Phoenix Wright Fan Fiction

Life - After Death

By Kraven Ergeist

Part One: Life

Both were drunk. Both were happy. Later, there would be paperwork and bills to pay, and ultimately, tragedy. But for now, it was just the two of them, drinking and having a good time.

They were an odd pair – a spiky haired novice with a soft spot for underdogs, and a cool, confident pro with a smile that could dazzle anyone. She was the leader, the one in charge, the decision maker. Later, he would have to strike out on his own, but for now, he was simply following in her footsteps, like a dog on a leash, doing just what his master said, beaming at praise and shrinking from scorn.

He'd seen Mia like this before, though never quite so intense. She'd always held her alcohol better than he could, so whenever he tried to skimp out, she'd force it down his gullet. Maybe it was the heat in his stomach that made her seem more triumphant tonight, or maybe it was because she really was and he wasn't imagining things. There was cause to be happy, after all.

What he hadn't expected was to be helping her home from the bar, half lucid, and barely conscious himself. Maybe they had celebrated a little too much.

Not knowing where she lived, and unable to get a cogent response, he could think of no other place to take her but Fey and Co. Offices. At very least, there he could look up where to send the taxi, assuming he could keep his eyes open long enough.

He stumbled and barely caught her as her heels clacked clumsily on the pavement. Her voice murmured incoherencies that his jumbled mind could barely register anyway. Even had she been speaking rationally, all that he noticed was the way his nose burned with her scent, or how this woman that he idolized like a deity felt so thin in his arms.

He managed to get to the office somehow, and depositing his charge with the gentlest care (or as gentle as one can be when one can't see their own feet) he gingerly sorted through papers. Private addresses weren't something that regularly showed up in bills, business cards and polite conversation, so he had little to go on. She may just have to sleep here for the night. He idly hoped she'd forgive him.

Giving up on his search, he gingerly sat his body next to hers, leaning in close enough to touch her shoulder and speak into her ear.

"Chief…"

She stirred, but otherwise gave no hint that she had heard him. Her smell made him flush.

"Um…Chief…?"

A movement. A rustle. Her eyes remained closed. A hint of lacy undergarment was showing under her blouse. He tried not to look.

"…Mia…?"

Her lips curved into a smile and her head tilted his way.

"Finally…"

He blinked, confused. Had she been awake this whole time? Giving her the benefit of the doubt, he shook his head. What had he wanted to ask her again? Oh right.

"I was…gonna call you a taxi…" He stuttered, looking away. Her neckline was white and perfect. "Where should I tell them to take you?"

Mia's smiled turned into a pout that he found rather endearing.

"Here's fine…" she stretched like a cat, yawning as her prim business suit crinkled and brushed against his. "I sleep here often enough anyway…"

He colored at this small revelation of her personal life. "You really work yourself hard, Chief…"

"If you work hard you play hard…" She gleamed, her teeth showing in a catlike smile. "And I told you to call me Mia."

He cleared his throat. Everything about her made him burn on the inside, and it was difficult enough without her throwing professionalism by the wayside.

"You're my boss, Chief," he offered weakly. "It may be late, but we're still at the office, in uniform…"

An idea seemed to cross her eyes, but she only smiled.

"You're not just my employee, Phoenix, you're my protégé. My star pupil."

She gave him that same smile that always made him melt on the inside.

"It'd be silly of me not to offer you special treatment…"

Her fingers tickled his cheek as her palm came to rest on his face in a sweet, motherly gesture that was anything but platonic.

"But-"

"Lighten up…" she cooed, winking as she caressed him. "Enjoy yourself. Have a little fun. I'm not going to fire you."

He swallowed. Her lips were so close.

"You're drunk. And so am I."

"Like you haven't been thinking about this since you started working for me…" she giggled, undeterred, now more cogent than he'd suspected. "I see the looks you give me, the sidelong glances as I pass by…I'm not blind, Phoenix…"

His blush was very real now. Her hand had not left his cheek, though now her fingers were curling into his hair.

"You've learned all you can from me as a lawyer…" she confided, looking more serious now. Her eyes seemed pained, somehow. Longing. "But there's something I'd like to teach you that has nothing to do with being a lawyer…"

He didn't want to believe what he was hearing. Surely he was dreaming, the alcohol was messing with his brain, something.

"What?"

Her smile turned genuine, caring, open and affectionate. There was passion and promiscuity, but also sincerity and trust.

"I may be a lawyer, and your boss…" her face closed in on his. "But I'm also a woman…"

It was their first and their last.

Part Two: After Death

Three in the morning. Three in the morning, and they were still no closer to solving this case than they had been at noon earlier that day. Pizza boxes littered the table (none of them containing any pizza after Maya had gotten hold of them) and papers lay strew all over the office. Books lay open, the TV remained on mute, what used to be the news now paid programming for exercise equipment.

He had dark circles under his eyes, and Maya lay passed out on the couch. He didn't want to wake her to send her home, and really didn't want to go home himself. But there was only one couch, and he wasn't going to sleep on the floor, so he reclined his chair and pulled his coat over his body, resigning to resume work the following morning.

He had just touched the fringes of sleep when his coat slid off his body and cold air flooded his day old clothes. Shivering awake, he leaned over to retrieve the fallen jacket, when he noticed Maya was standing by the desk.

He debated whether this meant that they could both go home now, or that maybe she would go home and leave him the couch, and was about to open his mouth to make some humorous comment when he noticed that Maya was looking a little more…ample…than usual.

His heart was in his throat.

"Mia…?"

She was on him before he could protest, perched on top of him in his office chair, her body molded to his, bosom pressed to him as her lips locked with his. Her hands coveted his face while her voice groaned happily into his mouth, body squirming in delight over his.

The reality of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Wait…" he brought his hands to her shoulders, pulling her mouth from his to look at her eyes. It was Maya. Same face, same hair, same outfit. Her eyes, though…her smile…that devilish confidence… That was all Mia.

"Is that an objection I hear?" she quirked an eyebrow at him, lips curved in a fiendish grin. "I only have so much time, you know?"

He shook his head, dazed at the implications this entailed.

"I…you…I can't do this…" the rational part of his brain said. "This isn't you!"

"You still don't believe it?" she smirked, laying her weight against him. The resulting flurry of heat in his abdomen made him stammer.

"I…I know it's you in there…" He said through clenched teeth. "But it's Maya's body! I…we can't do this to her! She doesn't even know what's happening!"

Mia's grin widened, and she closed her eyes as she laughed from the belly.

"Oh, Nicky…you're such a clueless male…"

He bit off a retort, cheeks still flushed. He'd been called that before, but never under such…agreeable circumstances…

Mia tossed her…Maya's hair.

"If my sister wasn't already head over heels for you, I wouldn't have even tried this."

His eyes widened. His jaw hung slack.

"…What?"

Mia winked. "Don't you get it? She's crazy for you, Phoenix. Why do you think she wanted to partner up with you?"

Mia leaned Maya's body against him, running her hand across his chest.

"Not that she'll ever admit it, of course…"

His head was spinning. Mia. Here, now, in Maya's body. Late a night, sitting on his lap, kissing him. And now Maya…

"But…it's still wrong…" he stammered, unable to resist an intake of breath as her hands found their way into his shirt. "It should still be her choice, even…" he gulped, partly at the thought, and partly because Mia was chewing on his ear. "…Even if she does…like me…"

She retracted her probing tongue long enough to stare into his eyes, arms still locked around him possessively.

"I still have feelings for you too, Nicky…" she pecked him on the lips. "It was always my job to give my little sister that little boost out the door whenever she got cold feet. Now that I'm not around anymore to do that, this is the only thing I can do for her…and for you…"

He tried to think of a reason to stop her as she peeled the clothes from his body. By the time they moved over to the couch, he stopped trying to think. He'd seen a lot of crazy things in his life. He'd done a lot of crazy things in his life. But now, he didn't know what to think. He didn't know what to feel.

Mia.

Maya.

Who was she anymore? This girl he held in his arms, kissed and loved. Who was she, his partner, who would stay with him through thick and thin? Who would he think of when he drifted off to sleep? Whose name did he mouth when he finally released?

"Oh Nick…"

The voice he heard was not Mia's. His heart sank.

Oh God, what have I done?

"Am…am I dreaming?"

He looked down at her face. It was not scared or shocked. She looked…happy. Blissful even.

He didn't even know where to begin.

"Maya…"

Her arms tightened around him as she pulled him close, not wondering how they'd gotten to this point, only caring about where they were now.

"Oh, Nick…I've been waiting for so long…"

He was stunned. Hadn't he already crossed the line with Mia? People would frown enough on a relationship between coworkers, but Maya…she wasn't even an adult yet!

She was eligible, a little voice reminded him. She was over sixteen, and that made her eligible in Japan. He may get a few weird looks, but nothing anyone could take to court. That would be an awkward case to defend.

"Nick?"

Her voice brought him back to reality, and he looked at her, not confused but uncertain, as if unsure as to where to go next. Looking to him for guidance.

She needed him, he realized. Just like he needed Mia. And Mia needed Maya. The world's weirdest threesome. What had he gotten himself into?

"Go to sleep, Maya…" he said soothingly, stroking her hair. "We've still got a lot of work to do in the morning."

Reassured that Phoenix Wright was still the same, she smiled brightly.

"Right!"

She drifted off to sleep, and he soon followed after. What he would do from here, he hadn't a clue. He couldn't have imagined a situation like this the day he became involved with the Fey sisters. But what he felt was real. What he needed was real, and what they needed from him was also real. And if this situation was what it took to fulfill everyone's needs…

…Then he had no objections.