Kristoph Gets Fawkin Murdered While Apollo Is Still Working For Him AU WIP
I have no idea if I'm going to write more of this but I'd like to gauge what the interest is in this scenario. Several people seemed interested in my post from a bit ago about an AU where Kristoph is killed while Apollo is working for him similarly to Mia and Phoenix's situation. BUT, there's a twist. Somehow it turned into.... this.
Let me know what you think. Full WIP is below the cut...
(CW for semigraphic details of violence/injury and use of weapons)
---
At first, Apollo thinks that Kristoph must be out of the office. "Hello? Sir? I brought the documents you requested…"
But the lights are on, even though there's nobody at Kristoph's desk. Kristoph wouldn't leave the office without turning the lights off.
Apollo steps further into the room, almost mindlessly. There doesn't seem to be anyone in here, after all-
And then-
Apollo takes a step back when he sees what he's certain must be Mr. Gavin's corpse.
Apollo has seen what images of dead people look like - he knows. Mr. Gavin is lying supine on the floor, red blood trickling down his temple and forming a small puddle on the floor. His shiny glasses are some feet away, smashed to smithereens - it looks like someone has stepped on them with force. His eyes are closed; he's completely still. His hair's undone, tangled blond sticky with blood. He's been beaten badly - dark bruising blooming over one eye, and his cheekbone, but the head wound appears to be the worst of it.
Apollo doesn't move, can't move. This is the worst of his worst nightmares. He knew that Phoenix Wright had found his mentor, Mia Fey, in a similar state, just like this. And she didn't make it.
Next thing he knows, Apollo is surging forward with a cry, adrenalin driving him on. He drops to his knees near Kristoph's body. Getting a better look doesn't help matters. He's really dead. Somebody… somebody killed him. Tears spring to his eyes. Mr. Gavin had taught him everything he knew about law. Mr. Gavin… cared about him. And that was one more person that Apollo just had to lose, from his biological father, to his adoptive father, to…
No use crying now. Have to start investigating. Now! Apollo had to find the culprit. Whoever did this had to deal with Justice.
Just then, Apollo heard a quiet sound in the otherwise silent room. He stared at Mr. Gavin's corpse. The sound came once again.
…Was it… a soft moan?
Apollo's first thought was that he didn't want to put his fingerprints onto a corpse, especially if it could ruin other evidence for forensics. But now…
Apollo's hand dropped delicately to Kristoph's pulse point. "M… Mr. Gavin, can you hear me? It's Justice!"
After a very long moment, Apollo watched as Mr. Gavin's eye twitched, definitely a twitch, one time, two times, then slowly opened, pained and hazy. Apollo almost fell over with relief.
But he wasn't out of the woods yet. And there was a chance he might not make it.
Fumbling his phone, Apollo dialed for an ambulance as fast as he was able, blurting out the first thing he could think to ask as he did so. "Sir, tell me, who did this to you? Who did this?"
Another soft moan, barely even audible. It was clear Kristoph couldn't move, could barely talk. He's probably in a lot of pain… But his lips were moving, and Apollo had to drop to the floor to hear the barely-there whisper. "E… Enigma…"
"Enigma? Enigma?" Apollo didn't know any Enigma, but it was better than nothing. The other end of the line picked up and Apollo screamed down it as loud as he could. "Hello?? We need an ambulance, please, at Gavin Law Offices, Mr. Gavin is-"
"Slow down, if you please - what's the address of the emergency, sir?" The woman on the other end of the line sounded tired, but she did stay on the line with Apollo while they waited for an ambulance to arrive.
"Does he have a pulse?"
"Y-yes, but it's very weak, there's blood everywhere, and-"
"Is he breathing?"
"Yes, but just barely, please send somebody soon-"
"They're on their way to you, kid. Just tell me if anything changes."
"It'll be okay." Apollo promises. Apollo isn't good at being soothing in an emergency. That's usually Mr. Gavin's job. All Apollo can try to do is think of how he would handle this situation. He'd tell me to calm down, breathe. Assess my options. Stay alert, but relax.
Mr. Gavin's hand seems okay where it's lying limply at his side. Not knowing what else to do, Apollo picks it up, holds it, and tries to be comforting - but realistically, this is a time where he'd want to hold his mentor's hand anyway, if it were somebody else bleeding out on the ground, so it's as much for Apollo's comfort as Kristoph's. They breathe, they wait, they watch, and Kristoph watches Apollo dimly out of the one eye that he can open.
"S'all gonna be okay." Apollo forces a smile out. Then he has to get up to let the paramedics in with the stretcher. Apollo thinks about asking to ride along in the ambulance, but Kristoph is so out of it that Apollo is pretty sure it won't matter if he just jumps on his bike and books it to the hospital ahead of the triage team.
-
Apollo sits in the waiting area of the triage center for a long time. Every hour he gets up to speak with reception and begs them for an update, and every time he is denied, until hour six.
A nurse takes him aside, and tells him.
Apollo is empty inside. Kristoph didn't make it.
-
The only person at the funeral who really cried was Kristoph's little brother, and Apollo could understand that.
Klavier hugs him, thanks him very deeply and sincerely for staying.
"You know," Klavier says, wiping away the tears that just seem to keep on coming, "I know that you being there really comforted him. It brings me so much comfort to know that he wasn't all alone. Thank you. Thank you."
"It… it was the least I could do." I should've done so much more. I should've been there. I should've saved him. If we had both fought, we would have been able to take whoever did this. We could've beaten Enigma… Apollo's whole body aches.
An Enigma. A puzzle.
Apollo checks the guestbook several times for anybody's signature that even looks something like "Enigma". But nothing jumps out.
"Mr. Wright."
"Sorry. I shouldn't be hanging around here."
"Weren't you Mr. Gavin's friend?"
"Yeah, I was. But he wouldn't want me showing up to this. Hey, listen. I want you to go to Central Hospital later today. Go to the tenth floor and ask to see David Krisler."
"Wh-what?"
"Four PM. No later. I'll see you there."
-
Apollo shows up as requested.
He feels funny, asking to visit somebody that he doesn't even know. What will he say if the nurse asks what his relation to the man is?
But nobody asks. The nurse brings him past a set of double doors and all the way to the end of the corridor. "He's in there. They're expecting you." is all she says before shuffling away.
More confused than ever, Apollo steps into the room. Is this some sort of a setup? What the hell did Mr. Wright lead me into?
The room is dim and warm, with all the window blinds down, and just one light on. Behind a sterile drape on the other side of the room, Apollo catches snippets of a conversation.
"-and not for nothing, but I'll know it when I see it-"
"Kris, the chances of anyone figuring anything out are about a million to one-"
The two people talking are Mr. Wright, and a very familiar voice. Apollo's heart surges as he takes a few quick steps forward, behind the curtain.
Both people go quiet and look up at him straightaway, Mr. Wright and none other than Mr. Gavin himself. Mr. Wright sits in a plastic chair at the side of a hospital bed. Mr. Gavin is in said hospital bed, which has been reclined to a level at which he can sit up most of the way. He still doesn't have his glasses, and his hair is a mess and he looks worse for wear, with big purple bruises covering one side of his face and his left eye swollen almost completely shut. The side of his head is bandaged and he looks awfully exhausted besides all that. Apollo isn't used to seeing him like this - weak, supine, vulnerable. It makes him look like a stranger. But he gives Apollo a tired smile.
"Close the door, Apollo. We've got a lot to talk about." Mr. Wright says evenly.
Apollo does. When he walks back to the bed, he realizes that there are no more seats. "Go ahead and sit at the foot of the bed if you're comfortable, Apollo. This is going to take awhile."
"Okay. I… I have so many questions I don't even know how to start, but… your funeral was today, sir."
"I heard."
"But… but you're not dead."
"Correct. Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated." Kristoph takes a slow, labored breath.
Apollo sniffs hard and wipes tears out of his eyes. He can't help this. Every time his adrenalin runs down and he's relieved, this happens. He can't help but become a crying mess.
"Can I… do you mind if I… h-hug you?"
Kristoph and Phoenix both laugh lightly. Apollo doesn't see what's funny about any of this. "I don't think you'd better, Apollo, not right now. Your boss is a bit fragile right now, so maybe no touch is the way to go." Phoenix says. Even though Phoenix says it, Apollo looks to Kristoph, who doesn't say anything in response to that, doesn't nod, but neither does he object, indicating that he agrees with Phoenix's assessment.
Apollo knows that Mr. Gavin doesn't like hugs very much, regardless of what's going on, but Apollo wanted the comfort and confirmation so badly that he'd thought there'd be no harm in asking. Now he bites his tongue. He won't ask any more silly questions.
"We… we have to go tell Klavier that you're alive. He'll be so happy, he-"
"Apollo, we can't tell anyone."
"…What? Why not?"
"If the one who attacked me knew I was still alive and kicking… he'd no doubt return to finish the job."
"Y-you mean Enigma?"
"Yes, Enigma. His full name is Shadi Enigmar. He is my assailant. Of that, I am certain." Kristoph nods with the utmost seriousness. "You must find him, corner him in court, and bring him to Justice. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Once this matter is dealt with, I may be able to reveal my ruse. But until then, here I will stay. Until that time, Phoenix will be in charge of this case, and of you."
"Of… of me?"
"I can think of no one better to keep an eye on you, Justice. I want you to follow his words as if they were my own."
Kristoph sighed deeply. "There is another reason why. Shadi Enigmar is a very dangerous and deceitful man. He shows no mercy in his choice of victim - young or old, it's all the same to him. The last thing I want is for you to come to harm because of your connection to me. Unfortunately, you are likely his next target, but Wright will protect you with his life if need be. He's my good friend, and I trust him in this regard."
"This is a very dangerous assignment. I don't want you taking any unnecessary risks." Kristoph hands Apollo a piece of paper.
"What's this?"
"The combination code to my gun safe."
Apollo shudders. "Wh-what?"
"Yes. Even when you aren't investigating, you need to be carrying all the time, no matter where you are."
"I barely know anything about guns!" Who does he think I am?? James Bond?
"Wright will show you the proper methods. Obviously, it's for self defense purposes only. You need to be able to protect yourself. Had I been able to reach a weapon in time, all of this may have gone differently, no?"
"I don't want to shoot anybody."
"Well, when the time comes, you'll know what to do. I should hope you will protect yourself in due course."
Kristoph takes his hand in his. "Be smart and be safe."
---
That's all I have for now... :P (don't ask me what happens next because I don't know... you tell me lol)
36 notes
·
View notes