Phoenix couldn't and wouldn't stop glancing at the clock on the wall once every five seconds.

The office was empty and quiet, it was almost uncomfortable. Athena and Trucy had left to take on a case. Initially, Phoenix was supposed to be the one who went to the case with Athena. Even if Trucy was replacing him as the co-counsel, he normally would've accompanied the two of them to watch from the gallery and provide help during recesses, but the two urged him to stay in the office to wait for Apollo.

Apollo Justice was the one who was always the killjoy so dedicated to his work and a stickler to the rules, and he had yet to show up in the office at all. They'd tried contacting him, but either his mobile phone had run out of battery, or he had it switched off, because they couldn't reach him at all.

Phoenix had a stack of paperwork to complete, but he couldn't focus on it. Apollo would normally call up the office if something was up. Well, he said he would, but this was the first time he was absent from the office without showing up at all. And he hadn't called the office, like he said he would.

He finally looked down at the paper he had been writing on. And, dangnabbit, he had written the date where he was supposed to sign his name. He furrowed his brow, striking out the date and re-writing his name.

Stop, Phoenix, you're supposed to focus. Thinking about Apollo isn't going to make him show up at the door. Phoenix chided himself, sighing before filling out the rest of the paper.

He heard the Steel Samurai theme playing. His hands shot to the phone, immediately expecting a message or call from Apollo. His face fell when he realized it was just a message from Athena.

[ We won the case, boss! BD -Athena ]

Phoenix smirked slightly despite his dampened spirits.

[ Good job, when're you coming back? -Phoenix ]

The reply from Athena was almost instant. Then again, she was using one of those smart phones where you could touch the screen. Phoenix never understood those phones. Talk about being technology illiterate.

[ IDK, you want to get some Eldoons? -Athena ]

[ But Apollo isn't back. -Phoenix ]

[ He's still not back? Bummer. Maybe he's just really lazy today. But you gotta eat, boss! -Athena ]

[ Okay, fine, I'll meet you at Eldoons? -Phoenix ]

[ Yup, be seeing you there! -Athena ]

Phoenix closed his flip-up phone and stuffed it in his back pocket, standing up from his desk.

Before he could walk to the door, it opened on its own. But it wasn't a new client, or Athena and Trucy.

"Apollo?" Phoenix raised his eyebrows, before his eyes widened upon having a clear look at his protegé.

Apollo looked like a walking zombie. All the colour was drained from his face. He was shivering severely, hugging his arms to himself, as if he was freezing. He had a dazed and lost look on his face as he shuffled into the office, stumbling a little, unable to walk in a straight line. His knees gave way, and he practically collapsed, his head ,thankfully, landing onto the couch.

"Apollo!" Horrified, Phoenix rushed over to the younger man instantly. He was still shivering, seeming oblivious to his mentor. His eyes were glassy and swollen and he took breaths in shaky gasps. Phoenix placed a hand onto his back, "Apollo, can you hear me? Apollo? What happened?" He asked frantically. Apollo still didn't react. Hiccups and sobs wrecked his body. Phoenix rubbed Apollo's back slowly, in an attempt to comfort him.

"...Gavin." Phoenix jolted upon suddenly hearing Apollo's choked voice for the first time that day.

"Don't worry about Gavin, Apollo. There's no Gavin here." Phoenix assured, assuming he was scared of his former mentor due to the mention of his name.

"N-No." Apollo's voice sounded like a whimper now. "K-Kristoph G-G-Gavin. D-Dark Age of the L-Law." He continued shakily. The older man pressed his hand a little harder against Apollo's back, not completely understanding why he was talking about the Dark Age of the Law, and why he was crying over it.

"What about the Dark Age of the Law?" Phoenix prompted gently. At that, Apollo started shivering even more, and he curled up, burying his face into arms and knees.

"I-I-I started th-the D-Dark Age of the L-L-Law. It's m-my fault." Apollo sobbed, pressing his face into his arms even more. At that moment, everything around Phoenix went dark and didn't exist besides himself and Apollo. He could see faded chains which were covered in rust and (what looked suspiciously like) blood, one sole ink coloured psyche lock hung there, but it was beaten up and broken. It looked like someone had tried to break it by force, and Phoenix had no doubts about who it was.

He had heard before of the consequences of breaking a black psyche lock by force, but never before had he seen a person undergo such treatment. It hurt Phoenix to see Apollo in such a state, and he wrapped his arms around Apollo, who recoiled at the touch, curling into a tighter ball.

"I-I'm sorry! I m-made you l-l-lose y-your badge! I-I-" Apollo was blubbering like a child, all mostly something about being the cause of the Dark Age of the Law. Phoenix ignored Apollo's protests and pulled him into a gentle but firm hug.

"You didn't cause the Dark Age of the Law, Apollo. You didn't make me lose my badge. It's not your fault." Phoenix soothed, feeling anger and guilt gnaw in his heart. His anger was directed towards Kristoph, for rendering Apollo to such a state of emotion. Guilt, for not checking up on Apollo and allowing him to get to Kristoph in the first place. He should've known it was a bad idea to ask Apollo to visit Kristoph in the first place all those months ago.

Apollo wasn't speaking anymore, just letting his tears out. Phoenix didn't say anything either as he cradled Apollo, rocking him gently back and forth.

He hated seeing Apollo like this. He was so scared, so lonely, so sad. It was hard to imagine one of the strongest and bravest people he knew like this. He looked like a small, vulnerable child, broken to the core. Phoenix repeated "It's not your fault" under his breath continuously, patting host head slowly.

Athena and Trucy finally got tired of waiting for Phoenix, wondering what was taking the older man so long just to get to Eldoon's. He was late - A full hour late. They headed back to the Wright Anything Agency, ready to give him a piece of their minds.

Their anger dispelled when they saw Phoenix sitting on the floor, a sleeping Apollo in his arms.

Author's notes: Because I had nothing to write, and I really love Phoenix and Apollo father-son moments.

Crying and panic is how I imagine a person with black psyche locks broken by force to react. And black psyche locks probably wouldn't appear in a situation like this because he wasn't really forced to remember anything traumatic, but I felt like mentioning it. And he's not going to lose his soul forever either, because it's not that severe and it was only one black psyche lock.

And yeah I know a lot of my fanfictions end up with a sleeping Apollo.