time he's acknowledged anyone." Labrys whispered as she took out her phone and messaged Mitsuru-san.
"If you can call a 'vacant stare' acknowledgement…" Akihiko-san laughed humorlessly.
"It's progress." Labrys said as her phone beeped. "Mitsuru-san is on her way and is sending the Doctor as well."
"Alright," Akihiko-san turned his attention back towards Goro-kun. He contemplated the young detective before speaking again. "I'll stay until he let's go."
"Sounds good." Labrys smiled. She looked at Goro-kun's hand. She didn't need to be the one holding Goro-kun's to know that he was using what little strength he had to grip onto Akihiko-san. It was almost as if he was anchoring himself to the waking world.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Later that day there was panic in the streets. Labrys watched the people on the streets panicking from the ICU's window. It was chaos and the worst part was that the Shadow Operatives couldn't do anything.
However, according to Mitsuru-san one of their Operatives had seen a group of strangely dressed people ascending the large structures earlier in the day.
She could only hope they were trying to save the word instead of being the ones to destroy it.
As she was musing, the TV screen in the room turned on. She jumped into a fighting stance even though she knew the screen was to small for anything to come through.
But to her surprise a red symbol appeared, the Phantom Thieves symbol.
"And we'll definitely… definitely…!" A voice echoed from the TV. "Take the world!"
A feeling of warmth spread throughout Labrys heart and body.
"This is…" she relaxed her stance and placed her had on her chest. She knew this feeling… it was…
"Hope." Goro-kun's voice spoke softly.
Labrys turned on her heals.
Goro-kun's gaze was fixed onto the TV, his expression warm and a little annoyed.
"What's the matter? Get up." He spoke softly. "It's too early for checkmate."
Labrys opened her mouth to speak but she realized he wasn't talking to her.
He was talking to the Phantom Thieves.
"You hear that?! Those are the voices of the humans you made fun of!" The voice from the TV spoke again. "No one wants you to rule over them! Isn't that right, Joker?!"
"They… can hear us?" Labrys realized and her shock turned into determination. "Don't give up! Never give up! As long your alive keep fightin'!"
"That's right." Another male voice, who was most likely Joker, confirmed and Goro-kun let out a small laugh.
"Why do they gotta word it like they're lookin' down on us?" a third male voice complained with a small laugh.
"But, they're cheering for us…" a young girls voice responded.
"Heh…" Another young girl's voice laughed. "Doesn't feel bad."
"They don't have to tell us twice…" a young man's deep voice said.
"We won't let ourselves be erased!" exclaimed a third young lady.
"We're going all out!" a final young lady's voice rang out.
"I will see my justice through for the sake of protecting what I care about." The first voice spoke again. "The same goes for you guys too. If you've decided to take the world from him, don't compromise your ideals to the very end!"
"Now that's beauty!"
"Yeah! Let's defeat him together!"
"Hey, god! Foolish humans are prayin' down there!"
The sound of people chanting reached the ICU room and Labrys realized that everyone in the building and on the streets were cheering for the Phantom Thieves.
"We're saving this world!" the second voice, Joker, exclaimed.
The familiar sound of shattering class echoed from the TV followed by the sound of rattling and breaking chains.
Labrys looked out the window and a roar and explosion sounded from the small TV. Streaks of light fell across the sky like shooting stars.
"So you have failed to harness the power." A mechanical voice sounded. It sent a shiver of dread down Labrys's back. "No matter how many prayers of those foolish masses come together… Hm?!"
The sound of thunder cut off the mechanical voice.
"What the?"
Labrys watched as the sky turned blue and a huge figure descended.
"That's-"
"Man, it's huge!"
"What an immense power…! No way… Is it a Persona…?"
"A Persona?!" Labrys gasped as she gazed at the giant creature. Its appearance, its presence… there was no doubting that it was a Persona. "I had no idea they could be that huge!"
"That's just like you, isn't it, Ren." Goro-kun muttered weakly with a laugh.
"Fools! This is why man is doomed…" said the mechanical voice.
A flash of white light lit up the sky.
"Impossible!" the mechanical voice shouted.
"I see…" the first voice chuckled. "If a god plays naughty, then it's a demon lord's duty to punish him! What better way is there for a finale as a Trickster! Joker, we're entrusting our strength and the people's hopes to you! Put an end to this!"
"Pillage him, Satanael!" Joker commanded.
The giant person pulled out an equally giant riffle and aimed it at the other creature.
"Begone!" Joker ordered.
"Preposterous… You dare rob the people's wishes?!"
The Persona pulled the trigger and the sound of its fire rang out in the air and through the TV. Labrys watch as the bullet quickly shattered through the other creature's head with wide eyes.
The sun broke through the clouds as the creature began to shake and twitch.
"What power… It surpasses mine own… a god born from the wish of the masses… So this is the true Trickster… Damn that Igor… It seems he wasn't spouting nonsense…" the creature spoke.
The creature glowed a bright golden light before evaporating into specks of light and floating away.
"Look!"
"Ain't that a Treasure? Right, Mona?"
"Thanks for everything gang."
"Mona-chan?"
"Mona?"
"Humans have the power to change the world. They just forgot about a bit…"
The voices from the TV began to fade and Labrys knew that it had returned to a blank screen.
A few minutes of silence passed buy before the rain finally stopped and the red sky began to clear. Labrys and Goro-kun watched as the large bones and the bloods remains faded away into sparkles of light. Soon, everything in Tokyo became shrouded in the fading but bright sparkles.
It was a strangely beautiful sight.
"They really did it…" Goro-kun said and Labrys turned around to look at him.
His face was twisted into a tired grin and she could tell by his drooping eyes he was falling back to sleep.
"Honestly…" he closed his eyes. "I'm… not… sur…prised…"
His breathing slowed and evened out as their room was engulfed in light.
A/N: I'm pretty sure Akechi has solved legitimate cases before. He's shown solving non-psychotic breakdown cases in the anime after all and is shown to be a competent detective in PQ2. and the case he's working on in the 'Mementos Mission' manga may not be a psychotic Breakdown case ether. maybe. that one's still up in the air.
also, speaking of the anime i mixed and matched Quotes from it and the game for this chapter.