#that one scene where athena yoinks the cop at apollo

[sunset-peril]

Ashes Remain - Chapter Four - When We Met

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April 17, 2020

Nine Tails Vale

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"I. Already. Told. You!"

Huh? Who was that?

"I'm a lawyer assigned to this case!"

Wait. Lawyer? Could that be?

"I need to study the crime scene, so if you would please tell me where Kyubi Manor is...!"

"You can't fool me! You're just some delinquent high school student playing hooky!"

Apollo turned his head towards the flaming voices, just in time to see a woman, about his height, trembling with rage. "You stupid, pigheaded...! This attorney's badge isn't just for show, you know!"

Looks like we've just found Ms. Athena Cykes, Justice.

"Tsk! Why don't you believe me! Don't expect me to defend you in court if you ever get arrested!"

"Well," The other voice was sounding much calmer now. "I'm usually the one that does the arresting, so." He flashed a last resort smile. "Say, shouldn't you be getting back to school?"

"I already told you, I'm a lawyer, not a student!"

"That's it! Enough of your lies! You're coming with me!"

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Ungh... what happened?

His head hurt, and he was now face first down on Yokai Lane's dirt street. What just happened? The last thing he remembered was the police officer arresting Ms. Athena Cykes...

Wait, where was that officer now?

Oh, right. He remembered now. Ms. Cykes snapped as soon as that officer grabbed her, throwing his body into the air... and straight onto him.

"Urnngh... think you can watch out for the bystanders next time?"

"Ah, oh! Whoops! Are you okay?!"

"I think so..."

But that officer...

"I am so sorry! I do that when people suddenly grab me... it's like a reflex or something."

It's like a felony is what it is!

"You're Athena Cykes, I take it?"

"That would be me. And you are?"

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They were now inside the Fox Chamber, where the murder had occured. Him, and Ms. Athena Cykes. Or, rather, Dr. Athena Cykes.

Athena was a doctor. Mr. Wright did not tell him that. He learned the reason almost instantly: she preferred to be called Miss Cykes, which is who Mr. Wright said to look for. She said that 'someone else was Doctor Cykes.'

Could she be bipolar? Schizophrenic, maybe? She did seem more than an average amount of unstable...

"Apolloooooooo!" Her voice sounded rather whiny, like she was trying to achieve Chords of Steel but had the patience of a five-year-old.

He could see why the cop thought she was a delinquent instead of a double-degreed European doctor of psychology plus lawyer. Her education made her thirty, at least. Her behavior was more akin to a ten-year-old. He wondered if she ever tried the psycho-analyzing thing on herself. Perhaps she had, and was afraid of what she found.

"What, Athena?"

"Look! Look!" She pointed out a minimum of five different investigation spots.

He needed some coffee. She was running circles around him.

This is who Mr. Wright hired? The boss said he and Athena would get along pretty well, he was expecting someone down-to-earth and ready for the dark truths of death. Someone optimistic enough to dream, but real enough to know the world they lived in was dark and dangerous. Someone like Clay, Detective Skye, or Trucy even.

Definitely not this very tall five-year-old.

He was going to have to spend some serious hours repeating Athena's age and education tonight to remind himself that she was not five.

She flared up an unassuming tapestry, one he now saw was dripping in blood.

The smell became much stronger after being disturbed.

He had just barely waded through the scent himself when he heard a thud, and the tapestry fell to the floor. "Athena? Ms. Cykes?"

Athena had passed out and was now underneath the blood-soaked tapestry.

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April 17, 2020

Wright Anything Agency

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"Athena! Can you hear me, Athena?!" He continued to splash cold water on her, small amounts so she wouldn't drown, until her eyes fluttered open.

"...¿Quién eres tú?" Her eyes twitched weakly, and she didn't roll over or try to sit up. "¿Quién eres tú?"

"Él no habla español, Athena." Mr. Wright piped in from his desk. "Ingles."

"Ah, you speak English... Who are you?"

"I'm Apollo Justice. We've, uh, already met? At Nine-Tales Vale? You threw a cop at me?"

"Ah, I'm sorry... I'm having some trouble remembering. Did I pass out or something?"

"Uh, yeah. You did. You found a tapestry and passed out as soon as we both realized it smelled like blood."

Her eyes flashed cold, that little necklace she wore turned black. How odd...

"Ah, sorry... I tend to not be good... with sudden large amounts of blood. I guess it just shocked me."

"It's okay. Did you hit your head? Mind if I look and see if you have any bruises?"

"I'd prefer you not... actually."

"Okay, I won't look. Does it hurt though? You need any meds or anything?"

"Wowww, Polly. Look at you being so caring!"

Why did that statement make him blush? It was completely normal to obsess over someone who may have gotten a concussion!

"I have a bit of a headache. It's nothing severe. I think I'll try drinking some water before trying medicine. Thank you, though."

"Okay. Do you need to rest a little? We have an emergency air mattress in the back room if you need to stay down."

"That would be nice, thank you. Could you help me up?"

He took her hand and pulled her up slowly, gently supporting her in each stage. The glove she wore was very cold and smooth where her fingertips were.

Mr. Wright helped them set up the air mattress. Wright had figured it was only a matter of time until it was used, since Athena didn't have a place of residence here. Trucy brought her a cup of water, and she dozed on the mattress for a while in the back room while Apollo worked on processing evidence in the main space. He'd gone back for that tapestry after Athena settled, and carefully processed it as evidence while making a note for the record of Athena's little accident just in case someone tried to present any of her DNA as evidence.

While she may be a little off her rocker, none of her genetic material was on that fabric when the crime happened. She was just more than a little unlucky.

Plus, she seemed pretty nice. It didn't seem like she had a murderer in her, crazy or not.

Although Kristoph Gavin had taught him a cold lesson in assuming people's ability and willingness to kill. He would never forget that lesson as long as he lived. He was honestly shocked with himself for trusting Athena so easily.

The fact that she practically unzipped her heart and dumped it unceremoniously in front of him definitely helped. Kristoph was reserved, and wouldn't wear his heart on his sleeve to save his life, much less dump all its contents out in front of a stranger.

Athena was probably fine. Probably not a killer. Probably not a psycho.

Even if some of the things she mentioned to him, like the cop-tossing reasoning, were arguably concerning.

But if some random man grabbed Trucy like that, Apollo would also want him getting flipped. Where the lawyer in Apollo cried out 'Objection!' the brother in him replied with 'If the same thing were to happen to Trucy...'

Eventually, the brother and lawyer made peace and decided to place Athena in the "Probably fine" category. Enough to be trustworthy, but definitely questionable in more than one way. It would help if he could see her thought processes just as easily as her heart. He was glad he didn't get flipped while a) carrying Athena back or b) while she woke up. Perhaps she'd already decided he was an honest man, if cynical. Likely with psychology.

He did hope her default language changed to English though. He wasn't sure if he could tell her that he only spoke English, or that his name was Apollo Justice, he was her co-worker, and they'd likely be assigned as pairs for most of their cases every. Single. Day.

Her presence reminded him of Lamiroir though. Without having one good reason why, he felt safer around both women. Which was unnerving, considering she was five years younger than him. Lamiroir at least gave off a motherly vibe, and was old enough to actually be his mother. Athena just made him feel like a bucket of contradictions.

He wanted to talk with her. At the least, about the trial starting tomorrow. He needed to know much more about her before he invested too much. He needed Gavin-proofing.

But for now, he would continue to analyze the crime scene and any head problems she'd sustained in her fall.

After all, her name is Athena Cykes.

And she's probably fine.