BlackHeart Biohazards

The Mechanics of Emotion (21656 words) by thesavagesabretooth

catch up here

December 27, 12:35 pm

Apollo plopped himself down in one of the chairs in the visitor room of the minimum security area of the prison and waited for Aura to be led in. It was nice, at least, that there wouldn’t be bars between them this time.

He rubbed his eyes, knowing there were dark circles under them. He’d gotten some sleep– a couple of hours before coming. But it wasn’t enough.

He didn’t know if it could ever be enough after the week he’d had.

The sharp beep of the locks disengaging heralded Aura Blackquill’s arrival as they pushed open with the gentle clink of chains, and the murmur of a guard as he stepped in with her.

Apollo got a good view of her as she stood there with her handcuffed hands outstretched before her as the guard unlocked the cuffs for her visitation. 

She looked as rough as he did, her dark hair down from it’s usual twin buns and falling around her face in thick and messy curls…her eyes bore dark circles of their own under the round rims of the glasses that replaced her usual visor.

There was a low, gurgling croak from the starkest difference…a large and sleek feathered bird perched atop her shoulder. A raven, with clever little eyes and an obsidian beak that seemed to turn and regard Apollo with curiosity.

In the striped uniform of the state penitentiary, her curling and mussed hair, and her old labcoat draped unopened over her shoulders with the bird glaring from atop them…

He could really see the family resemblance between her and Simon, clear as day.

She sneered something to the guard, who pulled the cuffs away with a nervous laugh before she turned and seemed to brighten considerably upon seeing Apollo.

“It’s been a few days, cutie.” she purred in a low voice as she walked over under the guard’s careful stare. The bird ruffled her feathers atop her shoulder and let out a sharp caw, earning the quiet ‘tch’ and a reprimand from Aura “…behave, Morrigan.” 

“Sorry, Aura. I would have come sooner, but I had a surprisingly long week.” He smiled wanly at her. “Nice bird. Morrigan, huh?”

Aura sat opposite him with a sly smile, brushing her hair over her ear. 

“I won’t say I wasn’t wishing you might come along a little earlier, but I can understand a ‘long week’. You’re graciously forgiven.” She gestured to Morrigan with a chuckle. “as you can see, as my brother had requested, I’m already making friends here in the clink. This is Morrigan…some kind of animal therapy rehab project gave her to me as a companion…my only guess why they chose a bird is to have a laugh about another Blackquill in prison. But she’s charming enough.”

Morrigan made a low croak of a trill before she flapped up into the air and landed near Apollo, looking at his bracelet with keen interest. 

Apollo rubbed his bracelet, noticing the bird’s interest and he chuckled nervously.

“Well, she does seem charming, even if people are laughing. It’s nice to know at least you aren’t completely alone in here.” He gave her a wan smile. “Missed you the last week. I was out of the country.”

Aura’s hand reached out and rested on the middle of the table near him as she gave him a tired smile. The playful cockiness he’d come to know before everything had gone sideways was still there under the clear exhaustion.

“Missed you too, you know. Spent Christmas wondering if you were gonna drop by, or send me one of those poems we talked about….you too, huh? Lemme guess…the same thing Simon was away on, yeah? That whole thing with Cauli and…” she leaned in to whisper. “the capture of some…or one… of that rat bastard’s superiors?” 

“So you already know some of it,” he murmured back, leaning toward her, his voice low. Had Simon told her all of it? He doubted it. “Yeah. I was in Cauli. I missed you on Christmas. It was a bad one.”

Aura nodded as she looked into his eyes. 

“seems like that was going around…bad Christmas’. “ Her nails scraped against the table between them as they shook “wish I coulda been company for you.”

Morrigan thumped her head against Apollo’s wrist with a low squawk, as Aura took a deep breath. “Simon told me a bit…about that bein’ why he didn’t visit me either. Gave me the good news. Begged me to let him use the Blackquill Manor for a while. That sort of thing…but how about you, huh? Wanna talk about what made it so rough?” 

“I’d rather hear what exactly Simon thought the good news was.” He reached over, and tried to give the bird a little pet on the head.

I’m gonna guess it wasn’t about ‘Halblicht’. Or she’d be in a way worse mood.

No kidding.

“About them catching the guys who sent that wretched Phantom to our doorstep.” Aura’s lips twitched in a cruel smile “…I may be too late to end his life myself, but the idea that his superior will go down in flames with him is a small comfort to warm my ugly little cell.”

Morrigan’s feathers ruffled in surprise at being pet– but she soon seemed to be amenable to it, hopping a little closer. 

He stroked the bird’s crest thoughtfully, and looked up at Aura with big eyes that he was sure were too dark. He could feel Clay and the anxious anger inside him pushing up against his thoughts.

He sure didn’t tell her alright. That means it’s up to us.

It’s going to really spoil her mood.

“So that’s what he told you.” They nodded. “It’s true, they have his superior, and they’re tugging away to bring the whole organization down like a jenga tower.”

Aura’s smile grew a little wider. 

“…burning it all down, as it deserves to be.”
She brushed her fingers through her hair “for what they did to us. To Clay, to Metis…”
The woman’s voice broke , and she took a moment to compose herself while Morrigan preened against his hand. “They all deserve to burn. It’s a comfort to hear they’re at least doing that much.” 

“Yeah…” There’s our opening. “About Clay and Metis, Aura….”

Aura leaned on her hand curiously. “…about them?” 

Her tone had turned hesitant, almost tense, as she listened with that frown she’d often worn while tinkering with Clonco’s head. 

“Can I ask you a frank question? You won’t like it.”

She is not at all going to guess what you’re about to ask.

Aura laughed , and her hand slapped the table hard in rapid succession, startling Morrigan and sending her flapping up to land atop Apollo’s head with an indignant screech.

“I’ve gotten pretty used to things I don’t like lately, Apollo Justice!”

“Relatable,” he drawled, wincing as the heavy bird landed on him. “Ow… hey, come on, Morrigan, you’re spoiling the dramatic mood.”

Aura laughed even harder, her eyes closed as she slapped the table again. 

“she hates when things get too serious. It means there’s more eyes on her when she tries to steal her little trinkets, isn’t that right?”

Morrigan hopped down onto his shoulder…the same arm that had his bracelet…and seemed t0 ignore her barb.

“But…go on. I’m listening.” Aura said as the laughter died and her expression sobered. 

“I think she’s trying to get my bracelet,” he chuckled. He shook his head. “But, look… Aura– I’m serious when I say this. Do you believe in ghosts?”

Aura’s lips twitched slightly. “uh…huh. I’ve never exactly been a spiritual person. Metis…she’d always been the one to believe in fairy tales like spirit mediums and vengeful ghosts.” 

“Yeah,” Apollo nodded. “I wasn’t exactly one to believe in them either. But… what if I could prove to you that they exist?”

Are we really doing this? I thought we were going to keep quiet about…

If anyone deserves to know, it’s Aura.“Then you’ll have absolutely blown a scientist’s worldview open” she leaned on her hand. “and give me a lot to think about in my little cell.” 

“I’ll have even more to tell you once I prove it,” he said. “I don’t want you to think I’m making wild claims out of nowhere, you know?”

Aura’s smirk flickered back to life. “Well, well…now you’ve got me interested.” 

“Alright,” he leaned closer to her. “Ask me something only Clay Terran would know the answer to.”

Aura’s eyebrow raised below her thick glasses. 

“…hard question. I know you two were close.” She traced her fingertip on the table as Morrigan made a grab for his bracelet with her beak. “Gimme a sec.” 

“Maybe a conversation in private,” he murmured. “Or something leading up to the day of the launch.”

He felt his chest tighten at the thought of actually talking about the whole thing. But he was committed now.

Aura took a deep breath and smiled at him. 

“…I got a little drunk at the Cosmos Center pre-launch party. I wound up leaning on Clay half the night and talking his ear off.” Her eyes flicked down as she muttered “eventually he helped me to the Robotics Lab where I told him something I hadn’t told anyone before.”

Apollo bit his lip and felt his eyes sting as tears beaded in the corner. The memory of the moment welled up in their mind from Clay’s perspective. Aura, drunk and nostalgic leaned against him, his arm around her. Sober as a stone and just happy for her company.

Clay swallowed. 

“It was Metis’ last words. Before the HAT-1 launch. You told me what she’d said to you. That when the probe came back– she hoped it was a kinder world. And you didn’t need to hide.”

His fingers tensed, and he clenched away from Morrigan as she pecked at their bracelet. 

Aura’s breath caught in her throat…and her cocky little smile died on her lips as her eyes narrowed in surprise. She physically flinched. 

“How…” Her voice broke again, and he saw the first beads of tears glistening on her long eyelashes as she scraped her nails against the top of the table “how…I…I only ever told that to Clay just before he died.” 

“Yeah,” Clay sighed, leaning toward her now. “I know. You were drunk as hell. It was cute. Shame I didn’t drink at the party due to the regulations. Wouldn’t have mattered in the end.”

Aura blinked several times over the grimacing line of her mouth, and a single set of tears dripped down the contours of her tired and tear-bruised face. She quickly wiped them away with a shaking breath.

“Cute, huh? I should get wasted more often. Get wasted with me next time, instead of following Yuri’s boring old regulations” her dark eyes focused on him under the messy fringes of her hair as she took a shuddering breath “…”

“Clay, that can’t possibly be you in there…it’s…scientifically ridiculous.” Still, she referred to him by his name. She may have really wanted to believe it. 

“I know,” he said. He reached out his hand toward her. She was echoing their own thoughts of the last few days. “It’s stupid isn’t it? I should just be gone. Nowhere. Returned to stardust. But I’m here…”

Nausea swam in their belly, Apollo lurching at Clay’s suggestion that he should be gone. 

I’m glad you’re here, he promised him again for the millionth time. I don’t want you to be gone.

Aura’s grabbed his hand, staring deep into his eyes for a long moment with that stare that was so very much like her brother’s. 

After a moment she sighed out a soft breath “…well I’ll be damned,” Her shoulders shook with what was either a laugh or a sob. “Unbelievable. Completely unbelievable. But Mr. Justice looks a lil’ different when…when you’re talking. Just like that damned clown show of a case way back when.”

She gave Clay a familiar old smile he’d seen a lot in the cosmos center, reserved for very few…including himself… in those days when Aura stormed through the halls like an antisocial stormcloud. “Consider my disbelief suspended….I missed you, spaceman.” 

He squeezed her hand, and gave her an embarrassed smile. “Missed you too, doc. Heh… guess I took a wrong turn. Ended up exploring a different final frontier than I planned.”

“Apollo Justice’s body?” she asked with a sharp and teasing smirk “one I was hoping to explore too, before this whole shitshow happened.”

She broke out into one of her laughs, slapping the table again and startling Morrigan who’d gotten her beak around the bracelet only to be startled into flying over the table with a frustrated caw. 

Clay and Apollo jolted as one, and made a choked noise. Clay rubbed the back of his neck, flushed. 

“No uh, I had that one covered beforehand,” he murmured. “But uh, yeah… big surprises this week. Something something, dreamt of in your philosophy, am I right?”

Aura grabbed his hand again, her fingers curling against his as she chuckled. “I bet you did. But…seriously…the spirit world exists in some fashion or another…it changes things. That’s for certain.”

She met his eyes “that in and of itself must have been an earth shattering surprise.” 

“It fucked me up, Aura,” he admitted plaintively, staring deep into her eyes with his– or whatever approximation of them he and Apollo shared. “We didn’t believe it. We thought– we thought we were going crazy. Apollo thought he was going crazy. Couldn’t blame him. So did I.”

“I feel like I might be going crazy and I’m only hearing about it.” She admitted with a thin smile, squeezing his hand tighter “…I can’t even imagine hearing…hearing the voice of someone I loved in my head and having to figure out if I’d just finally snapped or what…” 

“It was a hell of a week,” he said with a small smile. He squeezed her hand. “What made me finally believe it was… well.. Mr. Wright’s friend, Pearl Fey. She’s a channeler, you know?”

“…a spirit channeller. That spikey haired attorney has a friend who’s a goddess damned spirit channeler…” Her thumb brushed his fingers thoughtfully as she tilted her head “…alright. I’ll bite.” 

“You know how you said you can kind of see the difference in my face?” he murmured. “When the Feys channel somebody, their whole body– mostly– transforms. It’s really… obvious. Undeniable really. Like the video of California Vs Sister Iris. It’s almost scary in person.”

“So that wasn’t some kinda camera trick then.” Aura whistled low under her breath. “…it sounds like it’s a horror show, and it sounds like it’s one you got to see.”

“It’s the only reason we believed it was real,” he explained. He squeezed her hand again, remembering it. Remembering seeing…. her. “Aura… Pearl channeled… she channeled…”

He felt his breath hitch in their chest as they struggled to say it to her.

Aura’s eyes widened behind the lenses of her glasses, and he got to watch the color drain from her face as she guessed it…

“Don’t tell me they channeled Metis…” 

They nodded slowly, and swallowed. “Yeah. They did. Pearl said she’s happy to channel her again– when you can see her. She wanted to see you. She asked where you were. She– she wants us to throw a party.”

They fought down a fit of nervous laughter at the idea.

Aura choked, and her fingers tightened sharply around his. 

“She asked where I am…Metis I’m in fucking prison.” She laughed and fell forward on the table until her forehead rested on his hand. “A party…probably full of her favorite dark jokes and ironies, knowing her. Hell…Sounds like a blast…a real blast.” 

“She was cracking dark jokes the whole time,” he said, leaning until his head touched hers too. “Even if I couldn’t see her face, I would have believed it was her. She said… she hasn’t moved on yet. She isn’t ready. She’s still lingering with us.”

Aura Blackquill was a proud woman, he knew that she always went out of her way to hide her tears behind a sharp barb and a laugh, but when he said those words she began to cry. Tears fell against the back of his hand as she took shuddering, shaking breaths….

“She’s always been a sentimental old fool,” she murmured with teary affection. “she’d best not move on until I get there.” 

They felt a thick tightness in their throat, and choked back a little sob. “I think she might be waiting for you.”

Aura gripped his hand tighter, a sharp and strangled sound in her throat as she cried atop his hand.

At some point Morrigan had lost interest in his bracelet…or perhaps cared about her new charge…and come to roost back on her shoulder.

After a long moment, she rose and wiped her eyes. 

“Gah…then we’d best hold that party once I’m free of this dump. See if we can convince her to stick around a little longer.” 

They gently let go of her hand, and wiped their own eyes. “Yeah. I know she’ll be happy to see you.”

“Good…good.” Aura took a deep breath and scritched Morrigan’s crest.
“…so that’s why you’ve had such a long week. Given…seeing her again so unexpectedly…I can see why you’ve been kinda sleepless.” 

“There’s more than that,” he said. “It’s not all good news, but it’s hard to explain, and I shouldn’t say too much, or Miles Edgeworth will kick my ass.”

Aura’s expression knit in anxious anticipation. ‘…well. I’m listening. Miles Edgeworth can complain to me if he’s pissed.”

“There’s another ghost other than me walking around, Aura,” he said, feeling the tension in his jaw.

Aura’s jaw set. “..and it’s not Metis or someone else I might be happy to see, or you’d have told me already.” 

“No,” he shook his head. “Well. Admittedly, I don’t know if you’d be happy to see their ghost or not. But their host? Absolutely not.”

He could see the way Aura prickled, and feel her fingers tighten against his. “…who. Who the hell is it?”

Apollo lowered his voice to a whisper, and made certain that his hand was covering his mouth in view of the camera. It would;n’t get him kicked out. He was a trusted and respected lawyer.

“Bobby Fulbright.”

He saw the obvious recognition as the other piece of the puzzle clicked into place in Aura Blackquill’s mind. The widening of her eyes in shock followed by the sudden simmering anger as her expression twisted into a snarl.

“So that’s who’s walking around…How much of the monster is aware? Is he like…like you two? Does Simon know? ” Even through the growl of fury in her voice…he could hear the hurt as she spit out the last question.. 

Their gaze darkened as well. “Simon knows. They were working together on the case in Cauli. Moving up the chain.”

“Moving up the chain.” The hurt showed briefly on her face before it drowned in the furious snarl that crossed her features. The edges of her lips twitched as her fingers left his hand to turn into tight fists.

Morrigan, sensing her distress, hunkered down as her features bushed up in reciprocated anger with a sharp caw.

“With the Phantom by his side. How…” she laughed, though there wasn’t a shred of her usual humor in it. “how hilariously ironic! My own brother working with the bloody Phantom to ‘work up the chain’. All while lying to my face because it’s not like his sister, locked up in a mess of her own making, will ever know! Better tell her he’s dead and rub salt in her wounds!”

Her fist struck the table as the first angry tears began to fall “Miles Edgeworth can take up his fury with me, Apollo…Clay..”

She jerked her head up, looking him dead in the eyes with a flash of her own “Did they toss the bastard in a cell when you got back, or is he walking free?” 

“We got back this morning,” he said, shaking his head. “I didn’t stick around to find out. But you know what? I’m gonna send Mr. Edgeworth in to answer to you, Aura. How’s that sound?”

Aura Blackquill’s fury was palpable as she dragged her nails against the table. “…that sounds lovely, my dear.” she managed to say in a shuddering and whispered tone.

“I think he has a lot to answer for in this little confidence game of his.” 

“He does, that’s for sure.” Clay sat with her, stewing in their shared, sullen anger for a moment. He glanced at the clock. “Aura, I don’t have a lot of time left before they’re gonna kick me out.”

Aura looked up at the clock , pushing her hands up below her glasses to wipe her eyes before she glared at the time.

“Of course. Can’t let me enjoy good company for too long before they throw me back in the pit.”
She made a sharp ‘tch’ sound. “dammit…fuck.”

He put his hand on her face and smiled a sad little smile. “Before I go, I actually have something for you. A present. I know it’s late. I meant to give it to you after, well–” Clay shook his head.

“…” Aura briefly snapped out of her fury to turn her gaze back towards Clay with an attempt at a grin “A present huh? Y-you’re spoiling me, Clay.”

She eased herself back down into the chair, and pushed up her glasses with a curious tilt of her head.

He slid his hand into their pocket and pulled out a small package, about the size of his fist, wrapped in crinkled Christmasy paper, with snowmen on it. He offered it to her.

“It’s really not much,” he said. “I would have gone bigger, if I had known. But at least it’s something they’ll let you keep in here.”

The guard gave him a look from by the door…but Aura didn’t hesitate in taking it and holding it for a moment with a big grin. 

“…a christmas present, too..”
She looked up at him with a trace of a dark flush on her face over her sharp and playful smile. “what a romantic. Sorry I couldn’t…couldn’t get ya anything in return.”

She opened it, carefully removing the tape and opening the paper. “I really wish I could, but..well.” 

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. When you’re out, you can buy me flowers.”

It was a dark joke, but Clay made it all the same. Aura was used to that kind of humor.

When the paper was torn away, inside was the small toy he’d bought her in the days before his death. A stress ball– a little rubber toy– but in the shape of a science-fiction robot.

“I’ll get ones that match your headstone.” she said with a broadening grin as she held the toy up to the light. 

“My own little pocket sized Clonco…” She looked down at him with a flicker of genuine happiness in her smile, before Morrigan flapped off her shoulder and she slid around the table to grab him by the shoulders.

The toy squished against him as she leaned closer, her nose close to his as she glanced up at the camera and the frowning guard. Her smile inched a little wider, a little more mischievous, as she closed the distance. “Love it, spacemen” she murmured a second before she pulled him into a kiss. 

It was normal, natural for Clay, and he melted into the kiss as he’d often done for the last year or so. It surprised Apollo a little, but he only made a soft noise before he too surrendered to it. They put an arm around her.

Aura held him tight for a moment in a kiss as passionate and fierce as she was before she finally broke it when the guard cleared his throat…

For the third time.

As their lips parted, she held up the toy and gave it a squeeze. 

“Gonna think of you every time I torment the little thing” she teased. 

They laughed and rubbed their face. “Of course you are. I’m touched.”

Apollo glanced over at the guard with a semi-apologetic look. “Looks like we’re on our third warning. I better go before they decide I’m not allowed back.

“Yeah…the guards are allergic to fun in this dump.” Aura chuckled, as she put her hand on her hip. ”…you…two, I guess. I’m gonna miss you. Make sure to visit again soon, alright? I’ll..” she performatively sighed, “make some new friends so I can have some fresh gossip to bitch about to you.” 

They chuckled. “Promise we’ll visit soon. I’ll be excited to hear about your friends. And let me know how that conversation with Edgeworth goes.”

“You’ll be the first to know.” she said with a jagged grin. “Kisses, boys. Don’t have too much fun without me.” ”

The Mechanics of Emotion (21656 words) by thesavagesabretooth

catch up here

December 27, 12:35 pm

Apollo plopped himself down in one of the chairs in the visitor room of the minimum security area of the prison and waited for Aura to be led in. It was nice, at least, that there wouldn’t be bars between them this time.

He rubbed his eyes, knowing there were dark circles under them. He’d gotten some sleep– a couple of hours before coming. But it wasn’t enough.

He didn’t know if it could ever be enough after the week he’d had.

The sharp beep of the locks disengaging heralded Aura Blackquill’s arrival as they pushed open with the gentle clink of chains, and the murmur of a guard as he stepped in with her.

Apollo got a good view of her as she stood there with her handcuffed hands outstretched before her as the guard unlocked the cuffs for her visitation. 

She looked as rough as he did, her dark hair down from it’s usual twin buns and falling around her face in thick and messy curls…her eyes bore dark circles of their own under the round rims of the glasses that replaced her usual visor.

There was a low, gurgling croak from the starkest difference…a large and sleek feathered bird perched atop her shoulder. A raven, with clever little eyes and an obsidian beak that seemed to turn and regard Apollo with curiosity.

In the striped uniform of the state penitentiary, her curling and mussed hair, and her old labcoat draped unopened over her shoulders with the bird glaring from atop them…

He could really see the family resemblance between her and Simon, clear as day.

She sneered something to the guard, who pulled the cuffs away with a nervous laugh before she turned and seemed to brighten considerably upon seeing Apollo.

“It’s been a few days, cutie.” she purred in a low voice as she walked over under the guard’s careful stare. The bird ruffled her feathers atop her shoulder and let out a sharp caw, earning the quiet ‘tch’ and a reprimand from Aura “…behave, Morrigan.” 

“Sorry, Aura. I would have come sooner, but I had a surprisingly long week.” He smiled wanly at her. “Nice bird. Morrigan, huh?”

Aura sat opposite him with a sly smile, brushing her hair over her ear. 

“I won’t say I wasn’t wishing you might come along a little earlier, but I can understand a ‘long week’. You’re graciously forgiven.” She gestured to Morrigan with a chuckle. “as you can see, as my brother had requested, I’m already making friends here in the clink. This is Morrigan…some kind of animal therapy rehab project gave her to me as a companion…my only guess why they chose a bird is to have a laugh about another Blackquill in prison. But she’s charming enough.”

Morrigan made a low croak of a trill before she flapped up into the air and landed near Apollo, looking at his bracelet with keen interest. 

Apollo rubbed his bracelet, noticing the bird’s interest and he chuckled nervously.

“Well, she does seem charming, even if people are laughing. It’s nice to know at least you aren’t completely alone in here.” He gave her a wan smile. “Missed you the last week. I was out of the country.”

Aura’s hand reached out and rested on the middle of the table near him as she gave him a tired smile. The playful cockiness he’d come to know before everything had gone sideways was still there under the clear exhaustion.

“Missed you too, you know. Spent Christmas wondering if you were gonna drop by, or send me one of those poems we talked about….you too, huh? Lemme guess…the same thing Simon was away on, yeah? That whole thing with Cauli and…” she leaned in to whisper. “the capture of some…or one… of that rat bastard’s superiors?” 

“So you already know some of it,” he murmured back, leaning toward her, his voice low. Had Simon told her all of it? He doubted it. “Yeah. I was in Cauli. I missed you on Christmas. It was a bad one.”

Aura nodded as she looked into his eyes. 

“seems like that was going around…bad Christmas’. “ Her nails scraped against the table between them as they shook “wish I coulda been company for you.”

Morrigan thumped her head against Apollo’s wrist with a low squawk, as Aura took a deep breath. “Simon told me a bit…about that bein’ why he didn’t visit me either. Gave me the good news. Begged me to let him use the Blackquill Manor for a while. That sort of thing…but how about you, huh? Wanna talk about what made it so rough?” 

“I’d rather hear what exactly Simon thought the good news was.” He reached over, and tried to give the bird a little pet on the head.

I’m gonna guess it wasn’t about ‘Halblicht’. Or she’d be in a way worse mood.

No kidding.

“About them catching the guys who sent that wretched Phantom to our doorstep.” Aura’s lips twitched in a cruel smile “…I may be too late to end his life myself, but the idea that his superior will go down in flames with him is a small comfort to warm my ugly little cell.”

Morrigan’s feathers ruffled in surprise at being pet– but she soon seemed to be amenable to it, hopping a little closer. 

He stroked the bird’s crest thoughtfully, and looked up at Aura with big eyes that he was sure were too dark. He could feel Clay and the anxious anger inside him pushing up against his thoughts.

He sure didn’t tell her alright. That means it’s up to us.

It’s going to really spoil her mood.

“So that’s what he told you.” They nodded. “It’s true, they have his superior, and they’re tugging away to bring the whole organization down like a jenga tower.”

Aura’s smile grew a little wider. 

“…burning it all down, as it deserves to be.”
She brushed her fingers through her hair “for what they did to us. To Clay, to Metis…”
The woman’s voice broke , and she took a moment to compose herself while Morrigan preened against his hand. “They all deserve to burn. It’s a comfort to hear they’re at least doing that much.” 

“Yeah…” There’s our opening. “About Clay and Metis, Aura….”

Aura leaned on her hand curiously. “…about them?” 

Her tone had turned hesitant, almost tense, as she listened with that frown she’d often worn while tinkering with Clonco’s head. 

“Can I ask you a frank question? You won’t like it.”

She is not at all going to guess what you’re about to ask.

Aura laughed , and her hand slapped the table hard in rapid succession, startling Morrigan and sending her flapping up to land atop Apollo’s head with an indignant screech.

“I’ve gotten pretty used to things I don’t like lately, Apollo Justice!”

“Relatable,” he drawled, wincing as the heavy bird landed on him. “Ow… hey, come on, Morrigan, you’re spoiling the dramatic mood.”

Aura laughed even harder, her eyes closed as she slapped the table again. 

“she hates when things get too serious. It means there’s more eyes on her when she tries to steal her little trinkets, isn’t that right?”

Morrigan hopped down onto his shoulder…the same arm that had his bracelet…and seemed t0 ignore her barb.

“But…go on. I’m listening.” Aura said as the laughter died and her expression sobered. 

“I think she’s trying to get my bracelet,” he chuckled. He shook his head. “But, look… Aura– I’m serious when I say this. Do you believe in ghosts?”

Aura’s lips twitched slightly. “uh…huh. I’ve never exactly been a spiritual person. Metis…she’d always been the one to believe in fairy tales like spirit mediums and vengeful ghosts.” 

“Yeah,” Apollo nodded. “I wasn’t exactly one to believe in them either. But… what if I could prove to you that they exist?”

Are we really doing this? I thought we were going to keep quiet about…

If anyone deserves to know, it’s Aura.“Then you’ll have absolutely blown a scientist’s worldview open” she leaned on her hand. “and give me a lot to think about in my little cell.” 

“I’ll have even more to tell you once I prove it,” he said. “I don’t want you to think I’m making wild claims out of nowhere, you know?”

Aura’s smirk flickered back to life. “Well, well…now you’ve got me interested.” 

“Alright,” he leaned closer to her. “Ask me something only Clay Terran would know the answer to.”

Aura’s eyebrow raised below her thick glasses. 

“…hard question. I know you two were close.” She traced her fingertip on the table as Morrigan made a grab for his bracelet with her beak. “Gimme a sec.” 

“Maybe a conversation in private,” he murmured. “Or something leading up to the day of the launch.”

He felt his chest tighten at the thought of actually talking about the whole thing. But he was committed now.

Aura took a deep breath and smiled at him. 

“…I got a little drunk at the Cosmos Center pre-launch party. I wound up leaning on Clay half the night and talking his ear off.” Her eyes flicked down as she muttered “eventually he helped me to the Robotics Lab where I told him something I hadn’t told anyone before.”

Apollo bit his lip and felt his eyes sting as tears beaded in the corner. The memory of the moment welled up in their mind from Clay’s perspective. Aura, drunk and nostalgic leaned against him, his arm around her. Sober as a stone and just happy for her company.

Clay swallowed. 

“It was Metis’ last words. Before the HAT-1 launch. You told me what she’d said to you. That when the probe came back– she hoped it was a kinder world. And you didn’t need to hide.”

His fingers tensed, and he clenched away from Morrigan as she pecked at their bracelet. 

Aura’s breath caught in her throat…and her cocky little smile died on her lips as her eyes narrowed in surprise. She physically flinched. 

“How…” Her voice broke again, and he saw the first beads of tears glistening on her long eyelashes as she scraped her nails against the top of the table “how…I…I only ever told that to Clay just before he died.” 

“Yeah,” Clay sighed, leaning toward her now. “I know. You were drunk as hell. It was cute. Shame I didn’t drink at the party due to the regulations. Wouldn’t have mattered in the end.”

Aura blinked several times over the grimacing line of her mouth, and a single set of tears dripped down the contours of her tired and tear-bruised face. She quickly wiped them away with a shaking breath.

“Cute, huh? I should get wasted more often. Get wasted with me next time, instead of following Yuri’s boring old regulations” her dark eyes focused on him under the messy fringes of her hair as she took a shuddering breath “…”

“Clay, that can’t possibly be you in there…it’s…scientifically ridiculous.” Still, she referred to him by his name. She may have really wanted to believe it. 

“I know,” he said. He reached out his hand toward her. She was echoing their own thoughts of the last few days. “It’s stupid isn’t it? I should just be gone. Nowhere. Returned to stardust. But I’m here…”

Nausea swam in their belly, Apollo lurching at Clay’s suggestion that he should be gone. 

I’m glad you’re here, he promised him again for the millionth time. I don’t want you to be gone.

Aura’s grabbed his hand, staring deep into his eyes for a long moment with that stare that was so very much like her brother’s. 

After a moment she sighed out a soft breath “…well I’ll be damned,” Her shoulders shook with what was either a laugh or a sob. “Unbelievable. Completely unbelievable. But Mr. Justice looks a lil’ different when…when you’re talking. Just like that damned clown show of a case way back when.”

She gave Clay a familiar old smile he’d seen a lot in the cosmos center, reserved for very few…including himself… in those days when Aura stormed through the halls like an antisocial stormcloud. “Consider my disbelief suspended….I missed you, spaceman.” 

He squeezed her hand, and gave her an embarrassed smile. “Missed you too, doc. Heh… guess I took a wrong turn. Ended up exploring a different final frontier than I planned.”

“Apollo Justice’s body?” she asked with a sharp and teasing smirk “one I was hoping to explore too, before this whole shitshow happened.”

She broke out into one of her laughs, slapping the table again and startling Morrigan who’d gotten her beak around the bracelet only to be startled into flying over the table with a frustrated caw. 

Clay and Apollo jolted as one, and made a choked noise. Clay rubbed the back of his neck, flushed. 

“No uh, I had that one covered beforehand,” he murmured. “But uh, yeah… big surprises this week. Something something, dreamt of in your philosophy, am I right?”

Aura grabbed his hand again, her fingers curling against his as she chuckled. “I bet you did. But…seriously…the spirit world exists in some fashion or another…it changes things. That’s for certain.”

She met his eyes “that in and of itself must have been an earth shattering surprise.” 

“It fucked me up, Aura,” he admitted plaintively, staring deep into her eyes with his– or whatever approximation of them he and Apollo shared. “We didn’t believe it. We thought– we thought we were going crazy. Apollo thought he was going crazy. Couldn’t blame him. So did I.”

“I feel like I might be going crazy and I’m only hearing about it.” She admitted with a thin smile, squeezing his hand tighter “…I can’t even imagine hearing…hearing the voice of someone I loved in my head and having to figure out if I’d just finally snapped or what…” 

“It was a hell of a week,” he said with a small smile. He squeezed her hand. “What made me finally believe it was… well.. Mr. Wright’s friend, Pearl Fey. She’s a channeler, you know?”

“…a spirit channeller. That spikey haired attorney has a friend who’s a goddess damned spirit channeler…” Her thumb brushed his fingers thoughtfully as she tilted her head “…alright. I’ll bite.” 

“You know how you said you can kind of see the difference in my face?” he murmured. “When the Feys channel somebody, their whole body– mostly– transforms. It’s really… obvious. Undeniable really. Like the video of California Vs Sister Iris. It’s almost scary in person.”

“So that wasn’t some kinda camera trick then.” Aura whistled low under her breath. “…it sounds like it’s a horror show, and it sounds like it’s one you got to see.”

“It’s the only reason we believed it was real,” he explained. He squeezed her hand again, remembering it. Remembering seeing…. her. “Aura… Pearl channeled… she channeled…”

He felt his breath hitch in their chest as they struggled to say it to her.

Aura’s eyes widened behind the lenses of her glasses, and he got to watch the color drain from her face as she guessed it…

“Don’t tell me they channeled Metis…” 

They nodded slowly, and swallowed. “Yeah. They did. Pearl said she’s happy to channel her again– when you can see her. She wanted to see you. She asked where you were. She– she wants us to throw a party.”

They fought down a fit of nervous laughter at the idea.

Aura choked, and her fingers tightened sharply around his. 

“She asked where I am…Metis I’m in fucking prison.” She laughed and fell forward on the table until her forehead rested on his hand. “A party…probably full of her favorite dark jokes and ironies, knowing her. Hell…Sounds like a blast…a real blast.” 

“She was cracking dark jokes the whole time,” he said, leaning until his head touched hers too. “Even if I couldn’t see her face, I would have believed it was her. She said… she hasn’t moved on yet. She isn’t ready. She’s still lingering with us.”

Aura Blackquill was a proud woman, he knew that she always went out of her way to hide her tears behind a sharp barb and a laugh, but when he said those words she began to cry. Tears fell against the back of his hand as she took shuddering, shaking breaths….

“She’s always been a sentimental old fool,” she murmured with teary affection. “she’d best not move on until I get there.” 

They felt a thick tightness in their throat, and choked back a little sob. “I think she might be waiting for you.”

Aura gripped his hand tighter, a sharp and strangled sound in her throat as she cried atop his hand.

At some point Morrigan had lost interest in his bracelet…or perhaps cared about her new charge…and come to roost back on her shoulder.

After a long moment, she rose and wiped her eyes. 

“Gah…then we’d best hold that party once I’m free of this dump. See if we can convince her to stick around a little longer.” 

They gently let go of her hand, and wiped their own eyes. “Yeah. I know she’ll be happy to see you.”

“Good…good.” Aura took a deep breath and scritched Morrigan’s crest.
“…so that’s why you’ve had such a long week. Given…seeing her again so unexpectedly…I can see why you’ve been kinda sleepless.” 

“There’s more than that,” he said. “It’s not all good news, but it’s hard to explain, and I shouldn’t say too much, or Miles Edgeworth will kick my ass.”

Aura’s expression knit in anxious anticipation. ‘…well. I’m listening. Miles Edgeworth can complain to me if he’s pissed.”

“There’s another ghost other than me walking around, Aura,” he said, feeling the tension in his jaw.

Aura’s jaw set. “..and it’s not Metis or someone else I might be happy to see, or you’d have told me already.” 

“No,” he shook his head. “Well. Admittedly, I don’t know if you’d be happy to see their ghost or not. But their host? Absolutely not.”

He could see the way Aura prickled, and feel her fingers tighten against his. “…who. Who the hell is it?”

Apollo lowered his voice to a whisper, and made certain that his hand was covering his mouth in view of the camera. It would;n’t get him kicked out. He was a trusted and respected lawyer.

“Bobby Fulbright.”

He saw the obvious recognition as the other piece of the puzzle clicked into place in Aura Blackquill’s mind. The widening of her eyes in shock followed by the sudden simmering anger as her expression twisted into a snarl.

“So that’s who’s walking around…How much of the monster is aware? Is he like…like you two? Does Simon know? ” Even through the growl of fury in her voice…he could hear the hurt as she spit out the last question.. 

Their gaze darkened as well. “Simon knows. They were working together on the case in Cauli. Moving up the chain.”

“Moving up the chain.” The hurt showed briefly on her face before it drowned in the furious snarl that crossed her features. The edges of her lips twitched as her fingers left his hand to turn into tight fists.

Morrigan, sensing her distress, hunkered down as her features bushed up in reciprocated anger with a sharp caw.

“With the Phantom by his side. How…” she laughed, though there wasn’t a shred of her usual humor in it. “how hilariously ironic! My own brother working with the bloody Phantom to ‘work up the chain’. All while lying to my face because it’s not like his sister, locked up in a mess of her own making, will ever know! Better tell her he’s dead and rub salt in her wounds!”

Her fist struck the table as the first angry tears began to fall “Miles Edgeworth can take up his fury with me, Apollo…Clay..”

She jerked her head up, looking him dead in the eyes with a flash of her own “Did they toss the bastard in a cell when you got back, or is he walking free?” 

“We got back this morning,” he said, shaking his head. “I didn’t stick around to find out. But you know what? I’m gonna send Mr. Edgeworth in to answer to you, Aura. How’s that sound?”

Aura Blackquill’s fury was palpable as she dragged her nails against the table. “…that sounds lovely, my dear.” she managed to say in a shuddering and whispered tone.

“I think he has a lot to answer for in this little confidence game of his.” 

“He does, that’s for sure.” Clay sat with her, stewing in their shared, sullen anger for a moment. He glanced at the clock. “Aura, I don’t have a lot of time left before they’re gonna kick me out.”

Aura looked up at the clock , pushing her hands up below her glasses to wipe her eyes before she glared at the time.

“Of course. Can’t let me enjoy good company for too long before they throw me back in the pit.”
She made a sharp ‘tch’ sound. “dammit…fuck.”

He put his hand on her face and smiled a sad little smile. “Before I go, I actually have something for you. A present. I know it’s late. I meant to give it to you after, well–” Clay shook his head.

“…” Aura briefly snapped out of her fury to turn her gaze back towards Clay with an attempt at a grin “A present huh? Y-you’re spoiling me, Clay.”

She eased herself back down into the chair, and pushed up her glasses with a curious tilt of her head.

He slid his hand into their pocket and pulled out a small package, about the size of his fist, wrapped in crinkled Christmasy paper, with snowmen on it. He offered it to her.

“It’s really not much,” he said. “I would have gone bigger, if I had known. But at least it’s something they’ll let you keep in here.”

The guard gave him a look from by the door…but Aura didn’t hesitate in taking it and holding it for a moment with a big grin. 

“…a christmas present, too..”
She looked up at him with a trace of a dark flush on her face over her sharp and playful smile. “what a romantic. Sorry I couldn’t…couldn’t get ya anything in return.”

She opened it, carefully removing the tape and opening the paper. “I really wish I could, but..well.” 

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. When you’re out, you can buy me flowers.”

It was a dark joke, but Clay made it all the same. Aura was used to that kind of humor.

When the paper was torn away, inside was the small toy he’d bought her in the days before his death. A stress ball– a little rubber toy– but in the shape of a science-fiction robot.

“I’ll get ones that match your headstone.” she said with a broadening grin as she held the toy up to the light. 

“My own little pocket sized Clonco…” She looked down at him with a flicker of genuine happiness in her smile, before Morrigan flapped off her shoulder and she slid around the table to grab him by the shoulders.

The toy squished against him as she leaned closer, her nose close to his as she glanced up at the camera and the frowning guard. Her smile inched a little wider, a little more mischievous, as she closed the distance. “Love it, spacemen” she murmured a second before she pulled him into a kiss. 

It was normal, natural for Clay, and he melted into the kiss as he’d often done for the last year or so. It surprised Apollo a little, but he only made a soft noise before he too surrendered to it. They put an arm around her.

Aura held him tight for a moment in a kiss as passionate and fierce as she was before she finally broke it when the guard cleared his throat…

For the third time.

As their lips parted, she held up the toy and gave it a squeeze. 

“Gonna think of you every time I torment the little thing” she teased. 

They laughed and rubbed their face. “Of course you are. I’m touched.”

Apollo glanced over at the guard with a semi-apologetic look. “Looks like we’re on our third warning. I better go before they decide I’m not allowed back.

“Yeah…the guards are allergic to fun in this dump.” Aura chuckled, as she put her hand on her hip. ”…you…two, I guess. I’m gonna miss you. Make sure to visit again soon, alright? I’ll..” she performatively sighed, “make some new friends so I can have some fresh gossip to bitch about to you.” 

They chuckled. “Promise we’ll visit soon. I’ll be excited to hear about your friends. And let me know how that conversation with Edgeworth goes.”

“You’ll be the first to know.” she said with a jagged grin. “Kisses, boys. Don’t have too much fun without me.” ”

The Mechanics of Emotion (21656 words) by thesavagesabretooth

catch up here

December 27, 12:35 pm

Apollo plopped himself down in one of the chairs in the visitor room of the minimum security area of the prison and waited for Aura to be led in. It was nice, at least, that there wouldn’t be bars between them this time.

He rubbed his eyes, knowing there were dark circles under them. He’d gotten some sleep– a couple of hours before coming. But it wasn’t enough.

He didn’t know if it could ever be enough after the week he’d had.

The sharp beep of the locks disengaging heralded Aura Blackquill’s arrival as they pushed open with the gentle clink of chains, and the murmur of a guard as he stepped in with her.

Apollo got a good view of her as she stood there with her handcuffed hands outstretched before her as the guard unlocked the cuffs for her visitation. 

She looked as rough as he did, her dark hair down from it’s usual twin buns and falling around her face in thick and messy curls…her eyes bore dark circles of their own under the round rims of the glasses that replaced her usual visor.

There was a low, gurgling croak from the starkest difference…a large and sleek feathered bird perched atop her shoulder. A raven, with clever little eyes and an obsidian beak that seemed to turn and regard Apollo with curiosity.

In the striped uniform of the state penitentiary, her curling and mussed hair, and her old labcoat draped unopened over her shoulders with the bird glaring from atop them…

He could really see the family resemblance between her and Simon, clear as day.

She sneered something to the guard, who pulled the cuffs away with a nervous laugh before she turned and seemed to brighten considerably upon seeing Apollo.

“It’s been a few days, cutie.” she purred in a low voice as she walked over under the guard’s careful stare. The bird ruffled her feathers atop her shoulder and let out a sharp caw, earning the quiet ‘tch’ and a reprimand from Aura “…behave, Morrigan.” 

“Sorry, Aura. I would have come sooner, but I had a surprisingly long week.” He smiled wanly at her. “Nice bird. Morrigan, huh?”

Aura sat opposite him with a sly smile, brushing her hair over her ear. 

“I won’t say I wasn’t wishing you might come along a little earlier, but I can understand a ‘long week’. You’re graciously forgiven.” She gestured to Morrigan with a chuckle. “as you can see, as my brother had requested, I’m already making friends here in the clink. This is Morrigan…some kind of animal therapy rehab project gave her to me as a companion…my only guess why they chose a bird is to have a laugh about another Blackquill in prison. But she’s charming enough.”

Morrigan made a low croak of a trill before she flapped up into the air and landed near Apollo, looking at his bracelet with keen interest. 

Apollo rubbed his bracelet, noticing the bird’s interest and he chuckled nervously.

“Well, she does seem charming, even if people are laughing. It’s nice to know at least you aren’t completely alone in here.” He gave her a wan smile. “Missed you the last week. I was out of the country.”

Aura’s hand reached out and rested on the middle of the table near him as she gave him a tired smile. The playful cockiness he’d come to know before everything had gone sideways was still there under the clear exhaustion.

“Missed you too, you know. Spent Christmas wondering if you were gonna drop by, or send me one of those poems we talked about….you too, huh? Lemme guess…the same thing Simon was away on, yeah? That whole thing with Cauli and…” she leaned in to whisper. “the capture of some…or one… of that rat bastard’s superiors?” 

“So you already know some of it,” he murmured back, leaning toward her, his voice low. Had Simon told her all of it? He doubted it. “Yeah. I was in Cauli. I missed you on Christmas. It was a bad one.”

Aura nodded as she looked into his eyes. 

“seems like that was going around…bad Christmas’. “ Her nails scraped against the table between them as they shook “wish I coulda been company for you.”

Morrigan thumped her head against Apollo’s wrist with a low squawk, as Aura took a deep breath. “Simon told me a bit…about that bein’ why he didn’t visit me either. Gave me the good news. Begged me to let him use the Blackquill Manor for a while. That sort of thing…but how about you, huh? Wanna talk about what made it so rough?” 

“I’d rather hear what exactly Simon thought the good news was.” He reached over, and tried to give the bird a little pet on the head.

I’m gonna guess it wasn’t about ‘Halblicht’. Or she’d be in a way worse mood.

No kidding.

“About them catching the guys who sent that wretched Phantom to our doorstep.” Aura’s lips twitched in a cruel smile “…I may be too late to end his life myself, but the idea that his superior will go down in flames with him is a small comfort to warm my ugly little cell.”

Morrigan’s feathers ruffled in surprise at being pet– but she soon seemed to be amenable to it, hopping a little closer. 

He stroked the bird’s crest thoughtfully, and looked up at Aura with big eyes that he was sure were too dark. He could feel Clay and the anxious anger inside him pushing up against his thoughts.

He sure didn’t tell her alright. That means it’s up to us.

It’s going to really spoil her mood.

“So that’s what he told you.” They nodded. “It’s true, they have his superior, and they’re tugging away to bring the whole organization down like a jenga tower.”

Aura’s smile grew a little wider. 

“…burning it all down, as it deserves to be.”
She brushed her fingers through her hair “for what they did to us. To Clay, to Metis…”
The woman’s voice broke , and she took a moment to compose herself while Morrigan preened against his hand. “They all deserve to burn. It’s a comfort to hear they’re at least doing that much.” 

“Yeah…” There’s our opening. “About Clay and Metis, Aura….”

Aura leaned on her hand curiously. “…about them?” 

Her tone had turned hesitant, almost tense, as she listened with that frown she’d often worn while tinkering with Clonco’s head. 

“Can I ask you a frank question? You won’t like it.”

She is not at all going to guess what you’re about to ask.

Aura laughed , and her hand slapped the table hard in rapid succession, startling Morrigan and sending her flapping up to land atop Apollo’s head with an indignant screech.

“I’ve gotten pretty used to things I don’t like lately, Apollo Justice!”

“Relatable,” he drawled, wincing as the heavy bird landed on him. “Ow… hey, come on, Morrigan, you’re spoiling the dramatic mood.”

Aura laughed even harder, her eyes closed as she slapped the table again. 

“she hates when things get too serious. It means there’s more eyes on her when she tries to steal her little trinkets, isn’t that right?”

Morrigan hopped down onto his shoulder…the same arm that had his bracelet…and seemed t0 ignore her barb.

“But…go on. I’m listening.” Aura said as the laughter died and her expression sobered. 

“I think she’s trying to get my bracelet,” he chuckled. He shook his head. “But, look… Aura– I’m serious when I say this. Do you believe in ghosts?”

Aura’s lips twitched slightly. “uh…huh. I’ve never exactly been a spiritual person. Metis…she’d always been the one to believe in fairy tales like spirit mediums and vengeful ghosts.” 

“Yeah,” Apollo nodded. “I wasn’t exactly one to believe in them either. But… what if I could prove to you that they exist?”

Are we really doing this? I thought we were going to keep quiet about…

If anyone deserves to know, it’s Aura.“Then you’ll have absolutely blown a scientist’s worldview open” she leaned on her hand. “and give me a lot to think about in my little cell.” 

“I’ll have even more to tell you once I prove it,” he said. “I don’t want you to think I’m making wild claims out of nowhere, you know?”

Aura’s smirk flickered back to life. “Well, well…now you’ve got me interested.” 

“Alright,” he leaned closer to her. “Ask me something only Clay Terran would know the answer to.”

Aura’s eyebrow raised below her thick glasses. 

“…hard question. I know you two were close.” She traced her fingertip on the table as Morrigan made a grab for his bracelet with her beak. “Gimme a sec.” 

“Maybe a conversation in private,” he murmured. “Or something leading up to the day of the launch.”

He felt his chest tighten at the thought of actually talking about the whole thing. But he was committed now.

Aura took a deep breath and smiled at him. 

“…I got a little drunk at the Cosmos Center pre-launch party. I wound up leaning on Clay half the night and talking his ear off.” Her eyes flicked down as she muttered “eventually he helped me to the Robotics Lab where I told him something I hadn’t told anyone before.”

Apollo bit his lip and felt his eyes sting as tears beaded in the corner. The memory of the moment welled up in their mind from Clay’s perspective. Aura, drunk and nostalgic leaned against him, his arm around her. Sober as a stone and just happy for her company.

Clay swallowed. 

“It was Metis’ last words. Before the HAT-1 launch. You told me what she’d said to you. That when the probe came back– she hoped it was a kinder world. And you didn’t need to hide.”

His fingers tensed, and he clenched away from Morrigan as she pecked at their bracelet. 

Aura’s breath caught in her throat…and her cocky little smile died on her lips as her eyes narrowed in surprise. She physically flinched. 

“How…” Her voice broke again, and he saw the first beads of tears glistening on her long eyelashes as she scraped her nails against the top of the table “how…I…I only ever told that to Clay just before he died.” 

“Yeah,” Clay sighed, leaning toward her now. “I know. You were drunk as hell. It was cute. Shame I didn’t drink at the party due to the regulations. Wouldn’t have mattered in the end.”

Aura blinked several times over the grimacing line of her mouth, and a single set of tears dripped down the contours of her tired and tear-bruised face. She quickly wiped them away with a shaking breath.

“Cute, huh? I should get wasted more often. Get wasted with me next time, instead of following Yuri’s boring old regulations” her dark eyes focused on him under the messy fringes of her hair as she took a shuddering breath “…”

“Clay, that can’t possibly be you in there…it’s…scientifically ridiculous.” Still, she referred to him by his name. She may have really wanted to believe it. 

“I know,” he said. He reached out his hand toward her. She was echoing their own thoughts of the last few days. “It’s stupid isn’t it? I should just be gone. Nowhere. Returned to stardust. But I’m here…”

Nausea swam in their belly, Apollo lurching at Clay’s suggestion that he should be gone. 

I’m glad you’re here, he promised him again for the millionth time. I don’t want you to be gone.

Aura’s grabbed his hand, staring deep into his eyes for a long moment with that stare that was so very much like her brother’s. 

After a moment she sighed out a soft breath “…well I’ll be damned,” Her shoulders shook with what was either a laugh or a sob. “Unbelievable. Completely unbelievable. But Mr. Justice looks a lil’ different when…when you’re talking. Just like that damned clown show of a case way back when.”

She gave Clay a familiar old smile he’d seen a lot in the cosmos center, reserved for very few…including himself… in those days when Aura stormed through the halls like an antisocial stormcloud. “Consider my disbelief suspended….I missed you, spaceman.” 

He squeezed her hand, and gave her an embarrassed smile. “Missed you too, doc. Heh… guess I took a wrong turn. Ended up exploring a different final frontier than I planned.”

“Apollo Justice’s body?” she asked with a sharp and teasing smirk “one I was hoping to explore too, before this whole shitshow happened.”

She broke out into one of her laughs, slapping the table again and startling Morrigan who’d gotten her beak around the bracelet only to be startled into flying over the table with a frustrated caw. 

Clay and Apollo jolted as one, and made a choked noise. Clay rubbed the back of his neck, flushed. 

“No uh, I had that one covered beforehand,” he murmured. “But uh, yeah… big surprises this week. Something something, dreamt of in your philosophy, am I right?”

Aura grabbed his hand again, her fingers curling against his as she chuckled. “I bet you did. But…seriously…the spirit world exists in some fashion or another…it changes things. That’s for certain.”

She met his eyes “that in and of itself must have been an earth shattering surprise.” 

“It fucked me up, Aura,” he admitted plaintively, staring deep into her eyes with his– or whatever approximation of them he and Apollo shared. “We didn’t believe it. We thought– we thought we were going crazy. Apollo thought he was going crazy. Couldn’t blame him. So did I.”

“I feel like I might be going crazy and I’m only hearing about it.” She admitted with a thin smile, squeezing his hand tighter “…I can’t even imagine hearing…hearing the voice of someone I loved in my head and having to figure out if I’d just finally snapped or what…” 

“It was a hell of a week,” he said with a small smile. He squeezed her hand. “What made me finally believe it was… well.. Mr. Wright’s friend, Pearl Fey. She’s a channeler, you know?”

“…a spirit channeller. That spikey haired attorney has a friend who’s a goddess damned spirit channeler…” Her thumb brushed his fingers thoughtfully as she tilted her head “…alright. I’ll bite.” 

“You know how you said you can kind of see the difference in my face?” he murmured. “When the Feys channel somebody, their whole body– mostly– transforms. It’s really… obvious. Undeniable really. Like the video of California Vs Sister Iris. It’s almost scary in person.”

“So that wasn’t some kinda camera trick then.” Aura whistled low under her breath. “…it sounds like it’s a horror show, and it sounds like it’s one you got to see.”

“It’s the only reason we believed it was real,” he explained. He squeezed her hand again, remembering it. Remembering seeing…. her. “Aura… Pearl channeled… she channeled…”

He felt his breath hitch in their chest as they struggled to say it to her.

Aura’s eyes widened behind the lenses of her glasses, and he got to watch the color drain from her face as she guessed it…

“Don’t tell me they channeled Metis…” 

They nodded slowly, and swallowed. “Yeah. They did. Pearl said she’s happy to channel her again– when you can see her. She wanted to see you. She asked where you were. She– she wants us to throw a party.”

They fought down a fit of nervous laughter at the idea.

Aura choked, and her fingers tightened sharply around his. 

“She asked where I am…Metis I’m in fucking prison.” She laughed and fell forward on the table until her forehead rested on his hand. “A party…probably full of her favorite dark jokes and ironies, knowing her. Hell…Sounds like a blast…a real blast.” 

“She was cracking dark jokes the whole time,” he said, leaning until his head touched hers too. “Even if I couldn’t see her face, I would have believed it was her. She said… she hasn’t moved on yet. She isn’t ready. She’s still lingering with us.”

Aura Blackquill was a proud woman, he knew that she always went out of her way to hide her tears behind a sharp barb and a laugh, but when he said those words she began to cry. Tears fell against the back of his hand as she took shuddering, shaking breaths….

“She’s always been a sentimental old fool,” she murmured with teary affection. “she’d best not move on until I get there.” 

They felt a thick tightness in their throat, and choked back a little sob. “I think she might be waiting for you.”

Aura gripped his hand tighter, a sharp and strangled sound in her throat as she cried atop his hand.

At some point Morrigan had lost interest in his bracelet…or perhaps cared about her new charge…and come to roost back on her shoulder.

After a long moment, she rose and wiped her eyes. 

“Gah…then we’d best hold that party once I’m free of this dump. See if we can convince her to stick around a little longer.” 

They gently let go of her hand, and wiped their own eyes. “Yeah. I know she’ll be happy to see you.”

“Good…good.” Aura took a deep breath and scritched Morrigan’s crest.
“…so that’s why you’ve had such a long week. Given…seeing her again so unexpectedly…I can see why you’ve been kinda sleepless.” 

“There’s more than that,” he said. “It’s not all good news, but it’s hard to explain, and I shouldn’t say too much, or Miles Edgeworth will kick my ass.”

Aura’s expression knit in anxious anticipation. ‘…well. I’m listening. Miles Edgeworth can complain to me if he’s pissed.”

“There’s another ghost other than me walking around, Aura,” he said, feeling the tension in his jaw.

Aura’s jaw set. “..and it’s not Metis or someone else I might be happy to see, or you’d have told me already.” 

“No,” he shook his head. “Well. Admittedly, I don’t know if you’d be happy to see their ghost or not. But their host? Absolutely not.”

He could see the way Aura prickled, and feel her fingers tighten against his. “…who. Who the hell is it?”

Apollo lowered his voice to a whisper, and made certain that his hand was covering his mouth in view of the camera. It would;n’t get him kicked out. He was a trusted and respected lawyer.

“Bobby Fulbright.”

He saw the obvious recognition as the other piece of the puzzle clicked into place in Aura Blackquill’s mind. The widening of her eyes in shock followed by the sudden simmering anger as her expression twisted into a snarl.

“So that’s who’s walking around…How much of the monster is aware? Is he like…like you two? Does Simon know? ” Even through the growl of fury in her voice…he could hear the hurt as she spit out the last question.. 

Their gaze darkened as well. “Simon knows. They were working together on the case in Cauli. Moving up the chain.”

“Moving up the chain.” The hurt showed briefly on her face before it drowned in the furious snarl that crossed her features. The edges of her lips twitched as her fingers left his hand to turn into tight fists.

Morrigan, sensing her distress, hunkered down as her features bushed up in reciprocated anger with a sharp caw.

“With the Phantom by his side. How…” she laughed, though there wasn’t a shred of her usual humor in it. “how hilariously ironic! My own brother working with the bloody Phantom to ‘work up the chain’. All while lying to my face because it’s not like his sister, locked up in a mess of her own making, will ever know! Better tell her he’s dead and rub salt in her wounds!”

Her fist struck the table as the first angry tears began to fall “Miles Edgeworth can take up his fury with me, Apollo…Clay..”

She jerked her head up, looking him dead in the eyes with a flash of her own “Did they toss the bastard in a cell when you got back, or is he walking free?” 

“We got back this morning,” he said, shaking his head. “I didn’t stick around to find out. But you know what? I’m gonna send Mr. Edgeworth in to answer to you, Aura. How’s that sound?”

Aura Blackquill’s fury was palpable as she dragged her nails against the table. “…that sounds lovely, my dear.” she managed to say in a shuddering and whispered tone.

“I think he has a lot to answer for in this little confidence game of his.” 

“He does, that’s for sure.” Clay sat with her, stewing in their shared, sullen anger for a moment. He glanced at the clock. “Aura, I don’t have a lot of time left before they’re gonna kick me out.”

Aura looked up at the clock , pushing her hands up below her glasses to wipe her eyes before she glared at the time.

“Of course. Can’t let me enjoy good company for too long before they throw me back in the pit.”
She made a sharp ‘tch’ sound. “dammit…fuck.”

He put his hand on her face and smiled a sad little smile. “Before I go, I actually have something for you. A present. I know it’s late. I meant to give it to you after, well–” Clay shook his head.

“…” Aura briefly snapped out of her fury to turn her gaze back towards Clay with an attempt at a grin “A present huh? Y-you’re spoiling me, Clay.”

She eased herself back down into the chair, and pushed up her glasses with a curious tilt of her head.

He slid his hand into their pocket and pulled out a small package, about the size of his fist, wrapped in crinkled Christmasy paper, with snowmen on it. He offered it to her.

“It’s really not much,” he said. “I would have gone bigger, if I had known. But at least it’s something they’ll let you keep in here.”

The guard gave him a look from by the door…but Aura didn’t hesitate in taking it and holding it for a moment with a big grin. 

“…a christmas present, too..”
She looked up at him with a trace of a dark flush on her face over her sharp and playful smile. “what a romantic. Sorry I couldn’t…couldn’t get ya anything in return.”

She opened it, carefully removing the tape and opening the paper. “I really wish I could, but..well.” 

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. When you’re out, you can buy me flowers.”

It was a dark joke, but Clay made it all the same. Aura was used to that kind of humor.

When the paper was torn away, inside was the small toy he’d bought her in the days before his death. A stress ball– a little rubber toy– but in the shape of a science-fiction robot.

“I’ll get ones that match your headstone.” she said with a broadening grin as she held the toy up to the light. 

“My own little pocket sized Clonco…” She looked down at him with a flicker of genuine happiness in her smile, before Morrigan flapped off her shoulder and she slid around the table to grab him by the shoulders.

The toy squished against him as she leaned closer, her nose close to his as she glanced up at the camera and the frowning guard. Her smile inched a little wider, a little more mischievous, as she closed the distance. “Love it, spacemen” she murmured a second before she pulled him into a kiss. 

It was normal, natural for Clay, and he melted into the kiss as he’d often done for the last year or so. It surprised Apollo a little, but he only made a soft noise before he too surrendered to it. They put an arm around her.

Aura held him tight for a moment in a kiss as passionate and fierce as she was before she finally broke it when the guard cleared his throat…

For the third time.

As their lips parted, she held up the toy and gave it a squeeze. 

“Gonna think of you every time I torment the little thing” she teased. 

They laughed and rubbed their face. “Of course you are. I’m touched.”

Apollo glanced over at the guard with a semi-apologetic look. “Looks like we’re on our third warning. I better go before they decide I’m not allowed back.

“Yeah…the guards are allergic to fun in this dump.” Aura chuckled, as she put her hand on her hip. ”…you…two, I guess. I’m gonna miss you. Make sure to visit again soon, alright? I’ll..” she performatively sighed, “make some new friends so I can have some fresh gossip to bitch about to you.” 

They chuckled. “Promise we’ll visit soon. I’ll be excited to hear about your friends. And let me know how that conversation with Edgeworth goes.”

“You’ll be the first to know.” she said with a jagged grin. “Kisses, boys. Don’t have too much fun without me.” ”

The Mechanics of Emotion (21656 words) by thesavagesabretooth

catch up here

December 27, 12:35 pm

Apollo plopped himself down in one of the chairs in the visitor room of the minimum security area of the prison and waited for Aura to be led in. It was nice, at least, that there wouldn’t be bars between them this time.

He rubbed his eyes, knowing there were dark circles under them. He’d gotten some sleep– a couple of hours before coming. But it wasn’t enough.

He didn’t know if it could ever be enough after the week he’d had.

The sharp beep of the locks disengaging heralded Aura Blackquill’s arrival as they pushed open with the gentle clink of chains, and the murmur of a guard as he stepped in with her.

Apollo got a good view of her as she stood there with her handcuffed hands outstretched before her as the guard unlocked the cuffs for her visitation. 

She looked as rough as he did, her dark hair down from it’s usual twin buns and falling around her face in thick and messy curls…her eyes bore dark circles of their own under the round rims of the glasses that replaced her usual visor.

There was a low, gurgling croak from the starkest difference…a large and sleek feathered bird perched atop her shoulder. A raven, with clever little eyes and an obsidian beak that seemed to turn and regard Apollo with curiosity.

In the striped uniform of the state penitentiary, her curling and mussed hair, and her old labcoat draped unopened over her shoulders with the bird glaring from atop them…

He could really see the family resemblance between her and Simon, clear as day.

She sneered something to the guard, who pulled the cuffs away with a nervous laugh before she turned and seemed to brighten considerably upon seeing Apollo.

“It’s been a few days, cutie.” she purred in a low voice as she walked over under the guard’s careful stare. The bird ruffled her feathers atop her shoulder and let out a sharp caw, earning the quiet ‘tch’ and a reprimand from Aura “…behave, Morrigan.” 

“Sorry, Aura. I would have come sooner, but I had a surprisingly long week.” He smiled wanly at her. “Nice bird. Morrigan, huh?”

Aura sat opposite him with a sly smile, brushing her hair over her ear. 

“I won’t say I wasn’t wishing you might come along a little earlier, but I can understand a ‘long week’. You’re graciously forgiven.” She gestured to Morrigan with a chuckle. “as you can see, as my brother had requested, I’m already making friends here in the clink. This is Morrigan…some kind of animal therapy rehab project gave her to me as a companion…my only guess why they chose a bird is to have a laugh about another Blackquill in prison. But she’s charming enough.”

Morrigan made a low croak of a trill before she flapped up into the air and landed near Apollo, looking at his bracelet with keen interest. 

Apollo rubbed his bracelet, noticing the bird’s interest and he chuckled nervously.

“Well, she does seem charming, even if people are laughing. It’s nice to know at least you aren’t completely alone in here.” He gave her a wan smile. “Missed you the last week. I was out of the country.”

Aura’s hand reached out and rested on the middle of the table near him as she gave him a tired smile. The playful cockiness he’d come to know before everything had gone sideways was still there under the clear exhaustion.

“Missed you too, you know. Spent Christmas wondering if you were gonna drop by, or send me one of those poems we talked about….you too, huh? Lemme guess…the same thing Simon was away on, yeah? That whole thing with Cauli and…” she leaned in to whisper. “the capture of some…or one… of that rat bastard’s superiors?” 

“So you already know some of it,” he murmured back, leaning toward her, his voice low. Had Simon told her all of it? He doubted it. “Yeah. I was in Cauli. I missed you on Christmas. It was a bad one.”

Aura nodded as she looked into his eyes. 

“seems like that was going around…bad Christmas’. “ Her nails scraped against the table between them as they shook “wish I coulda been company for you.”

Morrigan thumped her head against Apollo’s wrist with a low squawk, as Aura took a deep breath. “Simon told me a bit…about that bein’ why he didn’t visit me either. Gave me the good news. Begged me to let him use the Blackquill Manor for a while. That sort of thing…but how about you, huh? Wanna talk about what made it so rough?” 

“I’d rather hear what exactly Simon thought the good news was.” He reached over, and tried to give the bird a little pet on the head.

I’m gonna guess it wasn’t about ‘Halblicht’. Or she’d be in a way worse mood.

No kidding.

“About them catching the guys who sent that wretched Phantom to our doorstep.” Aura’s lips twitched in a cruel smile “…I may be too late to end his life myself, but the idea that his superior will go down in flames with him is a small comfort to warm my ugly little cell.”

Morrigan’s feathers ruffled in surprise at being pet– but she soon seemed to be amenable to it, hopping a little closer. 

He stroked the bird’s crest thoughtfully, and looked up at Aura with big eyes that he was sure were too dark. He could feel Clay and the anxious anger inside him pushing up against his thoughts.

He sure didn’t tell her alright. That means it’s up to us.

It’s going to really spoil her mood.

“So that’s what he told you.” They nodded. “It’s true, they have his superior, and they’re tugging away to bring the whole organization down like a jenga tower.”

Aura’s smile grew a little wider. 

“…burning it all down, as it deserves to be.”
She brushed her fingers through her hair “for what they did to us. To Clay, to Metis…”
The woman’s voice broke , and she took a moment to compose herself while Morrigan preened against his hand. “They all deserve to burn. It’s a comfort to hear they’re at least doing that much.” 

“Yeah…” There’s our opening. “About Clay and Metis, Aura….”

Aura leaned on her hand curiously. “…about them?” 

Her tone had turned hesitant, almost tense, as she listened with that frown she’d often worn while tinkering with Clonco’s head. 

“Can I ask you a frank question? You won’t like it.”

She is not at all going to guess what you’re about to ask.

Aura laughed , and her hand slapped the table hard in rapid succession, startling Morrigan and sending her flapping up to land atop Apollo’s head with an indignant screech.

“I’ve gotten pretty used to things I don’t like lately, Apollo Justice!”

“Relatable,” he drawled, wincing as the heavy bird landed on him. “Ow… hey, come on, Morrigan, you’re spoiling the dramatic mood.”

Aura laughed even harder, her eyes closed as she slapped the table again. 

“she hates when things get too serious. It means there’s more eyes on her when she tries to steal her little trinkets, isn’t that right?”

Morrigan hopped down onto his shoulder…the same arm that had his bracelet…and seemed t0 ignore her barb.

“But…go on. I’m listening.” Aura said as the laughter died and her expression sobered. 

“I think she’s trying to get my bracelet,” he chuckled. He shook his head. “But, look… Aura– I’m serious when I say this. Do you believe in ghosts?”

Aura’s lips twitched slightly. “uh…huh. I’ve never exactly been a spiritual person. Metis…she’d always been the one to believe in fairy tales like spirit mediums and vengeful ghosts.” 

“Yeah,” Apollo nodded. “I wasn’t exactly one to believe in them either. But… what if I could prove to you that they exist?”

Are we really doing this? I thought we were going to keep quiet about…

If anyone deserves to know, it’s Aura.“Then you’ll have absolutely blown a scientist’s worldview open” she leaned on her hand. “and give me a lot to think about in my little cell.” 

“I’ll have even more to tell you once I prove it,” he said. “I don’t want you to think I’m making wild claims out of nowhere, you know?”

Aura’s smirk flickered back to life. “Well, well…now you’ve got me interested.” 

“Alright,” he leaned closer to her. “Ask me something only Clay Terran would know the answer to.”

Aura’s eyebrow raised below her thick glasses. 

“…hard question. I know you two were close.” She traced her fingertip on the table as Morrigan made a grab for his bracelet with her beak. “Gimme a sec.” 

“Maybe a conversation in private,” he murmured. “Or something leading up to the day of the launch.”

He felt his chest tighten at the thought of actually talking about the whole thing. But he was committed now.

Aura took a deep breath and smiled at him. 

“…I got a little drunk at the Cosmos Center pre-launch party. I wound up leaning on Clay half the night and talking his ear off.” Her eyes flicked down as she muttered “eventually he helped me to the Robotics Lab where I told him something I hadn’t told anyone before.”

Apollo bit his lip and felt his eyes sting as tears beaded in the corner. The memory of the moment welled up in their mind from Clay’s perspective. Aura, drunk and nostalgic leaned against him, his arm around her. Sober as a stone and just happy for her company.

Clay swallowed. 

“It was Metis’ last words. Before the HAT-1 launch. You told me what she’d said to you. That when the probe came back– she hoped it was a kinder world. And you didn’t need to hide.”

His fingers tensed, and he clenched away from Morrigan as she pecked at their bracelet. 

Aura’s breath caught in her throat…and her cocky little smile died on her lips as her eyes narrowed in surprise. She physically flinched. 

“How…” Her voice broke again, and he saw the first beads of tears glistening on her long eyelashes as she scraped her nails against the top of the table “how…I…I only ever told that to Clay just before he died.” 

“Yeah,” Clay sighed, leaning toward her now. “I know. You were drunk as hell. It was cute. Shame I didn’t drink at the party due to the regulations. Wouldn’t have mattered in the end.”

Aura blinked several times over the grimacing line of her mouth, and a single set of tears dripped down the contours of her tired and tear-bruised face. She quickly wiped them away with a shaking breath.

“Cute, huh? I should get wasted more often. Get wasted with me next time, instead of following Yuri’s boring old regulations” her dark eyes focused on him under the messy fringes of her hair as she took a shuddering breath “…”

“Clay, that can’t possibly be you in there…it’s…scientifically ridiculous.” Still, she referred to him by his name. She may have really wanted to believe it. 

“I know,” he said. He reached out his hand toward her. She was echoing their own thoughts of the last few days. “It’s stupid isn’t it? I should just be gone. Nowhere. Returned to stardust. But I’m here…”

Nausea swam in their belly, Apollo lurching at Clay’s suggestion that he should be gone. 

I’m glad you’re here, he promised him again for the millionth time. I don’t want you to be gone.

Aura’s grabbed his hand, staring deep into his eyes for a long moment with that stare that was so very much like her brother’s. 

After a moment she sighed out a soft breath “…well I’ll be damned,” Her shoulders shook with what was either a laugh or a sob. “Unbelievable. Completely unbelievable. But Mr. Justice looks a lil’ different when…when you’re talking. Just like that damned clown show of a case way back when.”

She gave Clay a familiar old smile he’d seen a lot in the cosmos center, reserved for very few…including himself… in those days when Aura stormed through the halls like an antisocial stormcloud. “Consider my disbelief suspended….I missed you, spaceman.” 

He squeezed her hand, and gave her an embarrassed smile. “Missed you too, doc. Heh… guess I took a wrong turn. Ended up exploring a different final frontier than I planned.”

“Apollo Justice’s body?” she asked with a sharp and teasing smirk “one I was hoping to explore too, before this whole shitshow happened.”

She broke out into one of her laughs, slapping the table again and startling Morrigan who’d gotten her beak around the bracelet only to be startled into flying over the table with a frustrated caw. 

Clay and Apollo jolted as one, and made a choked noise. Clay rubbed the back of his neck, flushed. 

“No uh, I had that one covered beforehand,” he murmured. “But uh, yeah… big surprises this week. Something something, dreamt of in your philosophy, am I right?”

Aura grabbed his hand again, her fingers curling against his as she chuckled. “I bet you did. But…seriously…the spirit world exists in some fashion or another…it changes things. That’s for certain.”

She met his eyes “that in and of itself must have been an earth shattering surprise.” 

“It fucked me up, Aura,” he admitted plaintively, staring deep into her eyes with his– or whatever approximation of them he and Apollo shared. “We didn’t believe it. We thought– we thought we were going crazy. Apollo thought he was going crazy. Couldn’t blame him. So did I.”

“I feel like I might be going crazy and I’m only hearing about it.” She admitted with a thin smile, squeezing his hand tighter “…I can’t even imagine hearing…hearing the voice of someone I loved in my head and having to figure out if I’d just finally snapped or what…” 

“It was a hell of a week,” he said with a small smile. He squeezed her hand. “What made me finally believe it was… well.. Mr. Wright’s friend, Pearl Fey. She’s a channeler, you know?”

“…a spirit channeller. That spikey haired attorney has a friend who’s a goddess damned spirit channeler…” Her thumb brushed his fingers thoughtfully as she tilted her head “…alright. I’ll bite.” 

“You know how you said you can kind of see the difference in my face?” he murmured. “When the Feys channel somebody, their whole body– mostly– transforms. It’s really… obvious. Undeniable really. Like the video of California Vs Sister Iris. It’s almost scary in person.”

“So that wasn’t some kinda camera trick then.” Aura whistled low under her breath. “…it sounds like it’s a horror show, and it sounds like it’s one you got to see.”

“It’s the only reason we believed it was real,” he explained. He squeezed her hand again, remembering it. Remembering seeing…. her. “Aura… Pearl channeled… she channeled…”

He felt his breath hitch in their chest as they struggled to say it to her.

Aura’s eyes widened behind the lenses of her glasses, and he got to watch the color drain from her face as she guessed it…

“Don’t tell me they channeled Metis…” 

They nodded slowly, and swallowed. “Yeah. They did. Pearl said she’s happy to channel her again– when you can see her. She wanted to see you. She asked where you were. She– she wants us to throw a party.”

They fought down a fit of nervous laughter at the idea.

Aura choked, and her fingers tightened sharply around his. 

“She asked where I am…Metis I’m in fucking prison.” She laughed and fell forward on the table until her forehead rested on his hand. “A party…probably full of her favorite dark jokes and ironies, knowing her. Hell…Sounds like a blast…a real blast.” 

“She was cracking dark jokes the whole time,” he said, leaning until his head touched hers too. “Even if I couldn’t see her face, I would have believed it was her. She said… she hasn’t moved on yet. She isn’t ready. She’s still lingering with us.”

Aura Blackquill was a proud woman, he knew that she always went out of her way to hide her tears behind a sharp barb and a laugh, but when he said those words she began to cry. Tears fell against the back of his hand as she took shuddering, shaking breaths….

“She’s always been a sentimental old fool,” she murmured with teary affection. “she’d best not move on until I get there.” 

They felt a thick tightness in their throat, and choked back a little sob. “I think she might be waiting for you.”

Aura gripped his hand tighter, a sharp and strangled sound in her throat as she cried atop his hand.

At some point Morrigan had lost interest in his bracelet…or perhaps cared about her new charge…and come to roost back on her shoulder.

After a long moment, she rose and wiped her eyes. 

“Gah…then we’d best hold that party once I’m free of this dump. See if we can convince her to stick around a little longer.” 

They gently let go of her hand, and wiped their own eyes. “Yeah. I know she’ll be happy to see you.”

“Good…good.” Aura took a deep breath and scritched Morrigan’s crest.
“…so that’s why you’ve had such a long week. Given…seeing her again so unexpectedly…I can see why you’ve been kinda sleepless.” 

“There’s more than that,” he said. “It’s not all good news, but it’s hard to explain, and I shouldn’t say too much, or Miles Edgeworth will kick my ass.”

Aura’s expression knit in anxious anticipation. ‘…well. I’m listening. Miles Edgeworth can complain to me if he’s pissed.”

“There’s another ghost other than me walking around, Aura,” he said, feeling the tension in his jaw.

Aura’s jaw set. “..and it’s not Metis or someone else I might be happy to see, or you’d have told me already.” 

“No,” he shook his head. “Well. Admittedly, I don’t know if you’d be happy to see their ghost or not. But their host? Absolutely not.”

He could see the way Aura prickled, and feel her fingers tighten against his. “…who. Who the hell is it?”

Apollo lowered his voice to a whisper, and made certain that his hand was covering his mouth in view of the camera. It would;n’t get him kicked out. He was a trusted and respected lawyer.

“Bobby Fulbright.”

He saw the obvious recognition as the other piece of the puzzle clicked into place in Aura Blackquill’s mind. The widening of her eyes in shock followed by the sudden simmering anger as her expression twisted into a snarl.

“So that’s who’s walking around…How much of the monster is aware? Is he like…like you two? Does Simon know? ” Even through the growl of fury in her voice…he could hear the hurt as she spit out the last question.. 

Their gaze darkened as well. “Simon knows. They were working together on the case in Cauli. Moving up the chain.”

“Moving up the chain.” The hurt showed briefly on her face before it drowned in the furious snarl that crossed her features. The edges of her lips twitched as her fingers left his hand to turn into tight fists.

Morrigan, sensing her distress, hunkered down as her features bushed up in reciprocated anger with a sharp caw.

“With the Phantom by his side. How…” she laughed, though there wasn’t a shred of her usual humor in it. “how hilariously ironic! My own brother working with the bloody Phantom to ‘work up the chain’. All while lying to my face because it’s not like his sister, locked up in a mess of her own making, will ever know! Better tell her he’s dead and rub salt in her wounds!”

Her fist struck the table as the first angry tears began to fall “Miles Edgeworth can take up his fury with me, Apollo…Clay..”

She jerked her head up, looking him dead in the eyes with a flash of her own “Did they toss the bastard in a cell when you got back, or is he walking free?” 

“We got back this morning,” he said, shaking his head. “I didn’t stick around to find out. But you know what? I’m gonna send Mr. Edgeworth in to answer to you, Aura. How’s that sound?”

Aura Blackquill’s fury was palpable as she dragged her nails against the table. “…that sounds lovely, my dear.” she managed to say in a shuddering and whispered tone.

“I think he has a lot to answer for in this little confidence game of his.” 

“He does, that’s for sure.” Clay sat with her, stewing in their shared, sullen anger for a moment. He glanced at the clock. “Aura, I don’t have a lot of time left before they’re gonna kick me out.”

Aura looked up at the clock , pushing her hands up below her glasses to wipe her eyes before she glared at the time.

“Of course. Can’t let me enjoy good company for too long before they throw me back in the pit.”
She made a sharp ‘tch’ sound. “dammit…fuck.”

He put his hand on her face and smiled a sad little smile. “Before I go, I actually have something for you. A present. I know it’s late. I meant to give it to you after, well–” Clay shook his head.

“…” Aura briefly snapped out of her fury to turn her gaze back towards Clay with an attempt at a grin “A present huh? Y-you’re spoiling me, Clay.”

She eased herself back down into the chair, and pushed up her glasses with a curious tilt of her head.

He slid his hand into their pocket and pulled out a small package, about the size of his fist, wrapped in crinkled Christmasy paper, with snowmen on it. He offered it to her.

“It’s really not much,” he said. “I would have gone bigger, if I had known. But at least it’s something they’ll let you keep in here.”

The guard gave him a look from by the door…but Aura didn’t hesitate in taking it and holding it for a moment with a big grin. 

“…a christmas present, too..”
She looked up at him with a trace of a dark flush on her face over her sharp and playful smile. “what a romantic. Sorry I couldn’t…couldn’t get ya anything in return.”

She opened it, carefully removing the tape and opening the paper. “I really wish I could, but..well.” 

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. When you’re out, you can buy me flowers.”

It was a dark joke, but Clay made it all the same. Aura was used to that kind of humor.

When the paper was torn away, inside was the small toy he’d bought her in the days before his death. A stress ball– a little rubber toy– but in the shape of a science-fiction robot.

“I’ll get ones that match your headstone.” she said with a broadening grin as she held the toy up to the light. 

“My own little pocket sized Clonco…” She looked down at him with a flicker of genuine happiness in her smile, before Morrigan flapped off her shoulder and she slid around the table to grab him by the shoulders.

The toy squished against him as she leaned closer, her nose close to his as she glanced up at the camera and the frowning guard. Her smile inched a little wider, a little more mischievous, as she closed the distance. “Love it, spacemen” she murmured a second before she pulled him into a kiss. 

It was normal, natural for Clay, and he melted into the kiss as he’d often done for the last year or so. It surprised Apollo a little, but he only made a soft noise before he too surrendered to it. They put an arm around her.

Aura held him tight for a moment in a kiss as passionate and fierce as she was before she finally broke it when the guard cleared his throat…

For the third time.

As their lips parted, she held up the toy and gave it a squeeze. 

“Gonna think of you every time I torment the little thing” she teased. 

They laughed and rubbed their face. “Of course you are. I’m touched.”

Apollo glanced over at the guard with a semi-apologetic look. “Looks like we’re on our third warning. I better go before they decide I’m not allowed back.

“Yeah…the guards are allergic to fun in this dump.” Aura chuckled, as she put her hand on her hip. ”…you…two, I guess. I’m gonna miss you. Make sure to visit again soon, alright? I’ll..” she performatively sighed, “make some new friends so I can have some fresh gossip to bitch about to you.” 

They chuckled. “Promise we’ll visit soon. I’ll be excited to hear about your friends. And let me know how that conversation with Edgeworth goes.”

“You’ll be the first to know.” she said with a jagged grin. “Kisses, boys. Don’t have too much fun without me.” ”