Hey there everyone/anyone! This is my first posted dabble into the world of Phoenix Wright Fanfics. I've written a few in my time, but never any that I cared to share as they were mainly just gift fics! Anyway! Hopefully you'll all like this, it was written on a whim at the nudgings of one of my housemates who has told me I am to finish writing it!

If you enjoy this, drop me a line either in an e-mail or a review and I'll keep working on it! No sense in me posting what people don't like after all!

To clear things up! This is a fictional part of the games, so utterly AU I suppose, its set after the third game, and pretty well presumes that AJ hasn't happened yet or maybe won't be happening. Either way, it won't affect this story in anyway!

The focus was some level of Nick/Edgey

Rated mainly for later imagery/potential language and violence.

Thanks for your time! Obviously, Phoenix Wright and all associated characters are not mine!

I hope you enjoy the fic!

Chapter One – The Case

"I don't think you should take this one Pal." Detective Gumshoe had been hovering around Phoenix ever since he had arrived at the detention centre. It wasn't that he minded the slightly bumbling police officers presence, not at all, he was amusing in his own hapless way, and usually a good friend in a pinch, but today there was just something that was irritating Phoenix. Namely that every few minutes Gumshoe would tell him not to take this case, and would promptly, upon being asked, refuse to tell him why he shouldn't as the case was 'still under evaluation' and was thus 'completely confidential' until the higher ups decided to release it. At which point Phoenix fully planned to have a copy of the case files in his hands within minutes.

He'd been woken up early by the ringing of his office phone at 8.59am on Wednesday November 10th. Maya had gone on a visit to Kurain village with Pearls a few days ago and thus hadn't been around to ensure that one bored attorney hadn't fallen fast asleep at his desk the night before while absently reading one of the mockingly difficult law texts that had still adorned the shelves in the formally 'Fey and Co' Law firm offices. He'd been partially waiting for a phone call as well, one that hadn't arrived in the end… he'd gotten an e-mail from Edgeworth the week before, they first contact they had in some time actually, saying that he was coming home for a while and that he supposed he could find some time to meet up if Phoenix really wanted him to. Phoenix had said he'd like that and Edgeworth had said he'd call him when his plane landed, and then come and pick him up.

The plane had landed.

The call never came.

Phoenix was forced to accept that once again Edgeworth had changed his mind.

The phone call that he had received the next day however had been a request for his services as a lawyer. This wasn't that unusual of course, seeing as he'd been in his office at the time, but the sleepy state of his mind had led to a few moments of confusion in which he had nearly lost himself the job offer, still, he managed to retain it with the fact that almost everyone else had been contacted at this point, and no one else would take the case. This should probably have set some alarm bells ringing, as the number of almost impossible cases that no one else would take that Phoenix had found himself with over the years would probably have been enough to, well. They were rather abundant, to put it mildly. But he'd not currently got anything on the cards, and though the man couldn't profess to be any kind of superstar, and would thus be a disappointment to Maya when she returned, Phoenix still felt that she'd have wanted him to take the case. So he duly did.

That was why, at 11.29 he found himself settled in the waiting room at the detention centre, with the oddly tall detective flapping around him. "I'm telling you pal! You should just go back home!" He really was beginning to sound like a stuck record.
"Gumshoe." Phoenix finally replied, "I know we don't always see eye to eye professionally, but you have to let me do my job, you understand that, right? I need a 'Not Guilty' verdict as much as you need a 'Guilty' one." he watched as the detective visibly slumped. It wasn't really nice to push the well meaning man around, but sometimes he did just need a little prod in the right direction.

"Whatever you say pal," the older man finally conceded. "But you can't say I didn't give you fair warning."

Phoenix could have contradicted that statement, while there had, true, been numerous warnings not to take this case, none of them were fair really. For no evidence had been presented to push his opinion of the case either way… wow. He really did think a little too much in the legal system sometimes… maybe he should take a break…? But now wasn't really the time. He could always go and spend a few days with Maya and Pearls after he'd worked his way through this current case after all, that way he could treat them all to a nice meal if he got paid! That would be fantastic.

Finally, about twenty minutes later at 11.50, as the second hand on his watch passed the 12 he was told by an unassuming looking officer that the defendant on whose behalf he had been summoned to the detention centre was finally out of questioning and was waiting for him. With a polite thank you, Phoenix made his way through to the meeting room that he knew oh so well.

"Mr O'Raugh? Phoenix queried as he stepped towards the odd meshed opening that would separate his client from him during this meeting. The man who stood before him was just a touch taller than Phoenix himself, with dark brown hair and a rather unhappy expression on his slightly chubby face. He had a scattering of stubble and his hair was rather scruffy and pulled at odd angles where he had evidently been running his hands through it over and over again through the hours he had already spent here.

"Call me Lorcan." The man replied with a very thin smile. He was evidently uneasy. It wasn't as though Phoenix could blame him for that though.

"Rough day huh?" Phoenix asked, with a smile that he hoped was reassuring.

"You could say that." Lorcan looked a little exasperated. "They ask so many questions, I just didn't know what to tell them." Phoenix smiled again.

"The truth is usually a good place to start." He paused for a moment, "You did tell them the truth, didn't you..?" His client nodded, his eyes all innocence, and for a moment Phoenix felt the smallest pang of doubt… but he'd been told again and again that you had to trust them. You had to trust your client and he nodded once more. "Okay then, we should be fine. I've not had a copy of the case file yet, so would you mind filling me in on what the charges are, and whatever else you can tell me..? I'll go and get a copy of the report and come back after I've read it if that's okay with you?" The morning had been a bit of a rush to be honest.

Lorcan nodded and took a breath. "Well its homicide." He stated with a grimace. Somehow, Phoenix knew it was going to be something like that. "They seem to think I killed a guy, never met him before; don't even remember what they called him, some really stupid posh sounding name though…" Phoenix raised an eyebrow. That wasn't really a very sympathetic way to talk about the deceased, whether you were responsible for their demise or not. "Sorry," his client stated, catching the look, "anyway, they seemed to think I 'offed' him for some reason, killed him stone dead and hid the corpse. I don't know what's given them the idea; they wouldn't tell me anything, just kept asking me where I was three days before."

"So, that would be on the 8th then? Last Sunday?"

"Yeah, the other day. Anyway, I told 'em."

"What did you tell them...?"

"That I had lunch with my sister, and then went home to watch the soccer with my dog." Phoenix nodded, this was definitely not going to be an easy case, and he could see that he really needed more facts already. It really was going to be easier in the long run to rely on the police documentation. His client didn't seem to be either that focused, or that forthcoming. With a smile he quietly explained that he was going to go and pick up the details of the case from one of the detectives involved, and that he'd be back within an hour. Lorcan O'Raugh seemed quite accepting of this, and with a small sigh Phoenix let himself back into the waiting hall, where he was once again met by a rather despondent looking detective Gumshoe.

"Here you are Pal…" the taller man stated, holding out a brown folder in his hand. It was the case files, and with a small smile and a thank you, Phoenix reached out and took the documents from him. The file was heavier than he was expecting. With a careless flick of his hand the attorney pushed open the front of the folder and let his eyes skim down the page.

Case number – H-6752

Prosecution – To be named

Defence – Mr Phoenix Wright – Requested

Defendant – Mr Lorcan O'Raugh

He turned the page and a moment later the gentle flutter of falling papers filled the waiting room.

No.

No way.

"I told you Pal. I told you not to take the case…" but once again the words went unheeded. The only document still held in Phoenix's hand rustled slightly as the fingers holding it shook. From the paper peered a black and white version of some very familiar eyes, and mere inches to the left of the image read the words:

Victim – Miles Edgeworth.

"Edgeworth…"

Let me know what you think?
Thanks guys!