Disclaimer: I don't own the Ace Attorney franchise, but I'm going to have fun twisting it around.

For Want of a Badge

Chapter 3: Growing Pains

Phoenix sighed as he watched Trucy sleep on the couch in his apartment; she'd gone to bed rather early, but he couldn't blame her, moving into a new place with new family had to be hard. The lights were off to help the girl sleep. He'd have to get her a bed soon. Who was he kidding, he'd need a whole new apartment. It wouldn't be right for Trucy to be stuck on the couch in his one bedroom apartment or for her to share a bedroom with her adoptive father.

"I should go Nick, it's getting late and I wouldn't want to worry Pearl. It will be a while before I can visit again, I really need to focus on my training. Still, if you ever need me I'll come running." Maya said from behind him. Phoenix turned toward his best friend and nodded.

"Can I at least get you dinner before you go? Eldoon's is still open and I'd really like to catch up." Even in the darkness he could see Maya's face light up. Mentioning Eldoon Noodles was a quick way to get Maya to agree to almost anything.

"What are we waiting for Nick, let's go!" Maya ran for the door. Phoenix chuckled and shook his head. Maya always knew just what to do to brighten his mood and make him forget his worries. He was glad he had her in his life, despite the tragic circumstances that had brought the two of them together three years ago. He'd made a promise to Mia to look after her sister and he'd kept that promise no matter what, even if it turned out in the end that Maya had looked out for him just as much.

"I'll be right there, let me write a note for Trucy in case she wakes up before I get back." Phoenix jotted down a quick note and left it where his new daughter would find it. It didn't take them long to get to Eldoon's a quick order of two Miso Ramen, a black coffee for himself, and a hot chocolate for Maya and the pair sat down to eat.

"Since when do you take your coffee black Nick? For as long as I've known you, you've always loaded it up with cream and sugar." Maya said. Phoenix looked away from her for a moment, he knew his answer would likely sour the mood, but he also knew Maya wasn't going to let it go until he told her the truth. Resolved to his fate Phoenix turned back to face his friend with a sigh.

"Since our last case together. When I shared that last cup of coffee with Godot- I mean Diego. I don't really even know why. Something about it just seemed right after that." He'd taken to calling his former rival his real name of Diego instead of his alias of Godot out of respect. Diego Armando had possibly been his most worthy opponent, right up there with Edgeworth.

He'd certainly been the most human. He'd been willing to commit a crime, and ultimately go to prison in order to help save Maya, Phoenix would always hold the man in high regard because of that. Even if Diego had originally had an ax to grind against him because of Mia's death.

"Oh, because of Mr. Armando..." Maya said turning away for a moment, "You know you're doing a really great thing for Trucy, Nick. I know what it's like to grow up as an orphan. Yeah, my mom wasn't actually dead, but I didn't know that. We both know Trucy's father isn't coming back. She's lucky to have you, I didn't really have anyone around to take care me for a good part of my childhood. I mean, I had Mia, but most of the time she was busy studying to be a lawyer or taking on cases."

The pair was silent for a good minute. Somewhere in the back of his mind Phoenix knew that Maya had been through a rather rough childhood, but it had never quite registered because of how happy she seemed most of the time. Having it all laid out in front of him like this was quite a shock. "Maya, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I shouldn't have brought up Mr. Armando..." Outside the shelter of the noodle stand thunder roared, the skies had been darkening for a while now. It seemed a storm was coming.

"It's not that. I'm just scared Nick." Maya blurted. Phoenix quirked an eyebrow at that.

"Scared? What's got you so scared Maya? You know you can talk to me about anything right?" He said.

"There's a lot riding on me Nick. People expect me to be the next Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique. Everything my village stands for is on my shoulders and the Fey clan's reputation still hasn't recovered from the DL-6 Incident. Not only that but with aunt Morgan gone, I have to raise Pearl now and I'm barely an adult myself! Sometimes I wish Mia was still here so she could do this instead. I'm just not sure I can handle all of this responsibility."

"I know how you feel Maya, I have to raise a little girl now and keep up a law practice alone. I know I didn't have to take Trucy in, but I couldn't just abandon her. Not after her father had just done the same thing. You know Mia left Kurain partially to protect you from the infighting of your clan Maya." The spirit medium nodded.

"I know, even if it didn't work in the end because of aunt Morgan, I know my sister was just trying to protect me. That doesn't make what I have to do any easier, especially when I have to do it all alone." Maya cast her eyes to the floor. Phoenix reached across the table and took her hands in his.

"You don't have to do this alone. You know I'll always be there for you when you need me. Just don't let Pearl and Trucy know I said that, for some reason they already think that we're in a relationship." Phoenix cracked a smile and tried to use the humor to lighten the mood, even if seeing Maya in this more adult light was rather eye opening he hated seeing her down in the dumps like this.

"Would that really be so bad, you and me I mean? I mean I'm quite a catch." Maya said with a smirk. Phoenix laughed. There was the Maya he knew. He was glad that he'd managed to brighten her mood.

"Sure you are Maya, for twelve year old Steel Samurai fans." He teased. She scowled at him.

"That wasn't nice Nick!" Despite the angry inflection in her voice it was clear that Maya wasn't really mad at him but merely playing along with the teasing; he'd known her long enough to tell the difference.

A black haired young man approached their table. Both Phoenix and Maya were well-acquainted with him, this was Guy Eldoon, the son of the man who owned the noodle shop. "Are you going to eat those noodles or nurse them?" Guy asked.

"Sorry Guy, we just got a bit distracted by life stuff." Phoenix said.

"Not my problem, it's just that we'll be closing up shop soon." Guy said, "Truth be told I don't much care for noodles myself, my dad says that salty broth runs in our blood. Fourteen generations of Eldoons have been making noodles, but that's not what I want for myself. I'm getting out of this noodle stand as soon as I can and making something of myself. I'm going to be a surgeon."

"Well we wish you the best Guy. We'll be out of your hair soon." Maya said before Guy left to help his father start cleaning up. It didn't take long for the pair to finish their meal and say their goodbyes at the bus station. Tomorrow was a new day full of new challenges, and for now at least Phoenix would have to face them without Maya. If he were to be completely honest with himself, he hated the idea of not having Maya by his side.

Trucy Wright led her new adoptive father by the hand through the store. He'd told her that they were here to pick up school supplies, but the young magician had other plans. She knew her new daddy wanted to make her feel comfortable and the meager possessions she'd procured traveling with Troupe Gramarye were now lost to her because of the court case, so she needed new things to decorate her new home, and new magic equipment of course.

"Come on Daddy, I saw a really cool box I could use to saw people in half!" Trucy felt her new father stiffen. "is something wrong?" Phoenix's hand was now slick with sweat.

"Are you sure you should be trying such a difficult trick at your age? Who would you even practice on?" Trucy flashed an innocent smile.

"I'd practice on you silly. That's what fathers are for after all." Trucy felt her new adoptive father begin to sweat even more profusely and go white.

"I was afraid you'd say that."

"Don't worry Daddy, everything will be fine. After all, I'm a young professional!"

"That really doesn't make me feel any better about this..." Phoenix muttered. Trucy led her father into the magic aisle and piled magic supplies into the cart. "Trucy, we're here for school supplies. I can't afford all of this. Not to mention I don't even own a car and all this stuff won't fit into a txi so I'm going to have to carry it all!"

"But Daddy, a magician needs her tools of the trade. How am I supposed to get better if you don't give me what I need?" She put on a cute pouty face that she'd always used on her biological father when she wanted something. He could never resist that face. She hoped that her new father would be the same.

Phoenix sighed. "Fine, but this all the magic stuff I'm buying right now. I still need to get you school supplies and have enough money to put a down-payment on a new apartment for us to live in." Trucy gave him her best smile.

"Thank you Daddy."

"No problem Trucy." They spent the rest of their time at the store getting school supplies like her father wanted. Truth be told even Trucy knew this had been a rather expensive shopping trip, but then she was young and used to being rich because Troupe Gramarye had a lot of money and prestige. So the draining of Phoenix's wallet didn't have quite the same effect on her as it did on him.

Phoenix paused by the checkout line and picked up a CD studying it briefly before putting it in the cart. Trucy picked it up ad read it.

"Guilty Love by the Gavineers. You like rock music Daddy?"

"Yeah I like it, but that's not the reason I'm buying it. I want it because of who made it." He pointed to a blonde teenager on the cover. "That man, Klavier Gavin." Trucy felt her cheeks heat.

"He's kind of cute." She mused.

"No Trucy," Phoenix snapped, "You don't get to have a crush on the enemy. Klavier is a prosecutor, the bane of my existence. I'm only buying the CD so I can understand Klavier better, get inside his head, and see what all the fuss is about. Besides he's the guy who tried to put your old daddy in jail."

Trucy frowned she didn't think Daddy was lying to her. All the sudden Klavier didn't look very cute anymore. "I don't like him." She said at length. Phoenix nodded and smiled at her.

"That's my girl."

Kristoph Gavin was busy pouring over old court files. All of them had some connection to one man: Phoenix Wright. Kristoph detested the man and he'd only ever met him in passing. He detested Wright because he'd robbed him of the fame he so richly deserved. Zak Gramarye aka Shadi Enigmar had chosen Wright over him, it was a slight he simply could not abide.

He'd tried to get his revenge on Wright by passing him the evidence he'd had forged back when he was the defense attorney on the case. It had almost worked too. He'd almost dealt with Wright and that treacherous Gramarye in a single blow, not to mention success would've made Klavier indebted to him, it was always good to have a little blackmail on the opposition, even if it was your own brother. It was a perfect plan.

Yet at the end of the day, nothing had gone to plan. Wright still had his attorney's badge and while Gramarye was on the run and wanted for obstruction, but that wasn't nearly as satisfying as the seeing the traitor on death row for murder. On top of all of that Klavier now suspected the truth of the matter. If his brother started digging, and he would, that would be... problematic to say the least. How had it all gone so wrong?

The answer to that all boiled down to a young woman: Maya Fey. Her being in that courtroom had been an unforeseen complication. At first he'd just wanted to right off Klavier's claims that the girl had channeled Magnifi Gramarye's spirit as a fanciful excuse for his loss, but unfortunately the validity of the Kurain Channeling Technique was well documented in the court record. First and foremost there was the infamous DL-6 incident, that had seemingly discredited spirit channeling and shamed the Fey family; that had been part of the reason Kristoph had written off his brother's story at first.

Of course Wright had solved the DL-6 case and defeated the legendary undefe Wrigt's efforts in solate prosecutor Manfred von Karma, Kristoph had heard the stories of Wright's exploits, but he figured that the reports had been exaggerated. Looking over theses files it was easy to see that he'd underestimated his opponent. Phoenix Wright had only lost one case in his entire career. The trial of Matt Engarde, though as it turned out the man had been guilty. Not that such things mattered to Kristoph, he would've gotten Engarde anyway, that was an attorney's job.

Yes, Wright's record was impeccable, that was part of the reason the judge had been so lenient with him when he'd presented the fake evidence. Still at least some of this had to be embellished, even for Wright going to Britain and exposing a government social experiment masquerading as a medieval town with magic was stretching it and yet here it was in the files. Kristoph would sooner believe in spirit channeling than that.

He would have to believe in spirit channeling it would seem as Wright's efforts in solving the murder of Misty Fey had brought credibility back to the Kurain Channeling Technique and it was that very channeling that had gotten him off the hook for presenting false evidence and got Zak Gramarye cleared of murder charges. In short if he wanted to take down Phoenix Wright.

That much was obvious. Both the trial of Matt Engarde and the trial for the murder of Misty Fey had shown that Maya Fey was Wright's Achilles heel. Remove her and he would be too shaken to be on his game. Kristoph's first thought was to hire the famed assassin Shelly de Killer to dispose of Ms. Fey, but de Killer was famous for his honorable behavior and might feel he owed Wright a for after the trial of Matt Engarde. Not that Kristoph was in any particular rush, he was, after all, a patient man. He would take his time ad come up with the perfect plan and in the end Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey, and Zak Gramarye would all pay for what they had done to him.

Phoenix was not impressed with the apartment his new real estate agent was showing him and Trucy. It had leaky pipes, peeling wallpaper and shag carpeting older than he was. Phoenix was not a harsh man by nature no matter how much he yelled in court so he tried to keep a neutral expression. "As you can see this apartment has plenty of space for you and your daughter, is within waking distance of your workplace and has an amazing view." The real estate agent Shelly Holmes said.

All of that was true, but it still was far from an ideal place to iv. At least for Phoenix. Trucy seemed to have other ideas. The girl was already planning where she was going to put all her stuff. While Phoenix wanted to make his new daughter as happy as possible that wasn't enough for him to put aside his reservations about the place.

"Yes, but it clearly needs some work, I'm concerned about how much that will cost." Phoenix said. Shelly's exuberant smile shrunk a few molars. She almost looked distressed.

"Yes the previous owners were a little... lax shall we say, on the upkeep, but it's nothing a little elbow grease won't fix. You look like a handy man Mr. Wright, I'm sure you could take care of it."

It doesn't matter how much lipstick you put on this pig Shelly, it's still a pig.

"I just don't know Shelly..."

Shelly was about to respond when her phone went off. She looked at who was calling and turned to him. "Sorry Mr. Wright, I have to take this." She quickly answered the phone. "What is it boss? I'm with a client right now. What? You want me to come as soon as I'm done here? Yes sir, I understand." Shelly was clearly not enthused when she hung up the phone.

"Is everything alright Shelly?" Phoenix asked.

"It's nothing you need to corn yourself with Mr. Wright. Now back to discussing the apartment, unfortunately this is the only two bedroom apartment in the area that is in your price range. I can keep looking, but I'm afraid it could be some time before I find something that meets your criteria."

She was right unfortunately. Finding a two bedroom apartment in this city that was a reasonable distance away from both the office and court was a tricky proposition, especially on his budget. He might be a famed defense attorney, but considering he had to pay rent and utilities for both his apartment and the office, not to mention food his money was a bit stretched. Now with Trucy to take care of... He needed a cheap place to live. None of this stuff would be that hard to fix.

"Alright you can put in an offer Shelly." Phoenix said with a sigh. He didn't have much choice. The rest of the day was rather uneventful. He went home and cooked dinner for Trucy and himself and watched some TV. However just as he was about to go to bed his cell phone went off.

He could help but smile as he heard the notes of the Steel Samurai theme. Maya had made that his ringtone. Initially he'd just been too lazy to change it, but now he really liked it. He kept it because it reminded him of all the good times he'd had with Maya, and although he'd deny it until his dying day he'd become a closet Steel Samurai fan. The show really was pretty good. His smile vanished however when he saw who was calling. An all too familiar phone number: The detention center.

"Hello." He said answering his phone.

"Mr. Wright, I need your help. I've been arrested for murder." It was Shelly on the other side of the line. Pheonix was about to rush out the door when he realized that he didn't have anyone to watch Trucy. He'd have to take her with him.

"Hold on Shelly, Trucy and I will be there soon."

So the long-awaited chapter 3 is here. Not going to lie, the delay was pure writer's block. Next time I try my hand at writing a case, or at least part of one for the first time ever. Apologies in advance if it sucks. Also Maya's going to be pretty much absent for a few chapters while I build Nick and Trucy's relationship.