Okay, so this idea actually came from a prompt from yankeegal13 a while ago. Sorry it's taken me such a long time to get this one written down, but I do love this idea so much. I'm very happy to take any requests or prompts for any future stories for this fic; just be warned, it may take me a while to get round to actually writing any of them up! As always, I don't own any rights to Ace Attorney. Enjoy!

Something ridiculous like this was mostly expected from people like Trucy or Maya. Even Ema or Apollo saying something like this wouldn't be too strange. But when it came to Athena, this was just plain weird. The entire courthouse had fallen silent and looked between Simon and Athena, each standing on opposite sides of the room. Athena continued to stare at him with her steely courtroom expression, seemingly having no idea what she had just said in front of everyone. Simon could feel his cheeks growing red despite himself desperately willing them not to. He coughed awkwardly in an attempt to break the silence that clung itself to the room. But apart from the shuffling of the Judge's feet, the room remained quiet.

"So?" Athena suddenly demanded, raising an eyebrow. It took Simon a moment to realise that her question had been directed at him.

"So, what?" Simon replied slowly, trying to keep his voice steady.

"What do you have to say about it?" Athena asked, slamming her hands down on the defense's bench. Simon spluttered, finding himself completely lost for words.

"Didn't you listen to a word I just said?" Athena glared accusingly at him.

"Miss Cykes, did you listen to what you just said?" the Judge pressed gently. Athena turned to look at him, a confused expression on her face.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Athena questioned, though a little of the previous harshness had left her voice.

"You, um... well, you- Prosecutor Blackquill, I think it's best you tell Miss Cykes. The comment was directed at you anyway," the Judge stammered, glancing over at Simon who stared at him in wide eyed silence. Was the Judge really trying to dodge the line of fire by putting this all on him? Well, there was no avoiding it forever. Simon took a slow, deep breath then looked Athena directly in the eyes. But, before he could open his mouth to say anything, a voice broke through the crowd.

"Miss Cykes called Prosecutor Blackquill 'dad'," Trucy announced to the courtroom, poorly concealing her laughter as she did so. For another brief moment, complete silence once again filled the air.

"I did what?" Athena meekly asked, her cheeks growing more red with every second.

"I must admit, that is what it sounded like," Simon confirmed, choosing his words carefully. He found it both slightly amusing and endearing how embarrassed Athena seemed to be. If they had been alone, he may have teased her about it but he couldn't do that in front of all these people. Despite himself, he knew it was up to him to get them out of this awkward mess.

"I don't quite see what has everyone so caught up on all of this? I'm sure it was just a simple slip of the tongue, right Miss Cykes?" Simon smiled politely in Athena's direction. She stared at him for a moment and Simon was just starting to worry before she suddenly seemed to come back to her senses.

"Yes, of course. Sorry your Honor, it won't happen again," Athena nodded towards the Judge before standing tall, all traces of her previous embarrassment gone. A moment of brief, stunned silence filled the courtroom. Just before the quiet became too long, Simon spoke up once more.

"Now, where were we your Honor?" Simon asked curtiously, turning to face the Judge.

"Um, yes well... I believe Miss Cykes was defending her client based on the fact the prosecution has no solid evidence to tie him to the murder," the Judge nodded, attempting to restore the previous atmosphere.

"Well," Simon smirked "that is where the defense is wrong,"

And so the trial continued, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all. A sudden turn of events revealed in the witness's testimony meant the trial was to continue for another day. Both sides had fought hard to find the truth and, at last, Athena felt they were actually getting somewhere. Now she was stood in the defendant's lobby, discussing the possible leads with her client, when suddenly the door opened and Simon walked in.

"Hey, Simon!" Athena greeted cheerily and he couldn't help but smile back at her.

"You fought well today," he told her, and Athena grinned.

"Thanks, so did you. And, umm… thanks for getting me out of that awkward mess earlier," Athena blushed, looking down at her shoes.

"It's okay, it was just a slip of the tongue, right daughter?" Simon teased and Athena's head shot up to look at him, her cheeks even redder than before.

"Hey, don't call me that! It's weird," Athena protested. She reached out and tried to punch Simon's arm, but he easily dodged.

"Missed me," Simon let out a rare laugh and started backing away from her.

"Come back here!" Athena demanded just as Simon turned and ran out of the lobby. Athena chased after him, leaving her very confused client behind her.

"Uh, does this mean I get to go home now?"