Coffee Changed Everything
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Ace Attorney, all credits go to Capcom, they own the rights to everything. This story is a request from a friend of mine who liked my Klema version of this story and wanted me to do a Miego version. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ILZE!
Mia leaned back in her desk chair and brushed her bangs off of her forehead. She looked at the clock next to her computer and saw the time.
12:30 A.M.
She'd been slaving over these case notes for hours, since she got home from the office. Grossberg assigned her the case two days ago and she'd been working on it non-stop. She was determined to make a name for herself in the Los Angeles law scene, and a big case like this would do the job if she got an acquittal for her client. She'd been looking over all the notes, she had a good suspicion that her client was innocent. All the evidence was circumstantial and probably wouldn't hold up in a court of law.
Except for one thing. The murder weapon.
That was the only thing that kept her from completely believing in her client. She'd thought of every possibility, but couldn't come up with a counterargument for it. She wanted to ask her superior for help, but asking for his help meant she'd have to talk to him. Which was something she wasn't crazy about doing most of the time. His constant flirting and asking questions about herself got under her skin sometimes.
Mia thought to herself for another ten minutes before she conceded and picked up her cell phone. She didn't have a choice. If she didn't cover all her bases, it could hurt her when the case went to court in two days. She sighed as she scrolled through her contacts list and found the one she was looking for.
Diego Armando.
Diego was a nice enough person, she would admit that. And good looking as well, not that she would admit that aloud. But he was Grossberg's top defense attorney, and the person she was told to 'shadow' for the time being. Grossberg told her to go to him if she had problems or questions of any kind. And as much as Mia hated to admit it, she did have a problem and a question. She wanted his opinion on the case details, if he thought her client was guilty or not. She believed in giving everyone a fair trial, but she never wanted to find out in the courtroom she was blindly defending a murderer.
She pressed the 'send' button and lifted the phone to her ear. Diego told her weeks ago to 'Call whenever she wanted, Kitten...' so she was doing just that. She figured he wouldn't be asleep yet anyway with all the coffee that man surely had in his system.
Three rings later, she heard the familiar voice with a Spanish accent on the other end.
"Hello there Kitten, what can I do for you?"
"Mr. Armando, I need some help with my case. I'm at a loss and need an outside opinion." Mia said formally, not revealing any emotion other than professionalism.
"Not a problem, what do you want me to do?" His smooth purr of a voice made her bristle in irritation. She could hear the double meaning in his statement and she had to remember to not snap at him. He was her superior after all.
"Would it be possible for you to come over and look at my case notes? It'll be easier than typing up everything and emailing it to you."
On the other end, Diego cocked an eyebrow. "Will there be coffee?"
Mia rolled her eyes. The man's love for coffee was infamous. He literally never drank less than 400 cups a day. "Yes, there can be coffee..."
Diego grinned and gave an appreciative murmur. "Bueno. I'll be over shortly Kitten."
Mia's brow furrowed. "Wait a minute, how do you know where I live?"
Diego gave a short, low laugh. "A lion has his ways, Kitten. I'll be over soon." He promptly hung up and Mia gave another quick eye roll. She sighed as she stood up from her chair and walked from her office to the kitchen to make some coffee. The linoleum was cool on her bare feet as she moved around the kitchen, prepping the coffee pot. It was a chilly night, and she shivered slightly as she realized it.
She rubbed her arms as she watched the pot fill up with coffee and realized she was dressed rather skimpily for having her superior on his way over. She looked down at her terry cloth shorts and camisole and knew she'd have to change. Diego's one track mind wouldn't let him focus if he saw her like this.
Mia quickly walked into her bedroom and changed into an oversized t-shirt and longer shorts. She breathed an internal sigh of relief as she slipped the shirt over her head. "Much safer."
A few minutes later, a knock at the door alerted Mia that Diego had arrived. She walked over and opened the door.
Diego was dressed much simpler than she ever saw him before, in a tight black sweater and jeans. She'd never seen him in anything but how he dressed for the office, so she was surprised, and she figured her face conveyed as much, since a grin slid across his face as she looked at him.
"No need to be modest Kitten, what's on you mind?" He asked as she backed up a step to let him in.
Mia's eyes traveled back up to his and she was afraid to speak her mind, knowing he'd most likely have a line to follow whatever compliment she gave him.
"...You look nice." She said simply. That was safe enough to say. She turned on her heel and walked into the kitchen. The coffeepot was filled to the brim and she silently poured him a mug. She handed it to him and he smiled appreciatively.
"Gracias, mi amour." He immediately took a long sip of the boiling hot and bitter brew.
Mia's eyes narrowed as she computed that statement. She understood enough Spanish after working around him for so long.
"Mr. Armando, that is not appropriate. I asked you over here to ask me for help with my case. If you please, follow me." Mia motioned him back down the hallway and she didn't turn around as they walked.
Diego raised an eyebrow and took another sip as he followed her into the office. She had papers spread all over the desk, covering almost every inch of open space. "Working hard, Kitten. Sure you're not taking on too much with this case?"
Mia shook her head vehemently. "Of course not. I just like my work spread out in front of me."
Diego took another long sip, draining the mug. Mia's eyes widened as she realized he'd finished it already.
"So what do you have a question about, Kitten?"
Mia pulled up a chair next to hers and sat down, motioning for him to do the same, and he did. "I've been looking over the evidence over and over. Everything is purely circumstantial. Where my client was, who she was talking to, and how she left the scene. But the murder weapon nullifies all the other arguments I have. It has her prints on it, and the weapon was purchased the day of the murder, and was kept in the case until it was used. Which then means my client is guilty. It's hard because I don't know what to believe. I know as an attorney I have to believe in my client until the end, but now I'm having trouble deciding..." Mia trailed off and looked blankly at the papers on the desk in front of her.
Diego scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Anybody else's prints on the weapon?"
Mia nodded. "The victim's."
Diego blew out a breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "That isn't good, Kitten. That looks really bad to a judge."
Mia nodded again and said sadly. "I know..." She stood up and began to reorganize all the case files in a manilla folder labeled with the case number: TR-8. She paper-clipped them back together and Diego leaned back in the chair, watching her lean over, readjust the papers, bend over a bit, then stand back up.
She saw him watching her and stopped. "What? What are you looking at?" She had a feeling she knew the answer, but she asked anyway.
Diego grinned and lifted his coffee mug. "You, Kitten. What else?"
Mia frowned slightly and rolled her eyes. "Mr. Armando, that's not very professional either."
Diego cocked an eyebrow and stood up. "Kitten, you called me at quarter to one in the morning for advice on a case. I think this time it constitutes us move past 'professional' and move toward 'casual'."
Mia did a double take at that. "So? You are still my superior, Mr. Armando, and I will behave like so. And you should as well. It doesn't look at good at the office when you leer at me and call me Kitten all the time. People might start to get the wrong idea."
Diego grinned again. "Maybe I want them to get that idea." He cocked an eyebrow and Mia's eyes widened.
"That is much too forward Mr. Armando. We've yet to ever discuss dating, let alone go on one. Insinuating to other people that we are is not right." She huffed and walked out of the office back into the kitchen where her bag was located. She angrily stuffed her folder in it and went to pour herself a cup of coffee. She was too wound up now to think about sleeping after he left. Might as well enjoy the full pot of brew she made.
She heard his heavy footsteps echo as he joined her in the kitchen. She turned her back away from the entrance and took an angry sip of her drink.
Diego stopped a step behind Mia and looked at the back of her head. "Kitten, come on, don't be like this."
Mia shook her head and stayed silent. "Help yourself to another cup, I'm not going to be able to drink all that by myself."
Diego grinned and did so. "Gracias Kitten. I've only had 392 cups today, I'm a little low."
Mia snorted and turned around at that statement. "Low? You probably drink more coffee in a day than I do in a year. How can you stand drinking so much of it?"
Diego shrugged. "It's in my blood Kitten. I've been drinking coffee since I was eleven."
Mia gave a noncommittal noise and took another sip of hers before she noticed something was off about it. "Diego, does your coffee taste okay to you?"
Diego stopped in mid sip and looked at the mug. Now that she mentioned it, this second cup tasted a little different from the first. "Si, I think it does taste a little different. That's odd, I've never come across a cup of coffee I didn't like."
Mia grimaced a bit and side-stepped to pour the rest of her coffee down the drain. Diego shrugged and drained the coffee regardless. He'd never waste the dark, bitter goodness that was coffee. Mia did allow a short chuckle as his head went back, finishing off the mug in one long gulp.
"You are something, Mr. Armando. I think only you would still drink a cup of coffee that you even admitted tasted a little funky."
Diego shrugged and grinned. "Never waste a cup, no matter what. That's my motto." Diego deposited the mug in the sink when all of a sudden the room began to shake.
Mia's eyes were wide as saucers as the first thoughts raced through her mind. "Earthquake..." She braced her legs and grasped the counter with both her hands for a second.
Diego took a step toward Mia and grabbed her arm. She let go of the counter and grabbed his arm as well, waiting for the shaking to stop.
A few seconds later, the room was still and their breathing returned to normal.
Mia took a deep breath and stepped away from Diego. "What was that? I don't remember seeing on the news that we were supposed to have an earthquake..."
Diego frowned and shook his head. "I don't know, Kitten. But whatever it was, it seems to have passed. Unless you have something else for me to do to help you, I'm going to head home before the aftershocks hit."
Mia nodded and walked shakily to the door. The quake had unnerved her a bit, and she was a little grateful he was leaving so she could properly let her fear out. She opened the door and Diego stepped outside.
"I'll see you at the office tomorrow, Kitten. If another tremor happens, stay safe." And with that, Diego walked off into the night.
Mia closed the door behind him silently and walked quietly into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Her hands were shaking slightly as she brushed her teeth. She padded back into her bedroom and slid into bed.
Diego drove home in silence, wondering what the reasoning behind Mia's actions were. She called him over after midnight to help her on a case, but she acted stone cold to him. Usually she was friendly to him at least, but tonight she was borderline rude. He wasn't acting any different than usual, he always flirted with her. He'd made his feelings for her obvious, and unless she was a damn good liar, or didn't return the feelings, he knew she felt something for him. Mia smiled at him differently than she did toward their other co-workers, whenever he did get a rare smile from her.
He pulled up to his condo and strode into his house, going straight to bed, barely allowing time to toss his shirt off and remove his socks. He was out within minutes.
Diego rarely fell asleep that quickly and smoothly, he tended to toss and turn before he finally found a comfortable position and managed to fall asleep.
As Mia laid in her bed, she wondered why she was wide awake. Caffeine had never affected her sleeping patterns before, so why would it start now? She leaned her head over to look at the clock. Two minutes to two. Mia sighed and closed her eyes again, willing her mind to sleep. Tossing and turning was not preferable for her when she had work to do tomorrow.
As Mia's clock changed from 1:59 to 2:00 A.M., her brain relaxed as if someone flipped a switch. Her breathing steadied and she was out.
[A few hours later...]
Diego heard his alarm clock beeping and slapped it off like normal. He threw the covers off him and sleepily felt along the wall for the bathroom. When he made it to the toilet and tried to go, the only words that came out of his mouth were "WHERE'S MY-"
[A few miles down the road...]
Mia woke up on her own, wondering why her alarm wasn't going off like it was supposed to. She lifted her head up, looking to the left where her nightstand should be. But all she saw was the carpeting, which also wasn't what it should be. Her bedroom carpets, the last time she checked, were beige. This carpet was a chocolate brown. She rolled over slightly and saw the nightstand on the wrong side of the bed.
But it wasn't her nightstand. Her phone wasn't in its usual place, nor was her hairbrush, her magatama, or any of her various photo's she had framed. Instead there was a watch, a hastily thrown necktie, loose change, and a coffee mug.
The coffee mug was what tipped Mia off that something was very wrong. She shot up in bed, and wondered why her head felt so light. She reached up to touch her neck and did not feel her long hair. Instead, she felt coarser, much shorter hair that barely went past her ears.
Her hand traveled around her neck to touch her chin. Instead of her perfectly smooth skin, she felt finely trimmed facial hair underneath her rough fingertips. Her hands shook as she felt the face that wasn't her own.
She walked over to the first mirror she saw and emitted something between a gasp and a shout when she saw her reflection.
She was Diego Armando.
She backed up a couple steps in disbelief and looked around the room frantically for Diego's cell phone. It was on the dresser next to another coffee mug. Mia rolled her eyes and picked up the phone. She dialed her own number and waited for someone to pick up.
Diego heard the chirping cell phone, the sound coming from somewhere on the floor. He spotted Mia's purse by the door and realized it was coming from there. He walked over, unsteady, afraid to go in her purse. A woman's purse was something a man never dared to try and learn the secrets of. Looking through it seemed almost sacrilegious. He groaned as the phone kept ringing and ringing, whoever it was determined to get the call through.
Thankfully for him it was right at the top, just under the flap, and he snatched it up and flipped it open. He failed at trying to impersonate answering the phone as Mia, but he hoped it was alright.
"Mia Fey, attorney at law..." He said, so low it was almost a whisper.
"That's not how I answer my phone! Diego, tell me that's you over there." Mia huffed.
"Kitten?" Diego exclaimed.
"Who else? Your mother?" Mia rolled her eyes. "I don't know what the hell's going on here, but I'm going down to Kurain Village as soon as possible. Maya might be able to help me out with this. She knows about all kinds of things related to this...hopefully..."
Diego nodded. He'd met Mia's younger sister once when she came by the office to see Mia. Maya Fey was on her way to being the Master of Kurain, so if anyone could help them, it was her.
"Kitten, what can I even wear? I've never dressed a woman before, I'm kind of clueless..." Diego meandered over to her closet and pushed the door back. An array of colors and fabrics looked back at him, perfectly organized at Mia's preference.
He was screwed.
Mia chuckled, imagining him doing exactly what he was at the moment. "Just a pair of jeans and a sweater will be fine. Don't strain yourself."
Diego sighed and plucked a random pair of jeans off a hanger. "Fine. When are you leaving for Kurain?"
"In a few minutes. Can you just meet me there? You have to take a bus to get to the Village. Take the third route bus, Kurain is on it's round." Mia said in a take charge attitude. She rather liked giving her superior orders, it was a nice change up.
Diego nodded and cradled the phone in between his shoulder and ear while he pulled the jeans on. "I'll be there."
[An hour later...]
Diego stepped off the bus and took a few steps into Kurain Village. He spotted Mia, or rather, himself, standing near a public pay phone, waiting for him he assumed.
They squared their shoulders with each other as Diego closed the last few feet between them. They both had similar looks of shock and dismay. For them, looking at themselves through someone else's eyes was not something they wanted to get used to.
Mia motioned wordlessly to follow her. "I did not call Maya beforehand to tell her I was coming, one reason being this," Mia motioned to her throat, meaning her newly acquired voice. "And the other being that acolytes don't do training on Thursdays, so she should be free to help us."
Diego nodded like he knew what she was talking about. He really had no idea about the inner workings of Kurain Village, he'd just heard bits and pieces of information from Mia when she was in a talking mood.
He started to notice that people were smiling and waving at him as they walked down the road toward a large building at the end, presumably a house. He maintained a straight face, but was thoroughly confused. He nudged Mia with his elbow. "Kitten, why is everyone looking at me?"
Mia chuckled. "Because you're me, and I used to live here. I am one of the Fey's, they're kind of well known around these parts. They think you're Mia Fey, former acolyte of the Kurain Technique, who left to go become an attorney. Visits from me became fewer and fewer with time, so they're probably dying to greet me."
Diego nodded and kept his eyes forward. Mia suddenly turned right into the large house they'd been approaching and walked right in. He felt awkward walking in like she did, but he didn't have much of a choice.
The person they were looking for was actually meditating in the center of the room. She was in a deep trance, humming to herself with her eyes closed and her legs crossed.
Mia took a couple steps toward her sister. "Maya, I need your help."
Maya yelped as she was scared out of her stupor, losing her balance and falling backward. "Mia! Don't do that! You know better than to stop me while I'm meditating!" Maya pouted for a second before picking herself up off the floor and running over to wrap Diego, in Mia's body, in a bear hug.
He grunted, surprised at the strength of this skinny girl. Mia laughed, realizing Maya didn't understand that that wasn't her sister. "Maya, I'm over here." She lifted a weak hand up, then let it drop back down.
Maya frowned and her eyes widened. She looked at Diego's body, a hint of recognition going across her face. "I know you, you work with Sis at Grossberg's office. Diego right?"
The real Diego nodded. "Si, that's me Kitten."
Maya looked from Diego to Mia and back to Diego several times, the wheels in her head turning, realizing the truth. "What happened to you guys?" A tiny hint of a smile crept onto her face, indicating she found this mildly amusing.
Mia shrugged and frowned. "I'm not sure. This happened overnight, and I can't explain it. I know you know more about spiritual rarities than I do, so I brought us both here. I want this reversed, and fast."
Maya nodded and motioned them further in, into the Channeling Room, where they kept all the scrolls describing anything related to the occult. Maya's flip flops made a low echo as she walked briskly into the middle of the room. She stopped and began flipping through scrolls that had lettering on it that Diego would never begin to understand. He assumed it was some Chinese script or something close to that.
Mia looked over her sister's shoulder, understanding more of what she was looking at than Diego. He stood off to the side awkwardly, just looking around the room while he waited for something to happen.
Eventually Maya came across something relevant, because she pulled a long scroll out and began using her pointer finger to follow along as she read. Mia 'hmmed' and 'ahhed' and she read along with her sister.
(I wish they'd tell me what's going on. Being a third wheel isn't exactly entertaining or getting us anywhere.), Diego thought.
A minute later, Maya looked from Diego to Mia. "I can't do anything to help you."
Diego's head snapped around at those words. "What? Kitten, what do you mean you can't help us?"
Maya shrugged sadly. "From what I can gather reading over some scrolls, this is a different kind of power than the Kurain technique. I don't really know what it's called, but according to what I saw, only you and Sis can reverse whatever it is that's happened to you.
Mia stayed silent, trying to appear calm and collected, but on the inside she was screaming. She had absolutely no idea how her and Diego would change back.
Diego exhaled a deep breath. "Does it say anything on what we can do to change back?"
Maya nodded once and clasped her hands together. "From what the scroll describes, this is a spiritual journey that occurs to bring quarreling people closer together. You two have to do something meaningful for the other in order to have a chance of getting back to yourselves."
Mia finally spoke up. "Well, what's the meaningful thing?"
Maya shrugged and shook her head. "I dunno Sis, that's something you two have to figure out on your own. That's not for me to decide. I'm sorry..."
Mia sighed a girlier sigh than Diego would have preferred to hear coming from his mouth, but he kept his shut.
Mia looked down at her sister. "Thanks Maya, you've been a big help. I'll call you when we get this sorted out. Come on Mr. Armando, we're heading back to the city." She grabbed his hand and pulled him hurriedly back out the door and toward the bus stop.
Author's Notes: Well this is my first attempt at writing for someone other than Klavier and Ema, so I hoped the first half of this story has lived up to you guys' expectations. I found there were a lot of similarities between Klema and Miego, which did make it easier for me to write for this unfamiliar to me pairing, but there were enough differences that it made this a challenge. Hopefully the ending to the story will be just as good for you guys!