Alright! So, this fanfic is a request from Yankeegal13, who wanted to see a sickfic involving Athena Cykes from Ace Attorney. They wished to see Athena catch measles, or whatever I thought worked best.

So here it is, my Ace Attorney Athena Cykes sickfic! This is set between Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice, so there are a few real major spoilers for the former, but not the latter. You've been warned. All characters belong to Capcom, not me! Enjoy! c:

~~Virus~~

-Chapter One-

The unthinkable has happened. Los Angeles, California, once thought to have been eraticated of the dreaded disease measles, is now under another measles epidemic! Naturally, everyone in the city has been advised to get vaccinated, and most everyone followed suit, with the exceptions of the children of soccer moms, who still somehow think the MMR vaccine causes autism, those who are immuno-compromised, and those such as Athena Cykes, who have an allergy to the vaccine.

Athena awoke one morning, later than usual, tired and disappointed. Tired from fatigue, disappointed the pain reliever/fever reducer she took the night before didn't really help at all.

"Stupid medicine must be expired..." she mumbled as she proceeded to get ready for the day. Taking her pj bottoms off? Simple. Leaving her cami on, since she didn't want to deal with a bra today? Also simple. Buttoning up her shirt? She spent a good minute fumbling with each button, before getting it to cooperate, and proceeding with the next one. She also fumbled with her tie, before quickly giving up on it. She also decided to just tie her hair back into a low ponytail, not really feeling like putting any effort into it. For a moment, Athena wondered if it would be best to just call in sick. She quickly shook her head as she denounced that idea, not wanting to let what might have just been a simple common cold bring her down! Once she was finally dressed, she made her way to the kitchen.

"I'll just grab something before I head out..." she stated, before he stomach grumbled, and a small wave of nausea hit her. It wasn't enough to make her want to throw up, but it was still enough that she decided against eating. "...On second thought, I'll worry about that later." she said, as she headed out the door.

By the time Athena arrived at the Wright Anything Agency, the office was practically deserted. Which was unusual, since it was usually always occupied by at least one person, which probably still was the case, since most of the school district shut down due to the ongoing epidemic. As Athena reached her desk, she spotted a note. Curious, she read it:

Athena,

If you found this note, then you finally got here. We tried to call you, thinking you might have overslept, but you didn't answer. Mr. Wright and I are heading to the detention center since we got a report on a robbery case. Trucy is still here, since school's out for her. As for us, we'll be back soon.

-Apollo

"Did I really oversleep?" Athena thought aloud, as she saw the wall clock that read 11:30 A.M. "Dio Mio!" she shouted, as Widget changed from its typical light blue to surprised yellow. She had indeed overslept! She thought to call them right away when she found herself in a small coughing fit that forced her to sit down. By the time she caught her breath, she noticed she was no longer alone, as she saw a still pj-clad Trucy standing over her, with a cup of water in hand.

"You okay, Athena?" Trucy asked, as she handed her the cup. "That cough sounds really bad!"

"I'm fine, thanks." Athena stated, as she accepted the cup, and took a few sips. "Hey, how come you're still in your jammies?" she asked.

"'Cause I decided to sleep in." Trucy answered, as she plopped down onto the couch, then sighed. "Good thing I don't have school today..."

The other girl took an easy guess. "That time of the month?"

"Really, Athena?" Trucy asked, a hint of irritation in her voice. "...Yes." Just then, the phone rang, and Trucy decided to answer it. "Hello? Hi, Dad! Really? I've been up for an hour now. Yes, she's here! How did it go over there? Oh, that's great! Okay. Okay! Love you too, bye."

"Who was that?" Athena asked, since she wasn't paying the phone call any attention.

"Daddy." Trucy answered. "He and Polly are taking on that case, and are heading to the crime scene, so he said they'll be back later than planned."

"Ah, okay." said Athena, as she leaned her head into her hand and tried to concentrate on whatever was in front of her.

"Soon" and "later" both took on the form of an hour later before the two men came back to the law office.

"Well, look who finally got here!" Apollo smirked at Athena, as he fiddled with his tie.

Athena mumbled an "Oh, hey." as she briefly glanced up at them. "I got your note. How did it go?" she spoke more clearly this time.

"Oh, great." Phoenix answered. "I don't mean to be cocky, but I think we got this in the bag!"

"Yeah, our client was quick to-" Apollo was about to add on to Phoenix's statement when he trailed off as he got a good look at Athena; her hair was messily tied back and unkempt, her face was pale with a slight flush in her cheeks, her clothes were a bit disheveled, and her eyes were dull and generally tired-looking, like she was ready to doze off any second. All-in-all, she didn't seem well at all. "Hey, are you feeling okay?" he asked, concern written all over his face and in his voice.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine, just tired." the youngest lawyer answered, ignoring the slight scratchiness in her voice. Neither Apollo, nor Phoenix, were convinced by that statement, but decided not to press the issue further. At least not until Athena let out a few dry coughs. Then concern overcame them again.

"Are you sure?" Phoenix asked.

"Yes, I'm sure!" she answered, getting irritated by both of them, as indicated by Widget changing to angry red. With that, there were no further questions.

It was well past lunch time, and while she still hadn't eaten yet, the mere thought of food would make Athena's stomach churn. She didn't understand why, since she was usually in the mood for at least some of Eldoon's Noodles. Today, however, she didn't even want that! However, it isn't healthy to run on an empty stomach. So slowly, she forced herself out of her seat, trying her best to ignore her aching muscles, and made her way to the kitchen. Once there, Athena's stomach gurgled. Whether it was good or bad, she wasn't sure, but decided it was good since there were no waves on nausea.

'I guess I should try to eat something...' she thought before spotting a box of crackers, and deciding she could try to stomach a few. She took a small handful out of the box, and began munching down on one. Athena smiled a little upon tasting the salty, bland goodness, as Widget changed to happy green. She followed up with a few more crackers. Though by the time she got to the fifth one, her stomach gurgled again, and this time a cramp, a wave of nausea, and a burning throat followed. Widget then changed to sad dark blue.

'Oh no...' she thought as she put both hands over her mouth and rushed straight to the bathroom. She practically slammed the door as she locked it behind her and fell to her knees in front of the toilet.

'It's my day to clean the toilet, anyway. I'll just get started after I-' she started heaving before she could finish that train of thought, and soon the crackers, along with her dinner from the day before, came back up within a few heaves. Athena quickly flushed, in the hopes the others wouldn't hear her plight.

After what felt like an eternity, the waves of nausea finally went away. But now, black dots started to take over her vision. Suddenly, Athena felt heat emanating from herself, and her head began spinning. She tried to reach for the sink, to no avail. She wanted to stand, but she ended up lying down instead. No bath mat ever felt as soft, luxurious, cool, and pillow-like as the one beneath Athena Cykes did in that moment. As she began losing consciousness, she heard voices from the other side of the door. The last thing she remembered was hearing the door unlocking. Then everything went black.

This was a doozy to write, but I got it done! I told myself I wouldn't rant about the BS logic behind autism and vaccines, and I will keep my word for the sake of all of you. I will say, however, there is absolutely zero correlation between the two!

*ahem* Anyway, about Athena's symptoms here: I did enough research on measles (again, vaccines FTW!) and what I found is, unlike chickenpox, measles rashes don't appear on the skin until at least 3 or 4 days into the illness. Before then, however, it is visible at the back of the throat. Something I'll make sure to mention again in the future chapters.

Hope you guys like it so far! Honest reviews, please! c: