Forging Evidence

"This is nothing. There is absolutely nothing to worry about."

Apollo gazed down on his notes and shuffled them out, spreading them out like playing cards. There in his own writing were statements the defendant had said, the witnesses and of course the police reports done by Fulbright and his team. It was hard to believe how on earth he became a detective but who was he to judge? Despite the many cases he had done, there were people doubting him as a lawyer.

On his desk were also photos of the crime scene, the victim and other important evidence he needed to use to prove his client was innocent. Of course the accused was in his list as well.

Normally it wouldn't bother him so about who he was defending, of course there were times where it would get personal but none of them would make him cringe so much.

But this one got on his nerves and he didn't understand why.

"I'm just tired." Apollo rose to his feet. "I'm fine!" He yelled. Seconds later his fringe fell onto his face. "...I think."

He slumped back on his office chair and took a huge sigh. Fixing his hair he stared up to the ceiling.

The person he was defending was a close friend to Athena. He never felt this way towards Juniper or Blackquill...strange that may be. Yes he happened to be a guy, yes they have a past and they hadn't seen each other in years. This wasn't the first time he had some sort of case along those lines.

"Ah damn it!" Apollo nearly felt like flipping his desk in the confusion. "Not even my Chords of Steel are helping me here." The young lawyer rolled his eyes.

He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again for a brief moment. The last year was filled with more drama then he remembered signing up for when he decided to become a lawyer. He knew the year was going to be unpredictable but this? Who knew?

And most of his cases invovled a young rookie lawyer with a hair colour that reminded him of autumn leaves with her yellow clothes to match stood by his side. Even stood up for the times where he couldn't. And when there were times where Athena's wild and cheerful voice suddenly went out he did the same for her. Sometimes he couldn't help but yell that classic line 'objection' even when not required. He couldn't remember how many times that would get them both in trouble by the judge.

So when that wild teenager rushed into the agency that afternoon a few days ago begging either Mr. Wright or himself to stand up for her friend, he accepted. He couldn't help but admit that his ego from winning his last case got to him in the moment but when he saw how badly she was looking pass that detention window with words 'we'll protect you' and 'don't you worry' to her friend it annoyed him, more that her ability to sometimes speak in German, French or Spanish.

The night was late when Apollo gazed out his city window. Time flew past him so fast sometimes he called his workplace his home. Wright had entrusted him with the keys to the place as he finished with his notes for the case but his mind wondered as soon he left with Trucy tagging along.

"His just a friend, Athena reacts like that to all her friends when they get in trouble...which reminds me, half of them end up getting framed for murder sooner or later." He paused for a moment. "...I need to remind her to get a new batch of friends." He sweat- dropped.

Reaching for his notes he organized them neatly and placed them into his suitcase beside the evidence he had gathered with Athena and sometimes with Phoenix. The past day or two he couldn't ignore the way Athena would look at her childhood friend or the way she would crack it after hearing an insult or two from Blackquill talking about the defendant.

Then he got an idea.

"No way!" He slammed his hands on his desk after coming up with a conclusion. "That's impossible." Apollo placed his finger on his forehead. "No no no. It wouldn't make up." Closing his briefcase shut he started to make his way out of the building when another thought came across his mind.

Leaning his back on the wall, "But what else would explain...all of this." Holding his red vest tightly, "I can hardly think or breathe straight." Holding his head, Apollo shook it multiple times. "...I'm fine! Yes, I'm totally fine!" Apollo tried to convince himself.

"...You know if you keep that up I might not have a office to return to in the morning from all the complaints coming from the neighbours."

Looking towards the door of the agency was no other but the well-known and respected lawyer and his mentor, Phoenix Wright. He knew his real name was Nick but he hardly had the guts to call him that.

"M-Mr. Wright!" Apollo rose back up to his feet and stood up straight. "W-What are you doing here?"

"Well I came to check if you closed up the place well back after I discovered it was open I got worried for a moment...good things never come from offices open in the middle of the night." Phoenix went quiet for a moment. "Anyway got all your notes for the trial tomorrow?" The well-known lawyer suddenly changed topic.

"Huh – Well..." He scratched the back of his head with a nervous smile. "About that...I could hardly get my thoughts down."

"That's interesting. Is something bothering you?" Phoenix took a seat on the messy couch. Apollo followed.

"Ah, well...it's about the guy I'm defending in court."

"Don't tell me you dug your own grave again?" Phoenix started the sweat nervously.

"Oh no, it's not that. It's about Athena and him. I feel so uncomfortable the way she looks at him and loses her cool when Blackquill throws a rebuttal or evidence to ruin my theories."

Scratching his chin, "Is there a problem about that? We both know how emotional she can get when it comes to cases that involve her friends."

"Yeah, but this one feels...different." He rolled his eyes to the corner of the room. "And I don't like it."

A snicker came from his mentor as Apollo stared back up at him. He couldn't understand the sudden change of mood coming from his mentor. He decided to shrug it off.

"And what do you feel every time Athena acts like this to the defendant?"

"Are your counseling me?" He raised an eyebrow. He knew Nick wasn't going to reply until he heard his answer. He sighed and decided to go with it, "When she does that I feel uncomfortable when they are deep into a conversation or the way she stares at him deeply, promising that I'll prove him innocent. We are just friends; I mean I only care for her because we've worked on a few cases together and I don't want to see her hurt or anything."

"Oh, I have just the evidence to contradict that idea of yours, Apollo." Phoenix gave off that cocky grin of his.

With his arms crossed the young lawyer swallowed hard. There was no way out. Wright was going to make him spill out everything. And he hated that.

"And what kind of evidence do you have that will prove what exactly?" At this point Apollo was lost at where Phoenix was leading their conversation. He felt they were in a courtroom all of a sudden.

"I'm no expert but I can tell your feeling slightly...jealous, and I don't need some Mood matrix to see that."

"What?!" Apollo fell off the couch and straight onto the hard cold floor. It didn't take long for him to sit back up. "No way, are you trying to say that I-I..." Apollo rose up to his feet. Crossing his arms, "I refuse to accept that. I don't have feelings for Athena at all, nope, none."

Nick tried to hide away the smirk on his face by covering it with his hand but he was never good at such a thing. He watched and tried to keep a straight face as Apollo sat with his usual shocked face staring back at him.

"Then why so defensive?"

Apollo gave off a sigh and crossed his arms. It was clear to Phoenix he was pouting.

"B-Because that's wrong! There has to be another explanation!" Apollo continued on. Wright kept on watching without saying another word.

"Whatever makes you happy then." Phoenix placed his blue coat over his shoulder with a grin. "Well then, you better get home. You got a trial early in the morning tomorrow."

"B-But I don't even..." Apollo was still trying to convince Phoenix that was he felt towards the red head was nothing but genuine concern. His fringe was now down and flat on his face as Wright left the agency. "Mr...Wright...hey...let me explain. Ugh..."

"Hey, hey Apollo..."

The young rookie stared at the sleeping lawyer who seemed very comfortable on the couch in the Wright Anything Agency. His trial was going to happen under an hour and the rookie came early to help him revise over his notes together to help him prove another of her friend's innocent from murder.

She was puzzled why the brunette had fallen asleep in the agency rather than in his own home. Giving it no more thought the only female lawyer in the firm noticed his suitcase by his feet and reached for it, deciding to revise on the notes of the trial ahead of him. As she reached over she was surprised to see it unlocked causing all the contents to scatter away.

"Nooo!" Athena had her usual shocked face on as she reached for the contents and roughly placed them back. She quickly toned down her voice.

Mr. Wright still hadn't arrived making the office quieter without him around. Although it was her and Apollo making most of the noise in the room with their bickering and Trucy with her magic tricks from the time she realized how much all of the members of the place meant to her in such a short time.

After carefully making sure none of the evidence had broken of scattered too far she flicked the locks tightly shut before noticing she had left one behind. It was the notes about all the information they had gathered during the trial of her friend.

It seemed normal as notes and rough diagrams were drawn on each page and nothing seemed to stick out to her. The rookie continued to flick through the boy's journal even when the pages were blank. As she was reaching the end a few words popped by, causing her to flick back a few pages to find those words once again.

Her fingers felt like oil had covered her fingertips as she read the words. She shook as the journal fumbled in her hands before slipping out of her grasp completely and hitting Apollo on the head, this made the young lawyer to wake up.

"...Ouch," He rubbed his forehead. "Talk about a rude awakening..." He blinked a few times, surprised to see his partner on her knees with a flustered face. "Athena?" He reached out for the object that collided on him. He noticed it was his journal filled with notes for the trial. "Ah, you didn't!"

Athena brushed her long red hair a few times while avoiding any eye contact with her work-mate. "So is it true?"

"Hm?" Apollo flicked through his journal and at first didn't understand what his friend was speaking until he crossed the same page Athena had stumbled on earlier. "What? No! I mean! I don't remember writing this!"

"But that's clearly written in your handwriting!" The teenager rose up to her feet.

Apollo rose to his feet, his journal flapping in the air. "But I don't understand! After talking to Mr. Wright last night I fell to sleep. It's impossible that I wrote anything down!" Apollo felt Athena pushed his body back down on the couch just as soon he stood up. He sometimes forgot how much he disliked her anger.

"But is it true?!" Athena restated.

"That...I like you?" Apollo's tone was nervous, as he looked left and right to find the right words. He was sweating hard. "I-I don't know. I'm still trying to find out that myself." He gave off a nervous smile as he pushed his fringe back.

With her hands on her waist and leaning forward towards the man it seemed Athena was still unimpressed. Apollo looked at her long hair that was touching his knees. "What? Do you want me to say I like your hair instead?" It was clear Apollo was running out of ideas.

"Gah!" Athena gave up. "Why do I bother sometimes?" She sighed. "Anyway let's just go over the notes for the trial today okay?"

"...Sure." He watched as Athena took her seat beside Apollo.

With his notes in his partner's grasp she heard Athena speak about the case, the witness and her dear male friend that is begin accused of the murder. As soon he was mentioned she noticed the passion in her voice and how much she wanted to prove him innocent.

"Could we please talk about the evidence now?" Apollo's eyes were closed and his arms crossed.

"But we need to talk about the defendant and possible outcomes to prove his innocence!"

"I said I don't want too!" He suddenly snapped as she turned to her. He quickly turned back and looked the other way and covered his mouth. Times where he didn't need his Chords of Steel would be right now...

"I can sense some discord in your voice..." The topic quickly changed.

He turned to face her, "Oh no, don't you dare use your 'therapy' on me now Athena." He begged.

But it was too late. A few taps on Widget and a light blue transparent screen was seen in front of her. Swiping pass each screen it only took minutes for the young promising lawyer to get an answer. As she looked back on her friend she noticed how nervous he was.

"Hm, you seem to have a out of control emotion which is fear. Now if I can find the reason why then maybe-"

"Don't! I'll confess!" Apollo suddenly felt he was guilty of murder or something. "Don't go through with it."

"But there is some noise still. If you only give me a few minutes I can clear it out and I'll get my answer." Athena was persistent to have it her way and not Apollo's.

"I feel jealous every time you with your friend and the way you willing to go to save him from a conviction!" He suddenly burst out his confession.

A puzzled face was seen from Athena before a cheeky grin replaced it. "Mr. Apollo Justice jealous?" He tried to cover her devil like grin with her hands. "What a outstanding revelation! Quick you must add this to your testimony Mr. Justice!" Athena mocked the judge's voice for a moment before cracking into laughter.

A flustered lawyer in red crossed his arms and muttered. "The way I feel you isn't a joke."

The laughter soon stopped before her face turned into a deep shade of red. Both stayed silent before the red head filled the office with an awkward laughter. "Haha, good one Apollo, you liking me. Maybe I should say that I like you too...haha." She fanned her hand and kept on the awkward laughter. "Oh please let the Boss come in and break this awkward moment. I can't handle it."

"My bracelet went tense when you said those words 'l like you too" Apollo rubbed his wrist. "Is it alright if you say them again?" Apollo scooted closer to his partner. Athena's nerves froze on her as she fell on her back. Now her dear friend was now looking down on her, perceiving her the way he would do clients. His eyes would turn into a creepy shade of red that she thought she would only see in horror movies.

"No."

Apollo moved his face closer to the stuttering teenager, which caused her body to shake more. She knew his power and he knew his. She never imagined there would be a day that they would use it against each other. "I'm not going to say them cause you'll get nothing out of me. I don't like you and that's fina-"

But soon her discussion was cut short when a pair of soft lips crossed hers. It took her a moment to come to senses that Apollo had just kissed her.

"Gotcha." He teased. He ran his fingers though her long red hair.

"...Damn it." She cussed. "F-Fine, I confess as well. I sometimes feel a little jealous when I see you and Junie so close together."

"Well I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that feels that way." Apollo showed off another of his cheeky grins before going in for another kiss. This time the kiss lasted a little longer than the first. Athena's arms rose from her sides and wrapped themselves around his neck as Apollo dug his hand under her back and pulled her up. The two were now on their knees.

"Well this is interesting."

Both young lawyers knew that voice very well. They both froze.

"Well looks like my little Polly has grown up!" The young aspiring magician cheered. She started to throw streamers from her magic panties towards the new couple.

Both of them shared the same face the showed when something unbelievable came their way or when they felt dishearten.

"M-Mr. Wright..."

"B-Boss..."

With a smile on his face, "Now I believe you two have a trial in a few minutes. If I were you I better hurry or Blackquill will slice up your defendant before a verdict will be made."

"Ah! That's the last thing I need to be added to my reputation!" Apollo quickly jumped up to his feet. "Come-on Athena! I can't afford to lose this case!" He reached for the red head's hand and pulled her to her feet. "I think I can use some of the evidence we have to get a not guilty verdict!"

"Wait! We need the evidence!" The young rookie reached for the suitcase of evidence before feeling Apollo dragging her out of the agency.

"See you later Mr. Wright!" Apollo's voice could be heard down the hall.

"Ah! Alright, talk to you later Boss! Adiós" Athena's was hardly heard due to Apollo's loud voice.

Trucy walked up to the entrance of the agency and watched the two new lawyers run down the halls like their life defended on it while their hands locked tightly. She turned back to face her father with a confused look on her.

"Daddy?" She began. "Did we just see magic happen just then?"

Phoenix couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he reached down to the journal Apollo had dropped during his moment with Athena. He flicked passed the heavy notes Apollo had written down and pass a few blank pages until he saw the message written down near the end of the book.

"Oh, Also tell Athena that I had feelings for her before the trial is over."

The veteran lawyer closed the book shut and turned to his daughter and patted her softly on her right cheek. "I think so. Now lets hurry and catch up with Apollo and Athena. They'll be needing this if they want to win the case at all."

"Alright!" Trucy cheered with her usual cheery voice.

Phoenix stayed quiet as he tried to hide his smile away as he locked the door shut tightly before seen walking down the hall with his daughter by his side.

"It was about time they noticed that note I left for them both."

A/N:

I'm officially in love with Justicykes. They are such a awesome pairing. I'm up to case four and I can understand why this isn't a popular pairing...(I'm sorry but I really don't ship ApolloxJunie or BlackquillxAthena) I can't wait for the future games where maybe we'll get some people teasing of the two like Klaiver did. Haha, that was cute.

This is my second fanfic for this fandom and the first time writing these guys so I hope I did okay. Hopefully one day I can write more of these two. Maybe then the fanbase will grow a little more too. Okay, until next time~

~midnight