The journey to the place had been very awkward.

No, awkward was an understatement.

The 3 of them had spent the trip cramped together in the 2 front seats of Ema's white 'forensics van', as there weren't any backseats due to the fact that the room behind them was essential to the storage of the precious equipment, and they'd all sat in utter silence - bar the low, dismal, hum of the vehicle's engine. Edgeworth usually preferred quiet journeys; in fact, he would much rather have been spared the brainless, idle, chit-chat nonsense which the idiot-policeman Clementine would normally spout, however the peace and tranquility he so loved and desired was rather ruined by the fact that his, and his missing boyfriend's, reputation had probably rather gone down the drain with the recent developments - and that that was probably why the forensic scientist and policeman were both so noiseless. The prosecutor wished he could have made the connection when he realised that that darn camera had been recording everything that went on in that bedroom before asking that damned Ema to examine its contents; and he certainly wished he'd had the brains to figure out what the 3 of them were about to witness when they watched him playfully corner the defence attorney on the bed. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't seen him be so dominant and seme with his boyfriend. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't seen them naked.

Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bloody damn awful if they hadn't seen them make love.

Thankfully, these thoughts were slightly dulled by the thrill of the chase they were now on. After seeing the 'horrors' of what happened in the bedroom the previous night, and Ema agreeing not to share that particular part of the footage with the police as evidence, they'd all stiffly proceeded to examine the rest of the device's storage and found something rather interesting... And, by rather interesting, Edgeworth's mind had meant 'blooming lucky'. They had stumbled upon a so called 'cloud' of information - a place in which all of the kidnapper's video recordings from every single device he owned were hoarded. And, by jove, had they hit the jackpot. The man clearly had been very clever for storing all of his information in one vulnerable place made it almost disappointingly simple to find where he'd been detaining the defence attorney. He'd clearly positioned a camera within the basement he'd confined Phoenix in - and what Edgeworth had witnessed happen to his poor, poor boyfriend was stuck on repeat in his brain like some awful horror movie. The despicable kidnapper forcing the defence attorney to..

No. No no no no no no no.

The prosecutor shut his eyes tightly as they sped over a speed-bump. He wouldn't let himself dwell in the past. What was done was done. He'd have to make sure the kidnapper paid his owed debt.

He'd have to make sure he got a guilty verdict, a humiliating exposure, a death sentence.

This was all that the prosecutor could think of as Ema pulled up beside a small, run-down office on Bilk Road (just bordering the coastline of Japanifornia). It was late in the evening, about 12:00pm, and the stars were shimmering mysteriously above their heads, illuminating the vast blanket of darkness in a dim, stagnant light. The forensic scientist had almost put off the journey until the next day as it was so late in the evening however, once faced with a desperate, insistent, Edgeworth (and a promise of extra payment), she'd found it difficult to refuse.
"We're here." The scientist's, now alarmingly monotonous, voice shattered the silence which had been binding all their lips as, one by one, the clambered out of the vehicle.
"Thank you," The prosecutor bowed his head woodenly and, for the first time in his life, finding himself unable to search the humungous dictionary inside his head for the right words to form a full sentence. As Ema was busy locking the immaculate van and double-checking that everything was in place, her keys jangling loudly in her hand, Clementine finally spoke up;
"So, Mr.Edgeworth.." The prosecutor frowned at the unexpected formality of the police officer - even more so by his grave face.
"Yes?"
"How do you plan to greet this 'kidnapper'?"
"I don't follow." Edgeworth eyed Clementine carefully.
"Surely he is going to be a dangerous man. I mean, he did kidnap and r-"
"I'll greet him in whatever way is appropriate." The prosecutor snapped hastily, unwilling to hear the next word escape from the policeman's mouth for fear of the reality of the situation slapping him in the face.
"And what way would that be?"
"Whatever seems most advantageous." Edgeworth pursed his lips distastefully, countering the narrow-eyed man before him.
"Right," Ema huffed as she triumphantly strode over to them all, secretly proud that she'd checked and ensured that the van was safe in under 5 minutes (her previous personal best).
"Are your checks complete, Miss Skye?" 
"Yup. We're all set." She glanced at Edgeworth questioningly as she noticed his pained expression;
"Is everything alright over there, sir?"
"What?" The prosecutor blurted, lifting his gaze from the ground immediately, caught off guard.
"Oh. Yes, yes, of course. I'm fine." He gritted his teeth, clenching his fists. No, nothing was going to be 'alright' until his boyfriend was back in his arms. Nothing was going to be 'alright' until he knew, without a doubt, that Phoenix Wright was completely, unarguably, safe.
"Are you ready to go and confront them?"
"More than ready." The prosecutor's eyes were now no more than slits - purely predatory.
"Clementine, are you sure you'd still like to join us?" Ema turned to the police officer, failing to notice his clenched jaw;
"You're only new, so it seems a little dangerous for you to be tagging along."
"I'm fine. I'll come." The police officer goofily grinned, causing Edgeworth to automatically roll his eyes - no matter how improper that seemed.
"Then let's just hurry up and get on with it, shall we?" The prosecutor muttered.
"Certainly." Ema lead the way with her quick-paced footsteps, leaving the other 2 men to wonder how the heck she could manoeuvre herself that swiftly whilst wearing those clumsy heels.

It was probably just a 'woman thing' - not something that Clementine, or even overly-intelligent Edgeworth, had any clue about.

The outside of the building seemed desolate and unattended, with its drab grey, concrete, walls and wilting flowers. The various clusters of ivy clinging in desperation to patches of the worn-down door were perhaps an indication that the place used to be quite photogenic, the prosecutor thought, however there were certainly no other pieces of evidence to support that claim on the scene.
"Perfect place," Edgeworth mumbled absent-mindedly;
"What?" Clementine frowned as Ema skilfully ignored the 2 of them and slammed her finger down on the doorbell.
"For a kidnapped hostage."
"Why would that be?" The policeman inquired curiously;
"It's an abandoned office. No one's set foot in here for years. I don't see why no one used it sooner."
"Oh," Clementine breathed out lightly;
"Abandoned," He echoed. Edgeworth glanced at him from the corner of his eye. Weird kid.
"Any luck, Ema?"
"I thought I already told you that it was Ms.Skye." The prosecutor hissed at the police-officer in annoyance.
"Nope. No one's answering the darn door. I should've guessed it wouldn't be that simple. Guess we'll have to call up the boss and-"
"Oh, for goodness' sake!" Edgeworth flailed his arms up in the air in frustration all of a sudden;
"Look. Why don't you both just stand aside and let me get on with it." He snapped, now far too impatient to be polite. Out of sheer terror of the prosecutor's mood-change, Ema stood back beside the police-officer, discreetly whispering;
"And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you don't fall in love."
"I heard that." Edgeworth muttered, his cheeks heating up slightly as he slowly began to realise how this was going to impact their impressions of him. He blew through his teeth. It wasn't like the day could get any worse, anyway. Phoenix was right inside that building. Minutes away from him. They didn't have any time to waste.
"'Call up the boss'," Edgeworth scoffed inaudibly as he took a step back from the puny hunk of wood. It shouldn't take much to topple over, should it? It was so old it should just collapse instantly.

The prosecutor steadied himself before ramming himself into the barrier.