Offer of a Helping Hand

Winter break ended in three days for students at Themis Legal Academy. All across the student body, the reaction to this fact was the same: time to finish all the homework they'd procrastinated on for two weeks.

Sad as it was, Hugh O'Connor was no exception. Ever since the trial in October, Hugh had lost his taste for doing schoolwork. Knowing his grades weren't a result of his own efforts was a huge blow to his self-confidence, and it took all the encouragement from his friends to convince him to stick with the program. He was already a senior, they said. He could still turn things around and make it on his own, they said. Hugh was grateful for their help, he was. He wished he could believe their words.

But he couldn't.

Contrary to other students' beliefs, Hugh'd had no hand in the bribing of Professor Means. He'd had no knowledge his grades were tampered with in any way. When he found out, he'd cancelled all his winter holiday plans and refused to talk to any of his family members. They could only make excuses, or find a way to blame him like they always did.

Whatever Hugh had been forced to pretend, he was a full fledged adult. He had his own place to live, his own job, and his own will. If he didn't want to come crawling back to his parents, he didn't have to.

Unfortunately, winter wasn't much of a season for construction work, so he spent most of the holiday either alone or with Juniper and Robin. Robin's parents were still upset she'd outed herself as female (and weren't quite comfortable with letting a twenty-five year old high school student in their house), so it was rare he saw them anymore. More often than not, the three of them hung out at Juniper's place. And after the week of insanity ending on December 20th, Juniper's friend Athena became a regular addition to their get-togethers.

Hugh wasn't sure what to think of her. In many ways, the girl reminded him of Robin. Stubborn and feisty, but compassionate all the same. She was wholly invested in Juniper's well-being during the trials, and did everything she could to help her out of trouble. Hugh could respect that.

But there were other aspects of her character that were alien to him. Hugh had put on airs of being a genius student, but Athena actually was. At the age most people graduated high school, this girl had returned to America with a law degree. That kind of drive was both admirable and off-putting. Hugh had never been able to relate.

Three days before winter break ended, and Athena was there at Juniper's house. As the three students bent over their textbooks, the young lawyer flitted about the room like a caged bird, restless for something to say or do.

It was making Hugh antsy. "Can you please stop that? It's distracting."

"Huh?" Athena stopped, turning to him in surprise. "What?"

Hugh cleared his throat. "I can't focus with you pacing around like that, and I really need to finish this assignment before break is over. Please do something else."

"Oh, sorry," Athena apologized right away. She was about to sit down next to Robin (who was ignoring them, with headphones in and music loud), then paused. "Do you need any help with what you're working on?"

Hugh flinched, though he didn't mean to. Even after learning he wasn't the perfect student he thought he was, he was still loath to admit it when something confused him. And at the moment, that something was his assignment from interim Professor Grossberg.

So it was with no small amount of hesitation that Hugh asked, "You think you can help me?"

"Of course I do! I'm a full fledged lawyer, after all." The younger girl beamed with an assurance Hugh missed having. As she sat down next to him and looked over the trials he was studying, he found that she remembered less about the trials or their significance than random bits of trivia associated with each one.

"...Ooh, and State v. Masters, or IS-7, is the one that lasted an entire year almost exactly! Both defense and prosecution were considered equally matched, and its sheer length and dragged-out nature was one of the driving forces behind the state's push for the Initial Trial System, though the original maximum trial length was three weeks and was shortened to three days later on. Did you know there was once a case where the defense lawyer used up all seventy-two hours allotted in one trial session? He and his co-counsel were both lawyers, and switched off their duties until the prosecution was too sleep deprived to refute their arguments!"

"I don't need to know that," Hugh did his best not to snap. "I just need to know what impact the IS-7 case had on how trials are run today."

Athena deflated, her talking mood necklace turning a darker blue. "You're lucky you get to study legal precedent in this district. Trials here aren't nearly as boring as the ones over in Europe. If I studied at Themis, I bet looking at and reenacting past cases would be my favorite part of the day."

"It isn't nearly as great as you think," Hugh grumbled. "Everyone knows how the case ended anyway, so what's the point?"

"It's the closest thing you have to real courtroom experience. Even if you get the chance to watch trials in your spare time, there's nothing like being on the bench yourself. Serving in mock trials is the closest you get until you actually get there."

"But everyone already knows how the case goes. We study it before acting it out in class."

"Do your reenactments ever end differently than the actual trial?"

"Not usually."

"Well, what about the times they do? What's different about those compared to actual case?"

"The person on the winning side gets too confident, and their opposition uses it to outperform them. They find a way to get the facts to work for them."

"And that's what you have to do as a lawyer," the girl insisted. "No trial outcome is set in stone. Not even a reenactment of one. When you get in there, it's up to you to use the evidence in a way that saves your client. No matter what you have to work with, it's a lawyer's belief in their client that wins the case. Nothing else."

"Did law school teach you that?"

Athena shook her head. "Law school can only teach you so much. It's important, but experience matters more. If you can use the experience of people who came before you, your first trials won't be as hard. So don't worry so much about getting perfect grades in school. In a few years, it won't matter much anyway."

Hugh couldn't help but notice that she'd completely switched the subject on him. "How long have you had that one on your chest?"

"A while." Hugh hadn't meant his question seriously, but Athena had. "We might not know each other all that well, but you're still Junie's friend. I care about the people she cares about. Not to mention..." she shifted about, her necklace changing colors. "I know you went through a lot in that trial a couple months ago."

"Yeah, well..." Hugh could feel the awkwardness piling up in the room. What was he supposed to say to that? "You've been through a lot more. More recently, too."

"That doesn't make your struggles any less valid," Athena assured him. "Trust me. Everyone has something they need to get past in order to be who they were meant to. For me, it was resolving an incident of my past. For you, it might be-"

"Finally finishing school and living on my own terms for once?" Hugh interrupted her, a sardonic slant to his voice. "You know that's why I left school to begin with? I ran away from home because I couldn't bear to have my life controlled anymore. I thought I could make it on my own. And things went fine for a while, but then... it didn't. And I was forced to come crawling back to my family in a fit of remorse, only to eventually be reminded of why I left them in the first place."

All while he went off on her, Athena just listened. But the way she watched him... she wasn't just listening the normal way, was she? Not with her ears she wasn't.

The thought made Hugh uncomfortable. "Look, I didn't mean to get into it like that. Let's just-"

"No, it's okay. I understand." Athena paused to look at the other two girls in the room. Neither of them had looked up from their own work. "And I wanna help you. I know you can get through Themis and pass the bar exam with your own abilities. And if you want me, I'm willing to set aside some time every week to help you study. And if you ever want to get more hands on with things, I'm sure Mr. Wright wouldn't mind letting you visit. Long as you work for free, I mean."

"That... would be really nice," Hugh responded after considering. "I'll let you know."

"Oh, also? You don't have to tell me through Juniper if you don't want to. You can just call me." Athena tore off a corner of his notebook paper, writing her number on it. "I know you're still getting used to this thing, and we're not in court. You don't have to tell people everything until you're ready."

"...Thank you," Hugh finally replied, stuffing the slip of paper in his pocket.

What were the lawyer's intentions, here? Were they really as simple as she presented them to be?

Hugh had always kept such thoughts to himself, these past few years. When everyone around you is a legal minor, the thought of getting involved past what would be appropriate was a risky, not to mention illegal, idea.

But now... Athena was young, sure, but she had more life experience than adults Hugh's age. And she was eighteen.

It was completely possible Hugh was entirely off base about her, but in the meantime? He would have to think about how he felt, and where his priorities currently lay in life.

But perhaps a little bit of tutoring wouldn't hurt. At least while he considered his options.

A/N's: I know I didn't do them much justice, but this is a rarepair I've had on my mind for months. I've been trying to put this one-shot together since December, but it took me so long to finally get it all written out.

And yes, I normally ship Cykesquill, but I don't see the problem with a little multi-shipping now and then. I can see these two having a sweet dating relationship for a while, even if Cykesquill is the ultimate endgame. But the sad thing is, I've come across very little Hugh (or Themis Trio) content in general, let alone any that really explores the possibility of him with Athena.

So here it is. My contribution to the nonexistent ship. I have breathed life into it, and created a one-person dinghy. If you like what you've read, feel free to make your own contribution to this dinghy in the hopes we can build a larger ship.

Or, if that's too much work, leave your thoughts in the box below. Thanks either way, and I'll see you on the far side!