February 4th, 2:56pm

Gotham City Courthouse - Defendant Lobby No. 4

On shaky legs, Athena entered the defendant lobby with Mr. Wright and their defendant. She almost couldn't believe it. She'd gotten Mr. Dent the verdict he deserved, and helped Anthony in the process. In fact, she was so dazed, she almost didn't notice all the people in the lobby waiting for them, their eyes all on Athena. The first to approach was Bruce Wayne, his adopted son Dick Grayson at his side. Probably due to all the people around them, he was in full 'affable billionaire' mode as he shook her hand, his grip just as strong as the first day they'd met. "Congratulations, Ms. Cykes. You were worth every penny." Behind the good humor, Athena could hear that the famous vigilante was genuinely happy about the outcome, though not quite as exuberant as his facade made it appear.

Before she knew what was happening, Athena was being hugged by Dick Grayson, his strong arms around her shoulders. Blushing as red as a tomato, she stammered out, "I-it was nothing!" Then, realizing he was there, Athena started to ask something before realizing quite a few people around them didn't know about the secret identities of these two men. So, she edited the question a bit. "I thought you two would be too busy to show up, what with the, uh, stuff going on. Like, pretty overwhelming stuff."

Having withdrawn from the hug, Dick smiled at Athena is a way that made her heart skip a beat. "Oh, we're pretty great at juggling a lot of stuff. The whelm factor wasn't too bad." It was dumb, but it made her laugh, which only made the acrobatic superhero smile wider. Athena never thought she'd be in this situation, but she was suddenly desperately wishing someone would save her from the hunky famous man before she ruined his opinion of her forever.

Help came from the unlikeliest of sources, as the large, oafish Detective Bullock came up to her, pushing the two billionaires out of way and Detective Montoya followed in his wake. He didn't look particularly happy. "Hope you're happy, girly. Thanks to you getting Two-Face off, I owe Montoya here half a week's pay." Despite the content of his words, and the gruff way he was delivering them, Athena could hear that he wasn't actually too upset about it.

Still, what he said surprised her, and Athena raised an eyebrow at the other detective, while grinning ruefully. That just made Montoya's scarred face look more stern. "Don't look at me that way, Cykes. Bullock was sure you'd lose, and I just enjoy taking his money." Athena didn't need her hearing powers to know there was more to it than that, but she left it there, not wanting to push too far.

The last person there was someone Athena had just seen quite a lot of, her opposite in court, who was offering her a hand to clasp. She took it, and the prosecutor looked at Athena with mixed emotions. "You did well, Ms. Cykes." It wasn't much, but considering who it was coming from, it made Athena grin like an idiot. That response brought a tinge of pink to Franziska's cheeks. "I was merely stating the obvious, do not be foolish."

From there, the assembled people broke into small talk. There was discussion of the case, politics, celebrity gossip, what have you. Athena participated in it for a little white, before noticing one person wasn't there. Breaking away, she found Harvey Dent sitting on the lobby couch, staring at the wall, eyes unfocused. Taking a deep breath, Athena came closer and sat down next to him. "You were exonerated, Mr. Dent. Everyone knows you didn't kill Juan Morto."

"Doesn't matter." He wasn't looking at her when he talked, he hadn't moved at all. "I failed." Raising up with his unblemished hand, he touched the part of his face marred by scar tissue. "Could have fixed it. Could have fixed me. But can't, no wand." More than anything else, all Athena could hear in his voice was defeated resignation.

Going out on a limb, Athena put one of her own hands on the badly damaged hand that Harvey Dent still had resting on the couch. "You know I'm a licensed psychologist, right? If you want, I could try and get you transferred to LA, help treat you myself. I don't know if I can...I want to try helping you, Mr. Dent." Then, she squeezed his hand, trying to extend the offer of help tactally as well as verbally.

To her surprise, he squeezed back, the feeling odd with his badly burnt skin. "..." Then, he rose from the couch and walked away, talking to a guard and being handcuffed, and led away. Athena hoped he would take her up on the offer, but whether he got help was ultimately up to him. She couldn't help someone if they didn't want it.

"This calls for a celebration!" As Athena walked back over to the group, she found them all looking at Mr. Wayne. Dick was the one speaking, and Athena thought she saw the Batman shoot a death glare at him. "After all, it isn't every day something this good happens in Gotham, right? And...since you're the one who hired Athena, I think you should be the one to host it, Bruce."

Before the rich superhero could open his mouth to argue, Detective Bullock was speaking up. "Sounds like a good idea to me. I'm always happy to have a little fun on the Wayne brat's dime."

Suddenly, Franziska was at Athena's side, looking at her with a catlike smile on her lips. "I think a party is well earned, don't you Ms. Cykes?" Now, everyone was looking at Athena, and she really hoped none of them noticed the fact that the prosecutor now had a hand lightly touching Athena's own. Feeling like she had no other choice, Athena nodded.

Bruce Wayne looked crestfallen, the expression clearly exaggerated for everyone else's benefit. "I feel like there's something I should say against this, but it's really not my line, is it? Athena, could you go ahead and say it for me? I'll through in a bonus for you if you do." That made everyone laugh, and suddenly all eyes were back on Athena. Only this time, she felt like the ball was really in her court. Putting her hands on her hips, posture full of confidence, she gave a wicked smile and shouted out the phase she knew summed up how Mr. Wayne was feeling.

"OBJECTION!"

In the remains of the after-case party at the Wayne mansion, Alfred Pennyworth was left alone amidst the chaos. "As is usual," he said with a resigned sigh, "It is left to me to clean up after Master Grayson's ideas."

Bruce Wayne was halfway out the door, a phone up to his ear. "Sorry, but I have no further comments on the Morto case. I respect your persistence, but if I don't leave now, I won't make my lunch appointment with my cousin. Let me tell you, Kate hates it when people are late."

Back at the Gotham City Police Department, Harvey Bullock is at his wit's end. For the last several days, all he has heard are comments about kissing the 'damn bat', because of his remark to that attorney. At the next crime scene he visits, the Batman tells him that Bullock isn't his type.

After a very long day at work, James Gordon leaves the same building and finds a red-headed woman in a wheelchair waiting for him outside. A tired smile graced his face. "Thanks for meeting me at work. Let's head home."

Back at his apartment, Anthony Matthews checked his mail, looking at one letter in particular like it couldn't be real. Opening it up in the hallway, he found the bottom signed in penmanship he hadn't seen in years: Harvey Dent.

At the Gotham City airport, an old bearded man in a robe is looking in confusion at the board of upcoming flights. "Where's the plane for Los Angeles? Oh no..did I get AM and PM confused again? I had better ask the receptionist."

"Begin report," Franziska von Karma dedicated to her phone as she drove. "The case did not turn out as expected, as I'm sure you've already heard. The pawn was not taken off the board, but new intel has surfaced on another target. We'll need to coordinate with the Black Queen..."

After a long night, utterly sleep deprived, Detective Renee Montoya entered her apartment to find she wasn't alone. A man without a face was sitting on her couch, looking at her. Montoya just rolled her eyes. "What kind of trouble are you in now, Vic?" She had no clue how dire the news would be.

Diane Krueger was holding it, the last check she'd ever get from Arkham Asylum, now that her employment there had been terminated. Looking at it, she felt like a weight had been lifted off her, like she was free for the first time in years.

It had been a few months since the Dent case, and Dick Grayson was smiling, looking at an online article. "Looks like the newest incarnation of the Rainbow Raiders are in LA. Hope Athena doesn't mind if I stop by while I'm in the area."

As Amanda Waller, short and squat and with more conviction than anyone else on the planet, walked through the door to the restaurant, she looked unimpressed. "Too much pink," she muttered to herself, before approaching the table where three other people waited for her. After making it clear to the waitress that she didn't want any food, she turned her attention to the supposed equals waiting for her. "Any word on what's going on with the Green Queen?"

A man who looked old enough to be Waller's grandfather, when in fact he was old enough to be her great, great, great grandfather, eyed her with humor. The Native wizard sipped from a glass of water. "No obvious moves, as is to be expected from her," Listens-to-Wind replied. "But she's been quiet for too long now. I have a feeling she'll be making a big move soon." His weathered face split into a wide smile. "Of course, considering her lifespan, 'soon' could be in a few years."

The other man at the table, roguishly handsome and wearing a thick jacket, looked at Waller as though he was trying to charm her into bed. "How about you? I remember reading something about something falling into the hands of the Blue King. No success on flushing him out, then?" Jack Harkness was eating something that vaguely looked like a lobster, if you squinted at it really hard and were liberal with your definition.

The question was answered by the last person at the table, a woman with long, straight brain hair and wearing the clothes of a military general in a light brown shade. "My Knight uncovered that, actually. It seems he was working counter to Red, which from what you'd told me about them might actually be a win for us." From there, Lana Skye, the White Queen of Checkmate, continued her explanation of recent events with her assembled fellow Queen and Kings.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I can't believe this story is finally over. I've been writing it for so long now, and on the whole I'm happy with how it came out. That said, the next entry in my trilogy of Ace Attorney crossover case stories, which will begin relatively soon, will be better planned out than this one was. If you read all of Two-Faced Turnabout and enjoyed it, thank you so much. And if you're interested in more, you can continue the larger storyline in the upcoming Turnabout Sorcerers.