This story contains descriptions of sexual assault so please read with your wellbeing in mind.

Right after Farewell, My Turnabout

It was 4 in the morning in the detention center and all Anneke could hear was the snoring of a few sleeping defendants. She couldn't sleep but it wasn't nerves about her upcoming trial keeping her awake. How did it come to this, sitting in a prison cell in her pink striped pajamas, and arrested for murder. She was once a happy girl living with her father and attending Ivy University. Anneke wondered where she went wrong, and she traced the beginning of what ruined her life to one fateful day.

After Turnabout Goodbyes, before Rise from the Ashes

Edgeworth couldn't believe audacity of the young woman in front of him. He only came back to work after his trial a mere day ago and now this teenager was barging in. She walked into his office with no appointment and without even asking him.

"State your business or please leave my office." He said coldly.

"I'm Anneke Siks and I would like to be your intern for this year."

"I am not accepting anyone at this point-"

"My father just had triple-bypass surgery." She blurted out.

Edgeworth blinked. "What does that have to do with-"

"My father is Hans Siks. The prosecutor."

"I know who he is but-"

"I am in law school right now to be a prosecutor. I was supposed to intern with him this year but now I can't. I need to find a replacement now or I won't graduate on time."

Edgeworth let out a sigh. "There are many prosecutors that would be happy to let you work with them."

"Dad said that it should be you." Her voice trembled. "After his surgery, he said that I can't waste any time, and that you would do this for him if I asked."

Edgeworth paused. Hans Siks was a good prosecutor. He was an honest man and Edgeworth once looked at him with scorn for not having a perfect record. While Edgeworth thought he was wasn't worth the wrapper from a Swiss roll he tossed in the trash, Hans always treated him with respect. He spoke to him in his office after Edgeworth lost his first case against Wright. Hans was consoling and tried to tell him that losing didn't make him a bad prosecutor, but a better one. What nonsense, he had thought. Edgeworth had not taken him seriously and sent him away. But now, he was beginning to think it was himself that should be looked at with disgust.

Hans was getting on in years. There was a strong possibility that he would not be able to return to work and Anneke would never be able to shadow him. Edgeworth did not want to deal with any flighty young ladies, but maybe for Hans he could. His daughter could follow his footsteps and become a fair and honest prosecutor. Maybe she could be better than Edgeworth had been.

"I suppose I could let you be my intern-"

"Oh, thank you!"

"-just for a short period of time. Not the whole year."

Anneke nodded. "That works. I need at least 400 hours of work, but at least I'll be all set for now."

Edgeworth asked. "What year of law school are you in?"

"This is my third year. At Ivy University." That was where Edgeworth's own father obtained his law degree.

Anneke remembered the paperwork. "Oh, could you sign this? I need to give to my school first thing tomorrow morning."

Edgeworth read through the papers and noticed there was a place for the chief prosecutor's signature. He signed it and handed it back to her.

"Ms. Skye will be in her office later this afternoon, so you may ask her to sign the paperwork then." Lana had told him she had meetings this morning and would be back sometime in the afternoon.

Anneke looked at Miles pleadingly. Miles impatiently crossed his arms. "Is there a problem?"

"It's just that I wanted to see Dad today, and the bus leaves for the hospital at noon and doesn't come back until 7."

Edgeworth closed his eyes in inpatience. Could she not have thought ahead? But Hans did have his heart attack two days ago. He almost thought that she should hold off from seeing her father if that was the case, but even in Edgeworth's cynical state, he wasn't so heartless that he'd propose that. What an impudent girl she is. He supposed he could indulge her this once. "I see. Well, I suppose I can ask Ms. Skye myself and drop the paperwork to you tonight."

Anneke smiled. "Thank you Mr. Edgeworth."

"You're welcome." Edgeworth sighed.

Lana felt a headache coming on after going over these case reports. She rubbed her temples to try to force the pain away. She never wanted to be in this position. Initially, she wanted to be a regular prosecutor as crime scene investigation was her passion, not management and paperwork, but Gant had other ideas. 'There's no need to for you to be investigating crimes any more, my dear.' He said in the office they had once shared. He clapped his hands. 'The Chief Prosecutor position comes with a lot of power,' he smirked, 'and I will be able to control the whole Prosecutor Office with you in my pocket.' She noticed absentmindedly that her phone flashed with a missed call.A knock on her office door snapped her out of her thoughts. "Come in."

Miles Edgeworth walked in. "Ms. Skye, I will need you to sign off on this law student internship." Lana looked up from her computer, her face expressionless. She looked him squarely in the eye. "You have never accepted interns before, Mr. Edgeworth. You certainly had many requests." Oh, yes he had. Edgeworth was popular with everyone, especially women, and had many admirers. Aspiring lawyers would beg to assist him with cases. But he never paid attention to any one of them.

"Well, I suppose it was about time." Edgeworth would see no need to divulge the reasons why to his boss.

She went through the paperwork and saw it was Anneke Siks who was the lucky intern. "Anneke is Hans' Siks daughter, correct?"

"Yes, she is."

"Surely she could be here to ask me to sign this herself?"

"She could not leave her father's side so I offered to bring the paperwork to you in her stead."

"How is Hans?" Lana asked emotionlessly.

"He is recovering from surgery and stable."

Lana would hazard a guess that Edgeworth felt a kinship to a kid who might lose her Dad. Her father was in the hospital after a heart attack and she knew he was a widower and had only one daughter. If she lost him, she would be all alone. Lana would have once expressed sympathy to the girl. Now she only could avert her gaze.

"She will be working with you until Mr. Siks has returned to work, correct?" Anneke had already spoken to her about interning for Hans. She knew that was impossible now with Hans in the hospital. Would he even be able to return to work? Would Anneke be orphaned, like Lana and her sister Ema? But it wasn't her concern. Lana tighten her mouth.

"She will be working with me for the foreseeable future, yes."

Lana handed him his copy of the paperwork. "Everything is all set, Mr. Edgeworth."

"Thank you, Ms. Skye." He turned around to leave when Lana said quietly "I think this will be good for you." Edgeworth gave her a curt nod and left her office.

Edgeworth was off his game since his trial. He insisted on coming back to work as soon as possible, which Lana accepted with no questions. Her old self would have called him an idiot and told him to come back within a few weeks, or months even. And then she would tell him she would be there to listen when he was ready and take him out to dinner within a week. Lana bit back a bitter laugh. She was so naïve back then.

He carried an aura of shame with him now. His image of the ruthless prosecutor with a perfect record was truly dead. Lana could relate to that. If she allowed herself to entertain her emotions, she empathized quite a bit with Miles and worried about his wellbeing. And she worried about the Siks as well. Hans Siks was a good man and his daughter was on her way to starting a law career. Hans had talked fondly about her passion for law. She remembered starting law school at Anneke's age, wide eyed, naïve and eager to work. Before SL-9, she would offer to help the Siks in any way she could. But now she had her own shame and burdens to carry.

They were not her problem, she silently scolded herself, and turned back to her computer. Her phone buzzed and her heart fell when she saw who it was. She reluctantly read the text message.

I'm coming up to see you dear

Lana forced herself to clear her mind and not think about what was to come. She sat straight up in her chair with her hands in her lap, clenching the hem of her skirt. She felt like she was breathing against a brick wall.

Too soon did the door open and Damon Grant stepped in.

He wasted no time getting to the point. "Lana, my dear. You missed my call."

Lana looked down at the ground. "It won't happen again, sir."

Gant walked up to her desk and pushed his face close to her. His breath smelled stale. "Lana, dear, I think you are forgetting what I did for you. And your little sister." Lana kept her eyes down. "I will never forget what you did for us, sir."

Gant grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her up. Lana fought to suppress a shudder. "I think it's time you showed me just how grateful you are." And Lana knew exactly what he meant. He asked her to show her "gratitude" many times before. It was a ritual he had forced on her after finding her little sister passed out cold and Neil Marshall with a sword impaled in his chest.

Gant would keep her secret, at a price.

She had to remember why she did this as she unbuttoned her blouse. It was the only way she got through these rituals without going insane. It was for Ema, she thought. Everything was so that Ema could live a normal life. As Gant placed his rough hands on Lana's body, she clung to that thought as she choked back bile.

Everything came at a price.