Disclaimer: Not my characters or copyright, no matter what terrible things I do to them.

Notes: For the kink meme. The request was for Klavier slipping a drug into Apollo's drink while clubbing, with really bad results. I wasn't terribly interested, since I don't even really ship them... then I thought about the potential results of Klavier doing this, and went "...Ooooooooooh!" ...You'll see what I mean around the end of the 4th chapter. ;)

Warnings: Drug abuse (with made-up drugs),made-up song lyrics, spoilers for pretty much the entirety of Apollo Justice, brief nods to kink meme canon, and - first and foremost - aaaaaaaangst.

Never Fade Away
Chapter One

Apollo seemed bound and determined to bring Klavier Gavin down in his extracurricular activities as well as the courtroom, it would seem. Here they were at the most exclusive club in LA, surrounded by attractive people and celebrities of various levels of fame and reputation, with the hottest DJs mixing the coolest beats, and what was Herr Forehead doing? He was sitting at a table in the corner by himself, frowning, scribbling in a notebook under the flashing colored lights.

Under most circumstances, Klavier would have been exasperated. But this was a night out, and he'd come prepared. Having tried to get Apollo to come clubbing with him before, prepared in multiple ways. Slipping out from among the lovely starlets-to-be he'd been chatting up, he excused himself and made his way through the crowd to sit down beside his walking buzzkill of a boyfriend. "Reading and writing in this lighting is bad for the eyes, schatzi."

"The same could be said for wearing mirrored shades indoors at night," Apollo pointed out, still scribbling away. "It already messes with your eyes. But I don't get on your case about your quirks, do I?"

"Actually," Klavier said with a smooth smile, sliding the sunglasses off with one hand and taking hold of Apollo's wrist with the other, "you do. Constantly."

"Someone has to," Apollo remarked, looking mildly irritated at the interruption, but hardly looking at him for a moment before returning to his writing. "Otherwise you seem to think they're positive character traits."

But for that one moment, Klavier observed, he did look into his eyes - 'messed up' or otherwise. Klavier wasted no time. "Dance with me?"

"Klavier-"

"I know, I know," Klavier sighed, pushing the sunglasses back up before anyone else could get a good look at him with them off. "You don't dance."

Apollo, who had never shown any indication that he recognized what Klavier was doing, averted his own eyes. "...I'd rather just watch you anyway," he muttered.

"And I'd rather you didn't." Klavier slid his chair closer, right next to Apollo's, and Apollo flinched in surprise as an arm clad in black leather fell across his shoulders. "When I dance, I feel the music, schatzi... almost as if it were a tangible, physical presence. I am enthralled, seduced by the rhythm..." he whispered, tracing his fingertip along the edge of Apollo's jaw, "and I would prefer to have you there to be wrapped up in its seduction with me."

Even with the odd lighting and the sunglasses, Apollo's cheeks seemed to be growing a little pinker. "...Uh, can't we just put on the stereo in your nice, private, soundproof office, then?"

Klavier slid closer, nearly onto Apollo's lap. Buzzkill or not, he was adorable when flustered. Which was most of the time. "Please?" he murmured in Apollo's ear. "I'll beg."

Apollo shook his head abruptly, ducking out from under Klavier's arm. "What's with you?" he asked, looking more confused than annoyed, despite the tone of his voice. "Every time you drag me out to one of these clubs, you get all weird on me."

Klavier laughed softly, nearly a giggle. "You mean to say you don't like me draped all over you, showering you with affection..." He slid his chair closer again. "...wanting you, needing you-"

"It's like you become a different person," Apollo stated, inching away again. "And, well, obviously I like you just fine the way you normally are, or I wouldn't have agreed to come here in the first place."

Klavier grinned a slow grin. "Do you not like topping me?"

Apollo slid his chair back further, and hit the wall. "Look - just... just enjoy your music and dancing and everything, all right!?" he exclaimed. Klavier thought he sounded half frustrated, half scared. "I'm fine with just watching. And going home with you afterwards," he added in an undertone.

This time Klavier's laugh was a giggle. "Have it your way, Forehead," he said, standing up. He'd had an idea a couple hours ago, and it seemed like a good time to put it into action if he wanted to really have some fun tonight. Apollo jumped as Klavier abruptly leaned back down on the table with his elbows, pinning Apollo's beloved notebook before he could pick it up again. "Can I at least entice you into partaking of the club culture by buying you a drink?"

Apollo shrugged, averting his eyes again. "Sure. Whatever."

'Whatever' indeed, Klavier thought. "What would you like?"

"A Coke would be fine."

Klavier made a quiet, exasperated noise. They were at a club, for crying out loud. "Jack and Coke it is," he repeated, turning to saunter towards the bar. He was good at sauntering at the moment, thanks to his tight jeans, and he knew it.

"Hey! Just the Coke, not the..." The sigh wasn't audible over the thumping bass, but Klavier could imagine it nonetheless. He'd heard it many a time.

There had been three pills in his pocket when they arrived, and the first two hadn't lasted much longer than it took for Klavier to hit the bar for his first drink. Klavier had never been much for the 'drugs' part of 'sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll', seeing as he was an executor of the law first and foremost, but since Kristoph had... well. Since Kristoph, and the pill wouldn't let him dwell too long on the details. These days, Klavier found it difficult to relax without help - and in a scene like this, it was to be expected. He wasn't going to take them in front of anyone, or mention it - that would be career suicide - but if someone happened to see anyone swallow a pill inside the club, no one batted an eye, and he was careful to take along only what he intended to use, in case there was an unexpected situation. Pity he hadn't brought an extra, but Klavier thought this would be worth the shorter high.

The third came out now, and Klavier popped the two halves of the capsule apart, dumping the powder within into the glass in one smooth, subtle motion as he turned away from the bar. He looked up then, hearing someone shout his name; ah, he knew the fellows at the nearby table - their bands had toured together once, with the Gavinners headlining. Shame about what happened with Crescend. Klavier took a gulp of Apollo's drink and smiled. A shame indeed.

He spent a few minutes chatting with them, catching up and putting rumors to rest, before heading back for his boyfriend's table and offering the drink. "I tried a little," he admitted with an unapologetic grin as he set the glass down beside Apollo. "Tasty."

Apollo tried a sip, and grimaced as he confirmed that it was indeed not just a Coke. "If you were this irreverent in court, you'd never win a case."

"Apologies - but you need to lighten up and have some fun once in awhile."

"..." Apollo actually did look a little sheepish for a moment, and took a deeper drink. "...Okay, look," he began. "I know I'm not exactly the kind of lover people would expect you to have. There's nothing glamorous or flashy about me, I'm not graceful, I'm not musical..."

"I still would be interested in hearing you put those Chords of Steel to good use," Klavier said, straightfaced.

"...Anyway," Apollo continued, looking up at him, entirely serious. "I... This kind of place isn't where I belong. You look good here, you can fit in and look like you should be here. I can't."

It hurt, vaguely, somewhere, to hear Apollo talking about this. "I think you could. If you'd just relax."

Apollo stared down into his drink. "I'm not especially good at relaxing."

"Well..." This was unexpected, having what amounted to a serious conversation in a place like this, while high as a kite. Klavier couldn't quite figure out what he should be saying. "...All right," he said after a moment. "I'll go do my thing... you do yours... I'll be back in a little while, ja?"

Apollo nodded, and looked back up to him seriously. "...I'm sorry."

Klavier shook his head as he turned to go. "No need. Let's not discuss it tonight. Tomorrow, perhaps."

"Right."

They wouldn't be discussing it tonight, certainly, Klavier thought as he returned to his fangirls - he wanted to dance, with or without Apollo. But in about fifteen minutes - if he finished that drink - Klavier was going to get to see what it was like for Apollo to lighten up for a change. Now that, he thought, was going to be interesting.

The conversation had left Apollo rather moody, which just made him all the more irritable, and he gave up on his writing, resting his head in his hands as he nursed his drink and stared out at Klavier, talking and laughing and wrapping his arms around old friends and new acquaintances without self-consciousness. Despite the golden hair, in that outfit he was all dark and sleek and graceful, like some kind of great cat. Next to that, Apollo usually felt like a puppy that hadn't grown into his paws. Honestly, was it so surprising that it often made him feel like snapping at something?

Klavier was probably right. He needed to lighten up. First, though, he needed to learn how to lighten up. The problem was, he'd lived so much of his life in uncertainty that the idea of 'lightening up' was frightening. It was letting his guard down, it was being unprepared. He couldn't let go of that fear - which was odd, because things had gone even worse for Klavier in the last year than they had for him. He might have lost his old job and wound up being mentored by a thoroughly unreliable and eccentric ex-attorney, but he'd also found his sister. He'd been taken in by that ex-attorney, and despite his frequent frustration with Mr. Wright's oddities, it felt... comfortable. Like he finally found a place to just be himself. And then, too, he had a lover who was, despite all his initial arguments to the contrary, possibly the coolest and most attractive man on the planet. (He hated admitting that, but he couldn't go on denying it while he was sleeping with the guy.)

Meanwhile, rather than gaining a sister, Klavier had lost his brother, the only family he had. And instead of losing one job and just picking it up elsewhere with a new mentor, Klavier's musical career had ended abruptly and tragically. And Klavier was shaking it off like nothing. Sure, he'd always said that the law came first for him, but how could he not be at least a little upset about not being a 'god of rock' anymore?

Maybe he was going at this backwards, Apollo thought, and he started to write it down, in case he forgot. Maybe being relaxed and 'unprepared' was a better way to deal with what life threw at you. It seemed to work for Klavier. Klavier, he thought as he looked up to see the guy shaking his hips in time to the music, was having a wonderful time.

Jealous, Apollo realized. He was jealous. He'd been jealous for awhile, but mostly of things like Klavier's looks, his screaming fans, his voice, his relaxed confidence. It seemed to go deeper than that at the moment.

Even so, Apollo couldn't manage to work himself up to what seemed like a proper level of frustration at what his life was like. Because the guy over there, moving like a large seductive cat on the dance floor, was his.

That was distracting him from writing anything further, and Apollo sat very still, just watching. He almost did want to get up and join Klavier, just this once, but then he wouldn't be able to watch him move. Even if Klavier was dancing with some girl Apollo didn't know, it was still amazing to watch.

Apollo began to realize after a while that Klavier wasn't exactly dancing in time to the music any longer. Or maybe it was just that he was so focused on Klavier that he couldn't really hear the music anymore himself. That was all right - he didn't care for this kind of music anyway. He was fine as long as he could see Klavier.

Or so he thought until, in a burst of euphoria, he started to stand up to go and join him - and the room lurched sideways.

After Klavier had thanked the pretty little fraülein for the dance, he supposed it was about time to check on his dear Forehead. True to his nickname, Apollo was somewhat slumped forward on his elbow at the table, resting his forehead against his palm. He looked a little drunk. ...It was cute. Klavier almost didn't want to disturb him, but he couldn't just stand there and stare at him forever, so he pulled the chair over again, sitting down on it backwards. "Forehead?"

"Uh. Klavier." He didn't look up.

Klavier leaned closer, puzzled. "Are you mad? Because of that girl? Believe me, schatzi, I would rather have danced with you." When Apollo said nothing, he added "There's still time, ja?"

"Not mad. ...I feel..." Apollo hesitated there for a rather long time. "...funny."

"Oh?" Klavier just bet Apollo felt 'funny', and he grinned. "How so?"

"Kind of... sleepy. Dizzy." Apollo lifted his head from his hand for a moment, and stared down at his notebook. "...I don't remember how to read."

Klavier laughed lightly and closed it, taking Apollo's hand. "Then you can come dance with me," he suggested, tugging a little.

Apollo shook his head, and drew his hand back to resume his previous position. "I... I'd rather stay here."

Still shy, even with some help? Klavier shook his head in mock exasperation. His schatzi was far too uptight.

"Actually," Apollo continued in a mumble, before Klavier could say anything about it, "I'd really like to go home now."

He sounded kind of depressed, now that Klavier was thinking about it, and again he reached up to remove his sunglasses to have a better look, slightly concerned. "Is there something the matter?" He got no response, aside from slightly shallow breaths, for so long that he slipped the glasses into his pocket, leaning a little closer. "...Apollo?" He got a response this time, though an unexpected one - Apollo was abruptly, noisily sick on the table.

Klavier drew back a little in surprise, though the drugs in his system kept him from being too alarmed, and then he reached out to rub Apollo's shoulder as he coughed painfully. "...Home it is," he said simply, noticing but mostly ignoring the shocked looks that were aimed in their direction from the nearby tables. "I'll have the driver bring the car around."

Apollo moaned faintly, holding onto the edge of the table for support. "...I think something's really wrong..."

There were worrisome thoughts fluttering around in Klavier's mind as well, but the pills he'd taken kept them from touching down. Apollo couldn't be drunk - one drink wasn't enough to make anyone this drunk. "Did you drink anything else tonight besides the drink I bought you?"

Apollo shook his head vaguely. "Uh, some water I guess... Klavier... what's going on...?"

Those worrisome thoughts were fluttering all the harder, almost within reach. But maybe Apollo was just coming down with something, Klavier thought. "Hang on, schatzi," he told Apollo, rubbing his back lightly as he stood. "I'll be back in a moment, and I'll take you home."

Before he could, he thought it would be a good idea to stop over at the bar, get a cup of water for his poor sick boyfriend... and inform the girl working the counter that his dear friend had made a bit of a mess over in the corner, but they were leaving now. He also offered her a generous tip for whoever was going to have to clean up that table, and a charming smile, which made her smile despite the news he'd brought. Money and charisma had a way of smoothing over many potentially troublesome situations, Klavier had found.

Apollo was slumped back in his chair, eyes closed, breathing heavily, when Klavier returned. "Feeling any better?" Klavier asked him, pressing the paper cup into his hand. "Here..."

Well, he tried to put the cup in Apollo's hand. Apollo's fingers fumbled with it, not quite managing to close around it. "Gonna pass out," he mumbled.

"You'll be fine," Klavier assured him, giving up on the water and setting it aside to slide his arm around Apollo's waist. "Come on - fresh air will help." At least he seemed to remember fresh air being a comfort, during the occasional drinking binges with Daryan.

Apollo shook his head restlessly again, gulping in deep breaths. "Klavier, I can't breathe..."

"I know, it's crowded in here, but it'll be better outside," Klavier told him, trying to get him on his feet. Apollo had made something of a mess of his clothes as well as the table, but Klavier wasn't concerned about that now. He'd just get his poor boyfriend outside, get his driver to bring the car, take Apollo back to his place and into the shower, then into some pajamas... or maybe they'd just sleep in the nude, which was preferable under normal circumstances, and possibly would save him a load of laundry later if Apollo continued feeling sick. "Just hold on to me."

"No really," Apollo moaned. "I can't breathe..."

He felt stiff, too - Klavier was having no luck getting him on his feet, and he abandoned the attempt, settling Apollo back on his chair and bending to get a better look at him. "Schatzi..." he murmured, seeing how dilated his pupils were, how pale his lips were. The worrisome thoughts were starting to bang their way in, past even the protection of the pills, but mostly he was just puzzled.

"Help," Apollo was whispering between gasps. "Klavier..."

This was impossible, Klavier thought. One pill couldn't do this. He'd taken more than he'd given Apollo - mixed with alcohol, just the same. He was fine. What was happening to Apollo? It made no sense...

"Klavier," Apollo gasped again, and his eyes rolled back in his head as he collapsed, almost sliding out of his chair but for Klavier catching him. It was instinct rather than concern that caused Klavier to carefully get him down on the ground, check his pulse - which was sluggish and uneven. Everything seemed not quite real, like he was just watching something that was happening to someone on television. This couldn't really be happening. Not in real life. It was impossible.

Klavier hadn't even noticed right away that he wasn't hearing those gasping breaths anymore since Apollo had fainted, but when he did, he realized something else - Apollo wasn't breathing at all. "Mein Gott," he whispered in a daze. "Apollo...?" There was no reply - Apollo merely lay very still.

The pulse under his fingertips slowed further, and Klavier looked around. He could tell that he still wasn't quite grasping the situation, and no one at the nearby tables was paying them further attention - they'd seen a young man drink too much before. No one was doing anything, the music kept playing - it was nothing like it would have been if it was on television...

"Achtung!!" His shout, piercing through the pounding bass to make everyone on that side of the club look his direction, might even have made Apollo's 'Chords of Steel' envious. "Someone call an ambulance!"