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It was well past midnight.
The trial had been going on for four hours now, and Phoenix was bored out of his mind. Miles was trying his best to hide it, but Phoenix could tell he wanted to leave just as much. They were barely processing anything in the courtroom except for the witness’s account, desperate to find something to make the trial end. Even the judge looked like he wanted to leave.
Maybe that was why none of them noticed the faint smell of smoke, growing steadily stronger as the trial progressed. They all wrote it off as a symptom of exhaustion, blocking it out until it started to become unbearable.
It was Maya who finally said something. As Miles opened his mouth to object to Phoenix’s statement about the color of the victim’s car, she held up a hand.
“Uh, I’m sorry, but does anyone else smell—”
BZZZZZT.
Maya’s question was drowned out by panicked yells as the room was engulfed in darkness. People shoved each other out of the way, trying to reach the exit- but none of them could see well enough to tell where the exit was. At one point, someone tried to turn on a flashlight, but the light was immediately covered by someone else trying to grab it. Phoenix felt someone elbow his ribs as they made a desperate run for the door, and he struggled away from his desk.
“MAYA—!” he yelled, grasping around in the darkness.
A smaller, warm hand found Phoenix’s arm, fingernails digging into his jacket. “Nick! I’m here, I—”
Maya was cut off by the sound of someone’s panicked screams. “FIRE! THERE’S A FIRE!”
The entire room went silent for a split second.
Time seemed to stop.
Then, as if proving the statement to be correct, a flaming chunk of what had to have previously been part of the ceiling began to crumble, dumping a shower of sparks onto the floor.
Phoenix didn’t quite remember what happened between then and when he stopped halfway down the first flight of stairs. There had been too many people surrounding him on all sides to process what was happening. He was sure he was going to suffocate.
He remembered grabbing onto the railing of the staircase to stop himself from being pushed forwards by the mob, the faint realization that he had a better chance of survival if he waited for the crowd to thin out echoing in the back of his head.
He remembered grabbing Maya in an attempt to shield her, feeling his wrist bend in a way that it wasn’t supposed to as someone shoved past.
He didn’t remember the exact moment he realized the implications of the fact that the power had gone out.
Edgeworth.
He looked in what he hoped was Maya’s direction, mustering all of his courage.
“Maya. Go.”
“Wh-what?! But what about y—”
“GO!”
Phoenix pushed Maya towards the next flight of stairs, then spun around and began to sprint back up the one’s he’d stumbled down only moments before.
“NICK!”
But Phoenix was already gone.
Flames had devoured the courtroom, licking the walls and angrily searching for more fuel. They seemed almost sentient, as though they were some sort of alien out for blood.
Phoenix pulled his jacket over his nose and stayed as low to the ground as he could, vaguely remembering the instructions that had been drilled into his head in school.
There was no sign of Miles.
“EDGEWORTH?”
He screamed his name over and over, but to no avail. In a state of pure panic, Phoenix held his breath and half-ran, half-stumbled to the desk that Miles had stood at only minutes before.
He wasn’t there.
For a split second, Phoenix paused. That meant he must have made it out, right…? Maybe outages didn’t trigger as severe of a panic attack as earthquakes did. If Miles managed to stay conscious and aware of what was happening, he would have been pushed out by the crowd like everyone else.
Phoenix had almost made it back to the staircase when a horrible thought stopped him in his tracks.
No.
Oh god, please no.
He couldn’t leave yet. He couldn’t. Even if he was completely wrong and Miles had already made it to safety, Phoenix wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t check. He had to be sure.
He turned around, sprinting yet again down the smoke-filled hallway.
With every step he took, he felt his breath constrict from the lack of oxygen in his body, his muscles practically screaming with every movement he made. Just a little bit further. Just a little bit further.
When he finally made it, Phoenix was on the verge of collapsing. Please. Please don’t let him be here. Not like this.
He summoned the last of his strength, digging his fingers between the metal doors, and pushed them apart with all of his weight. Stabs of pain shot through his wrist, and beads of sweat collected on his forehead. Finally, he managed to get the doors open enough to stumble inside, collapsing on the floor of the almost pitch black elevator.
He lay still for a moment, gasping for breath. He forced his eyes to open, barely registering the collapsed body in front of him.
“Edge…worth…” he choked.
The fire outside illuminated the elevator just enough for Phoenix to make out Miles’s face and the vague shape of his body. He had curled up in a ball, eyes squeezed shut and tears streaming down his cheeks. Small, incoherent whimpers escaped his barely parted lips, and his face was covered in burns.
If Phoenix hadn’t used up so much strength getting into the elevator, he would have broken down on the spot.
He pulled himself along the floor, just barely managing to grab Miles’s hand in his own.
“Edge…worth… hey… wake up…”
Miles’s eyes fluttered. “F…father…”
“Nghh— no— no, Edg… Miles… ‘s me. ‘S Wright. R’member?”
“…No… no… no…” Miles weakly sobbed the word over and over, and Phoenix couldn’t tell if it was a response or not. “No… please… no…”
“‘M here… Miles… ‘s me… you’re gonna be…” Phoenix trailed off. Was he going to be okay? Would he even live? Would either of them live? “Gonna be… with me,” he finished. “We’re in this… t’gether…”
Slowly, Miles’s eyes opened. Phoenix couldn’t tell at first if Miles even recognized him, but his question was answered in the form of shaky, nearly-silent words.
“…Wright… you are… so… fucking… stupid… ”
Phoenix managed a weak laugh. “I… I know… jus’… jus’ hol’ on a lil longer… for me… please.”
“Are we… gonna die…?”
Phoenix bit his lip, unsure of how to respond. The vulnerability in Miles’s voice scared him. It was unfamiliar. “I… I don’ know.”
“Wrigh’…” Miles breathed, his eyes drifting closed again, then opening again as more tears began to form. “Hol’… hold…” his words were cut off by a horrible noise that must have been his body’s ineffective attempt at a cough, but Phoenix understood. He pulled himself toward Miles, still holding his hand, and wrapped his other arm around his trembling body. Miles’s eyes met Phoenix’s, silent tears dripping onto the floor.
“Phoe… nix…” Miles whispered, his eyes fluttering closed again. His voice was so quiet that Phoenix had to lean closer to hear him. “I… love… you… Phoe… Phoenix…”
Phoenix buried his face in Miles’s shoulder, tears soaking through his jacket. “…I love you… too… Miles…”
The two of them fell silent, holding each other in the darkness. Phoenix’s head slid down to Miles’s chest, and he could hear a faint, weak heartbeat. He closed his eyes, but he wouldn’t sleep. Not yet.
Phoenix knew that if he had been more conscious, he would have hated the morbidity of letting Miles die first. It felt like giving up. But it was either that or die in Miles’s still-alive arms, and he couldn’t let that happen. Not when Miles had already lost so many people.
The room grew darker, and soon they were completely engulfed in the pitch blackness of the nighttime. Phoenix blinked, hazy memories of the situation returning to him. It was… dark. The fire. The fire was out.
He felt his weak heartbeat speed up with a tiny glimmer of hope. Was he imagining it, or were there voices nearby? Unable to gather enough energy to sit up, he drew in a horrible, wheezing breath and lifted his head approximately two inches off the floor.
“ELEVATOR!” he shouted, the last of his strength fading out. He felt his head hit the ground with a dull thunk, and then he felt nothing.
#
Beep.
…
Beep.
…
Beep.
…
Beep.
…
Beep.
…
Phoenix was conscious long before his eyes opened. He felt like he was floating, though whether in water or in the air he wasn’t sure.
Two people were talking, but their voices were distant. He heard bits and pieces of their conversation, not quite awake enough to put together the pieces.
“…Burned…miracle that they made it…if he hadn’t shouted…”
“Is he going to…? I see…should soon…hope…Edgeworth…”
Edgeworth.
A thousand alarm bells went off in Phoenix’s head at once, and the memories came flooding back.
Edgeworth.
Slowly, Phoenix opened his eyes. The room was blurry, but he knew instantaneously that he was in the hospital. An IV was hooked up to his arm, a pulse oximeter was clamped to his finger, and his left wrist was in a cast. He carefully sat up, ignoring the pangs of protest in his gut.
A small noise came from somewhere on his right, and he turned his head to look.
He felt his heart simultaneously leap and sink.
On a bed adjacent to his was Miles Edgeworth— at least, in theory. He was there, but everything that made him Edgeworth was gone. His pale, sharp eyes were closed, and there wasn’t a hint of expression on his face. His arms lay at his sides, and he wore a hospital gown that somehow looked more depressing than his half-destroyed suit jacket would have been. His heartbeat was steady and slow, indicated by a beeping monitor identical to Phoenix’s.
“Oh, thank god you’re awake,” said a voice from Phoenix’s left. He turned to see a nurse with short brown hair and light blue eyes standing in the doorway, holding a clipboard. “Mr. Butz has been panicking in the lobby since you got here. He’ll be glad to know that you’re alright.” The man smiled, and Phoenix forced himself to smile back. It faded quickly as he glanced back at Miles, silently asking the question he was too afraid to ask out loud.
“Mr. Edgeworth should be awake in a few minutes. Please be careful, though- he’s in an extremely fragile state right now.”
Relief flooded through Phoenix’s body. It wasn’t enough to make the horrible feeling of terror in his chest disappear, but at least it helped. His voice was raspy, most likely from a combination of the smoke and lack of use, but at least talking didn’t hurt. “How… How long have we been asleep?”
“You were both kept in medically induced comas for two days prior to being taken here. You were only taken off oxygen a few hours ago. I, uh… I don’t know the full story, but…” the nurse leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice. “You and Mr. Edgeworth weren’t technically supposed to be put in the same room. Your friend was… convincing.”
“My… friend?” asked Phoenix, brow furrowing in confusion.
“I believe her name was Mia?”
“…Oh. Yeah,” said Phoenix, smiling slightly despite himself. Maya must have managed to communicate with her when they were being taken to the hospital. “She can be pretty convincing.”
The nurse nodded. “I’m going to go make sure Mr. Butz hasn’t blown up the waiting room. If Mr. Edgeworth wakes up, make sure he stays calm and doesn’t move around too much. Page a doctor if you need anything, okay?” He gestured to a very cartoonish looking red button on the side table next to Phoenix’s bed that read “HELP.” In any other situation, Phoenix would have laughed at how fake it looked.
“Oh, and you can take off the pulse oximeter now that you’re awake. Just make sure Mr. Edgeworth keeps his on until further notice.”
The nurse stepped back out of the room, and Phoenix was left feeling more alone than he had before. He sighed, slipping the oximeter off his finger and drawing his knees up to his chest. He knew he was supposed to be beyond happy. They’d survived. They’d made it. So why did he feel so empty?
He looked at Miles again, then at his own IV pole. Realizing the pole was attached to wheels, he pushed himself to the edge of the bed with his functional hand and carefully stood up.
The room spun for a moment, and Phoenix clung onto the IV pole for balance. He wobbled in place for a moment before managing to take a step forward, then another, and another. He slowly made his way to Miles’s bed, his heart sinking as he saw the red, raw skin on the sides of his face where the heat from the fire had seared him. Phoenix couldn’t bring himself to find a reflective surface to check his own reflection.
Miles stirred in his sleep, and Phoenix’s heart gave a jolt. It suddenly occurred to him that he had no idea how to address the situation once he woke up. It was so hard to tell whether in Miles’s nearly unconscious state he had actually known what he was saying.
I love you, Phoenix.
Phoenix clutched his IV pole, tears stinging his eyes. He loved Miles—god, he loved Miles—but this was all so confusing, and for all he knew he wouldn’t remember it anyway.
Miles stirred again, and this time, his eyelids fluttered. “Nnnnhhh…?”
Hope flickered in Phoenix’s chest at the noise. “Edgeworth?”
Miles’s eyes slowly opened, and Phoenix watched as his expression turned from panic to confusion to something he didn’t recognize.
“Hey, Edgeworth,” said Phoenix, suddenly struggling not to choke on his own words. “You… must be pretty tired, huh?”
“W…Wright…? Where…” Miles trailed off, slowly sitting up. Or rather, attempting to sit up. It took him several tries before he managed to actually sit. He opened and closed his hand for a moment, observing the scalds on his fingertips.
“Do you… remember what happened?” Phoenix prompted cautiously.
Miles squinted in concentration. “…There was a fire… and…” he trailed off.
Phoenix carefully sat down on the foot of Miles’s bed, nodding. “Yeah.”
“The… the elevator…” Miles shuddered, looking away. “Why… why was I in…?” He looked to Phoenix for an answer, and Phoenix hated not being able to provide him with one.
“I’m… still trying to figure that one out, actually. Might’ve gotten pushed in by accident. People were pretty frantic.”
Miles nodded distantly. “…But then… you were there, and… and…” His brow furrowed in confusion. “How did we get out…?”
“I… I think I yelled. It’s all blurry, but I heard people coming right before I blacked out, and I think I shouted and passed out right after.”
“…Oh.”
There was a long, awkward pause, accompanied by the steady beeps from the pulse reader.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Phoenix would have changed the subject if there had been something else to talk about, but everything had settled around the one question he couldn’t ask.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
“…Wright.”
Phoenix’s breath caught in his throat.
“…Yeah?”
“I think…”
Miles trailed off.
Phoenix was too busy trying to remember how to breathe to prompt him to continue.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
“I… I may have been hallucinating from a lack of oxygen, but…” Miles rubbed his index finger and thumb together, a habit Phoenix recognized as one he only did when he was nervous. “Did you say—”
“You said it first!” Phoenix blurted out.
Miles’s face fell. “Ah.”
Beep.
Beep.
Phoenix’s stomach jolted as he realized the implications of his words. Shit . “I-I didn’t mean-“
“No, I…” Miles shook his head. “It’s alright. I didn’t mean to—”
“Wait, I didn’t mean— I mean, I didn’t mean that I didn’t mean it,” said Phoenix quickly. “W-wait, that didn’t—” He grunted in frustration. “I did mean it, I got defensive because I thought you didn’t.”
“…I, er…”
Phoenix was pretty sure he had never seen someone’s face represent so many emotions in such a short span of time.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The beeping seemed to grow louder. Phoenix fought the urge to stab the machine with his IV pole.
“…Wright, we’re talking about the same thing, yes?”
“I… I think so?”
“Phoenix.” Miles made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “Why the everlasting FUCK would I tell you I loved you if I didn’t mean it? ”
Phoenix opened and closed his mouth several times before any sounds came out. “That is… a very good question.”
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Miles turned to Phoenix. “…Did you mean—”
“YesImeantitwealreadyestablishedthis—”
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
“Would you KINDLY STOP DOING THAT?!”
Phoenix startled, alarmed. “Doing what?!”
“Not you, this ridiculous machine!“ Miles started to take off his oximeter.
“No, don’t—” Phoenix grabbed Miles’s hand, stopping him.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Uh, is it supposed to be…”
Miles’s cheeks turned the same color as the burns scattered across his face. “I. Erm.”
Beep beep beep beep beep beep—
“Why is it doing that?! Are you okay?” Phoenix panicked, climbing all the way onto the hospital bed. In his panic, his hand brushed against Miles’s cheek.
Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep—
Phoenix could practically hear the click as he processed what was going on, and he felt his face turn the same color as Miles’s. An oximeter measures heart rate. “…Oh.”
“I, er. Hhngh,” said Miles matter-of-factly.
“S…sorry,” Phoenix mumbled, scooting back towards the end of the bed.
“No, I…” Miles looked away, conflicted. “…We are both… very incompetent. At this. I think.”
“Y-yeah.”
Beep beep beep beep beep beep.
Miles’s voice was hesitant; hopeful. “I… I would like to try, though. If you want to.”
Phoenix was glad he’d taken off his own oximeter. He could hear his heart accelerate as he attempted to formulate a response that was more dignified than “of course I want to, are you kidding me?”
“‘N course— kidding me want to?”
Wait, no.
Phoenix shook his head quickly, trying to mentally press some sort of undo button. “I meant. Yes. I would like that more than anything.”
“How long have you…?”
Phoenix looked away, trying to find a way to dodge the question. “…Y’know, maybe you should rest—”
“Nice try, Wright. Answer the question.”
Phoenix fidgeted with his hands. “I, uh… I’m actually not sure. I mean, I didn’t figure it out until pretty recently, but… I’m not sure I would’ve studied to become a defense attorney for 15 years so I could see you again if it was entirely, um… platonic.”
Miles blinked. “Why did it take a near-death experience for you to—”
“Hey, shuddup! You didn’t say anything either,” said Phoenix defensively, although he could feel himself failing to fight back a smile. This was followed by a scoff from Miles, but he apparently didn’t have a comeback, either. Phoenix sighed, but this time it was out of a sort of contentment, accompanied by a soft smile.
He didn’t remember leaning in closer, but he must have because he blinked and suddenly their faces were inches apart. Miles’s eyes were hypnotic, but not in the terrifying, soul-sucking way that von Karma’s were. They were kind and beautiful and cold but in a nice way, like when the air turned crisp and golden in the autumn. Phoenix was so lost in them that he almost didn’t hear the question that Miles murmured under his breath, and he closed his eyes as he answered with an even softer yes.
And their lips finally met.
Physically speaking, it was not a good place to have their first kiss. The oximeter was practically screaming at them the entire time, Phoenix kept nearly ripping the IV out of his arm by accident, and the burns from the fire made their lips feel a lot like sandpaper. It was rough and messy and unfamiliar and somewhat painful but it was theirs, and Phoenix wouldn’t have traded it for the world.
#
Later that day, the nurse made his way up the stairs to the ICU to check on how Edgeworth and Wright had progressed. He knocked twice on the door to let them know he was entering, then carefully turned the handle and stepped inside.
For a moment, he panicked— Wright’s bed was empty. But his eyes quickly landed on Edgeworth’s bed, and he let out a sigh of relief— and a small smile.
The two of them were curled up in the bed, a tangled mess of limbs and sheets. Edgeworth’s head lay on Wright’s chest, and Wright’s hand was buried in his hair. His other hand was interlocked with Edgeworth’s, their fingers wrapped around each other protectively.
The nurse wrote something on his clipboard and turned to leave, a smile still tugging at the corners of his lips. Technically speaking, patients weren’t supposed to share beds. He knew that. But he didn’t tell anyone. He just fastened the do not disturb sign onto the doorway, making a mental note to make sure he brought more pillows later.
Sometimes, he thought as he made his way down the hall, rules are made to be broken.