December 24th, 2:30 pm (December 23, 10:30 pm LA time)
The strangest part of the flight to Cauli was how normal it eventually became in the tedium. A few hours into the flight, and it had slowly become the most normal and balanced and okay that Bobby had felt since– well in at least a week. With the grace and charm of an expert hostess, or a child care professional, Athena had broken the ice– or perhaps rebuilt damaged walls– with travel and word games. And after that had worn out its welcome they’d chatted for a while about movies and tv shows, and eventually– as the flight wore on– about air travel.
It turned out that this was the longest flight that Simon had ever been on, while Athena was an experienced traveler. Bobby shared a (mostly true) story about one time he’d had to fly out to Munich, only to be recalled as soon as he landed and had to fly right back.
He had even, over the intervening hours, managed to get Simon to laugh once or twice, though the prosecutor had almost immediately clammed up and scowled at him right afterward.
Still. Bobby was feeling even more hopeful than he had been before. Just getting the chance to sit and talk and joke with Simon, and with Athena, like everything was normal was stabilizing. Honestly, this was the longest he’d even been able to be in the same room as Simon for months. If things were different, it would have been an absolutely grand ol’ time.
As it was, it made it easy to forget everything that had happened. Made it easy to forget that he was, if not a murderer, an accessory to one. Made it easy to forget that he was at best a dead man, and at worst, completely imaginary.
It was probably unjust of him to put those things out of his mind, but he did it anyway. For the most part, Robert sulked quietly in the back of their mind, though Bobby suspected some part of him was enjoying the normalcy as well, especially after the uncomfortable grilling from Athena.
Eventually, the discussion had died down. Athena dozed, and Simon begrudgingly flipped through the magazine that Bobby had offered him earlier. And Bobby chatted silently with Robert. If Simon looked over, he only saw them staring off into space.
“We’re going to have to tell them, eventually,” Bobby mused.
“We absolutely do not,” Robert countered. He’d been quick to slip his way to the forefront when Athena had started asking them questions for this very reason. “I don’t mind you chatting inanely with Simon, but if you start babbling insanity to Cykes, I’m going–.”
“Lock me in the basement?” Bobby knew what he was going to say before he’d even finished thinking it. “First of all– please stop trying to do that. Every time you lock me up something awful and unjust happens. Second of all– I know you only say that because that’s what they did to you.”
“Shut up,” Robert sulked. “If we tell Cykes she’ll think we’re insane.”
Bobby and Robert stared uncomfortably at one another for a moment in their shared mental space.
“… Robert, I hate to bring this up….”
“That you think I’m insane? Because you’ve already insisted that you’re real. Which makes me sane, doesn’t it?”
“No, um. I was going to point out that Miss Cykes already thinks we’re insane. Or that you’re insane. What with, you know, the lack of emotions and the killing people and all that…”
Bobby realized he was fidgeting bodily with their hands, and put them on his knees to still himself.
There was another quiet, uncomfortable moment as Robert turned the thought over in their mind.
“I suppose I can’t argue with that. She does think I’m insane.”
“And she’s a good psychologist, Robert. She’s going to figure out something. Maybe if we tell her ourselves, she’ll be able to help?
“Help? Help how? I don’t need help. Do you need help, Bobby?” there was a reproachful note in Robert’s usual flat affect.
“I don’t know… I don’t know exactly how a psychologist could help a ghost. I definitely don’t want to be exorcised before– well, at all! But maybe if we open up to her, she’ll start to trust us more?”
“Or she’ll trust us less, because we seem unstable, Bobby. Which is exactly what I’m worried about.”
Bobby was fidgeting again. “That’s what I’m saying, Robert– she already thinks we’re unstable. Why don’t we explain the reason?”
Robert sighed and pushed up their glasses. “I”ll think about it. But I forbid you from saying a word without me.”
“Bored, Halblicht?”
They flinched as a third voice cut into their conversation, and turned to see Simon staring at him. He’d obviously noticed their fidgeting.
Bobby nervously adjusted the whips of hair Robert had let fall in their face, and smiled at him.
“I believe we’re supposed to be landing soon, aren’t we?”
Simon checked the clock. “About half an hour, yes. And I do hope that you won’t be thinking of wandering off when we land.”
Bobby rubbed his neck under Simon’s scrutiny. Of course he thought the super spy was going to disappear the second he took his eyes off him.
Not even Robert had considered it.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he promised with a big smile. “I mean, I’m pretty exhausted admittedly. Too tired for anything adventurous.”
“What a shame,” Simon drawled. “I was almost hoping you’d give me an excuse.”
“For something adventurous?” the question slipped out, and he felt himself go red.
Simon made a choked noise, and pointed a finger at him.
Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by the announcement to return to seats for landing.
Simon glowered, and finally just said, “I’m watching you, Half Wit.”
December 24th, 3:15 pm
Simon was watching Halblicht like a hawk as they disembarked the plane. The prosecutor felt exhausted and drained from 14 hours of travel. His hair was limp across his shoulders. What he really wanted to do was lay down on the floor. But he refused to take his eyes off of his charge. He was, in fact, sorely tempted to break out the handcuffs, no matter what protests Halblicht might make.
While he contemplated it– following along close enough to grab the man by the arm if he had to– he let the others look for the agent that they were supposed to be meeting.
Athena trailed somewhere off to the side, her arms around herself as she looked to and fro the unfamiliar airport, with Gumshoe and Ema taking the lead.
Ema stormed forward with her eyes flicking from face to face in the crowd, while Gumshoe whistled cheerfully and checked something on his pad. “I got a physical marker to look out for, if you want it pal.”
“I don’t think I’ll be needing it.” Ema retorted, before leaning in to look. “blue coat, gloves, sign. That…” she looked out at the airport “May be difficult. Blue’s not exactly an uncommon color.”
“It’s not that crowded,” Halblicht offered. Simon watched him too survey the crowd, and couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking.
“True enough.” Ema snorted with an amused smile “…but we don’t even know what he looks like.”
Gumshoe made a concerned little hum, before he snapped his fingers “Found ‘em, Pal! That’s gotta be our contact, right?”
Out ahead of them was a young woman with a cheerful smile just on the edge of sleepy. With long, straight black hair pinned up in a side ponytail, and a long blue coat thrown over her shoulder, hanging over a rumpled and partially unbuttoned dress shirt and slacks…
It must have been their contact. Especially given the big ‘welcome to Cauli, Edgeworth Party!’ sign she was dangling between two gloved fingers.
Simon hung back behind Halblicht for a moment as he narrowed his eyes on the woman and gave her a searching look. Then he realized, as the prosecutor of the party it was his duty to take the lead.
He put his hand on Halblicht’s back unthinkingly to push him forward with him. Simon flushed a little when he realized he’d touched him for the first time since–
Halblicht looked back at him with slightly raised eyebrows and then nodded apologetically, moving forward.
“Come on, Half Wit, there she is,” he grumbled. He waved a deliberately lazy wave to the woman. “Agent Kelso, I presume?”
The woman’s smile was just as lazy as his wave, relaxed and unbothered as she tilted her head to the side and waved her hand.
“Hey. Prosecutor Blackquill, right? Agent Sam Wan Kelso at your service.” Her hands snuck into her pockets as she propped the sign under her arm, bending it with her elbow. “…more of you than I thought there’d be. Though I was warned I’d get a lotta backup , at least.” .
“I’m told there are even more of us coming, Kelso-dono,” Simon nodded. He curiously watched her hand snake into her pocket. “This is a big deal to our chief prosecutor, you understand.”
She pulled out a glinting metallic gold object to start flipping it between her fingers with a thoughtful expression on her face, brow furrowed.
“It’s a big deal to us too, honestly, sir. Interpol’s in a tizzy, we lost two good men already to these bastards. Lang’s been storming around yelling orders since things started going south. The more the merrier, if it means catching these bastards.”
“I assume Lang-dono is out at the scene?” Simon asked. He watched Halblicht standing with his hands in his pockets and noticed that the man had his eyes on the agent. He wondered if he were sizing her up.
“Agent Lang’s at the scene, yeah.” she shrugged her narrow shoulders, causing her coat to rustle behind her as she began flipping the item…it looked like a bullet as he sized her up…through her deft fingers with a soft ‘click-click-click’.
“The boss told me to meet with you and help you get to the hotel…and to give you a briefing so you can meet him on scene right away.”
Simon glanced at the others. He would push himself as hard as he had to. But they were certainly flagging.
He nodded. “That’s reasonable. Let’s get settled and briefed– but I want to see the site as soon as possible.”
Her smile grew wider, and she flashed him a thumbs up, the bullet pressed into her palm as she nodded.
“You got it. The hotel’s not bad. Not the best digs in town, but better than nothing. Come on. I’ll catch you up on the way.”
“Ah..” Athena yawned. “that sounds great…I wanna see the scene too..”
“Me too,” Halblicht nodded. Was that true, or was he just playing along? Regardless, there was a general murmur of agreement.
“Indeed,” Simon said, rubbing his chin. “Well, let’s not stand around all day, then, let’s get going.”
December 24, 3:25 pm
They ended up split between two cabs Simon, Halblicht and Kelso in one, and Ema, Athena and Gumshoe in the other. It wasn’t a long ride, thankfully.
Bobby felt a little bit touched that Simon seemed so dedicated to not letting them out of his sight. It had been like a little flare had gone off in his mind when Simon touched him– even if it was a shove.
You’re a buffoon, Robert murmured internally.
Bobby ignored him, sandwiched between Simon and Kelso in the cab.
“So, agent! I heard that you flew out here yourself just the other night?” he asked curiously.
Agent Kelso was tightening her gloves beside him, taking a moment before she answered with a goofy half smile. For an agent of Interpol…she looked pretty young, an appearance enhanced by the jaunty side ponytail that bounced as she turned towards him.
I’m surprised they sent an agent this young.
Well, age and skill aren’t always correlated you know, Robert.
I’m sure Simon would have a cutting remark about that if you said it to him.
“Yep. Back from a job back stateside…Lang and the Chief Prosecutor wanted eyes on the Phantom case…and nobody’s got eyes like mine.”
She laughed, before she looked out the window “It’s nice to be a little closer to home for once though, even if Lang’s planning on driving us till we drop.”
“Ah yes,” Simon murmured. “The chief prosecutor mentioned you were familiar with the territory. Are you from Cauli, then?”
“That’s right,” she said with a wink. Her fingers started fidgeting again, reaching back into her pocket.
“Born and raised just outside this very city, actually. Spent …oh, up through high school here, before I got scouted by Interpol and started getting assignments abroad.”
“You’ll make an excellent guide then, if we need it, then,” Simon mused with a smile.
“If nothing else, we’ll need a good place to eat, right, Prosecutor Blackquill?” Bobby hazarded.
Simon’s dismissive shrug was undercut by the sound of someone’s stomach growling.
“Wuh oh, sounds like you’re hungry, Prosecutor!” Sam laughed out loud, her eyes closed and hand slapping on the edge of the door handle with a ‘clink-clink’ as the bullet between her fingers hit the metal lock.
“Put your trust in me, sirs. I’ll pick somewhere good…there’s this little family-owned shop that should still be open just a block or two from the hotel if I remember correctly…I’m sure Lang won’t mind us bein’ a little late!”
“I don’t think that’s necessary, Kelso-dono,” Simon protested, grimacing.
“Well, we’re at the hotel, Prosecutor Blackquill,” Bobby said, peering out the cab window at the looming skyscraper building that stood in a sea of them. “So I guess we can answer that question after we’re settled?”
“I’ll settle the question, Halblicht,” he grumbled.
But he didn’t say no.
You’re hopeless.
December 24th, 3:35 pm
Staff members kept wishing Athena a Merry Christmas as she and the others made their way through the lobby and up the elevator toward their rooms. Had she even thought about the holiday once in the last week? Definitely not any time on the 14 hour flight.
She smiled politely to each one of them, wishing it right back to them in turn…but her heart wasn’t in it.
It hadn’t come to her in the cold detention center cell under the light of the moon. It hadn’t come to her in the life and death trial against the truth of her mother’s death. As she stayed up talking to Simon after, she didn’t think of christmas cake or jolly men in red and white suits. At least…aside from Bobby Fulbright.
The jolly man in his white and red suit that dominated the last few days of her life in the wake of a painful and desperate week.
It was almost Christmas–and as opposed to celebrating alone like she often did, she wouldn’t celebrate it at all.
Gumshoe, she could see, was enthusiastically booming it right back at the staff members with a wave. A regular bastion of good cheer and joy even at the worst of times. Ema Skye looked perhaps closer to how she felt, shuffling through the hall and barely stopping herself from tossing snackoos at anyone who dared wish her a happy holiday.
She felt a hand on her shoulder suddenly just as they turned down the hall where their rooms were.
“Athena.” It was Simon– grim faced and stormcloud serious. ‘Halblicht’ was right beside him.
Athena’s breath caught in her throat for a moment, and she nearly dropped her suitcase before she registered Simon’s face with a sheepish smile.
“Simon. I thought we’d beat you here!”
“I caught up to you.” The corner of his mouth tugged in an almost smirk. “While Halblicht, Gumshoe and the others talk about where we’re going to eat, I wanted to speak with you in private for a moment.”
Athena noticed Halblicht’s face light up at the mention of going out to eat.
Athena chuckled softly.
“Well, I mean…I’m kind of excited to go out to eat too, so…” she pointed to Halblicht “Pick somewhere good, okay Bobby?”
He flashed her a snappy salute and his grin widened. “Understood, Ms. Cykes! In the name of– our dinner!”
Simon pinched the bridge of his nose. “Thank you, Athena. I’ll see you in a moment.”
And then he hauled the still-grinning Bobby away to one of the rooms. Ema, she noticed, was already unlocking theirs.
Athena watched them vanish for a moment, before she whipped around and fell in behind Ema.
“I promise I don’t snore too bad!” She joked playfully.
The look Ema gave her was less than amused.
They spent a few minutes hastily unpacking a few things and assessing the room. It was bare bones; one queen size bed, a tv, dresser, desk, and a bathroom.
Athena didn’t take too long…not when Simon wanted to speak with her in private.
She simply dropped her bag on the bed, and placed her hygiene items in the bathroom , before laying out some of Widget’s backup batteries to charge.
“You seem in a rush,” Ema chuckled. “Excited to go eat, or excited to go poke some bodies?”
“I know which one you’re excited for, Miss Skye!” Athena stuck her tongue out “I hope you brought your fingerprint powder!”
There was a sharp knock at the door.
“Cykes-dono?”
“Ah, pardon Ema!” Athena gave her an apologetic smile before she rushed to open the door “Simon! I’m ready!”
“Glad to hear it, Cykes-dono.”
Simon— on his own for the first time since the airport in LA– beckoned her to follow him the short distance across the hall, and into his room.
He shut the door behind him, and Athena noticed with little surprise that, aside from the different luggage, it was identical to hers and Ema’s.
The comfortable familiarity of any hotel room in the world was at least…something, in their topsy turvy world.
She smiled warmly at him as she eased over to sit atop his bed.
“That was a heck of a flight, huh? I couldn’t believe you won Eye Spy so much.” she teased, “I thought I’d have you beat for sure.”
Simon snorted, and fell gracelessly into the chair beside the desk. Taka’s cage was seated on top of it, and Athena could see the still hooded bird sitting inside placidly.
“You should know I’m a master of observation,” he drawled. “Eye spy. Really, I can’t believe we were doing that for so long.”
“It beat just sitting in silence, at least.” Athena chuckled to herself with a bright smile. “admit it…you had at least a little fun.”
He drummed his fingers on the desk. “That’s what’s troubling me. Fun. What did you think of ‘Halblicht’ during the fight? I know you had the mood matrix on him while I was gone.”
“Ah…I should have known that’s what this would be about.” Athena’s smile grew just a bit less intense. It was closer–a lot closer– to the rare smiles she gave when her emotions were muted and drowned out by those around her. A subtle, muted smile. “I was registering some interesting reactions…including spikes of emotion that he seemed keen to try and quash fast as he could.”
“What do you make of it? Why would he even bother doing that?” Simon’s brow knit deeply. “You damned well sussed him out on the stand by his lack of emotions… why would he be trying to hide them if he had them? Some kind of trick?”
“Not exactly lack of emotions, Simon. …they’re just different than most feel them. That doesn’t mean he can’t feel at all, no more than it means I can’t feel either.” Her fingers scratched against his sheets, the sound of the fabric under her nails echoing through the room. “I think they make him uncomfortable. The reminder that he’s not an emotionless machine.” she trailed off “…there’s also something else.”
Simon’s frown deepened. He opened up Taka’s cage and gently ushered the bird onto his arm to start taking off his hood. Athena could sense his worry and frustration, and confusion.
“What else?”
“I’m sensing dueling emotions.” Athena started carefully. She tensed, unsure if she should say “…I’m still looking into it, but it…it may be something important. A solid lead on what’s going on in his head that I need to follow so I can help him heal.”
Simon leaned toward her, and Taka leaned along with him, making them look like a hungry pair of raptors.
“A lead. Is it something I should know, then?”
“Do you trust me, Simon?” she asked, looking up and into his eyes.
“Implicitly. Without question.” And she could feel, without question, that it was true. And his curiosity and confusion were blooming.
Athena took a deep breath.
“I’m investigating a possible schism in his cognitive identity. But keep this between us, yeah? I could be wrong. I’m still gathering data…” She glanced down “…while that sounds ominous, what I mean to say is…there’s a part of him that seems to really, genuinely feel in his own way. I…I don’t think I’m being lied to. The way he keeps trying to push them down while still feeling them in sharp bursts tells me he doesn’t want me to see them.”
Simon was quiet. He groomed his fingers over Taka, and pulled out an errand shed feather, twisting it in his fingers.
He gazed blankly, not at her, but at the wall behind her.
“I was worried you were going to say that.”