Warning: Quite a few OCs in this chapter, but there's also a little bit of Athena, Trucy and Edgeworth.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Ace Attorney series characters!

Chapter 7 - Turnabout Introductions

Serena couldn't stop smiling when she entered the ER for the first time in almost two months. It feels like I'm coming home! She took a deep breath in and exhaled. "Ah! The wonderful smell of disinfectant bright and early in the morning." It made her feel all giddy inside.

"Dr. Sterling! Welcome back!" Serena was shocked when Tina came up to her and hugged her. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you!"

Serena returned the hug. "I'm happy to see you too, Tina." But I could've thought you didn't like me.

"I missed you a lot. This ER," the nurse looked around the place before she turned back to the doctor. "It just wasn't the same without you."

Serena smiled. "That's so nice of you to say that, Tina. I'm very happy to be back at work."

"And we're happy that you're here, Dr. Sterling," Yolanda said.

Serena couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed by the warm welcome she received. This is…so nice. No one's ever welcomed me like this since…since ever. She then checked the whiteboard to see who she would be working with. She became a bit confused when she saw that one of the doctors on the board was listed as being, "the new doctor."

Serena spoke to Tina. "Tina. Who's the new doctor that got hired?" She faced the nurse. "Apparently, the person I was supposed to meet with at the restaurant a while go wasn't interested in the position."

"It's Dr. Emilio. He moved into the area a little while ago. Nice guy. He's been working most of his time at the main hospital, though."

"Oh, that's nice. And what's his first name?"

Tina snorted a little, trying to hold in her laughter. "Pfft…Otis…"

Serena quirked an eyebrow at Tina, but nodded her head slowly. "I see. Thanks. Just curious. When's he coming in?"

"He should be here in an hour."

Serena gazed up at the clock, which read 7:30. "I look forward to meeting him then," Serena added as she grabbed a chart.

Dr. Emilio indeed did come in at 8:30 that morning.

He was a tall, 5 foot 7 guy with short brown hair, green eyes, and tanned skin. He had a relatively lean figure and was clean shaven.

He greeted the nurses with a quick hello as he sauntered into the ER, but he stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed someone new.

"Whoa! Who…who is that?!"

Tina followed his eyes. "Oh, her? That's Serena Sterling. She's head of the ER here."

Dr. Emilio was star struck. "Where has that angel been all of my life?" His eyes never left her. Serena was standing in front of one of the cabinets, searching for a T-sheet, and she hadn't noticed the man gawking at her.

"She's been on a mandatory vacation for about the past two months. Today happens to be her first day back." Tina stood next to him, her arms crossed, also watching Serena.

Dr. Emilio was completely mesmerized. "I must go introduce myself to her."

"Now hold on there, big guy. You're not going to be able to talk to her for a while. She's going in to see a patient right now," Tina explained. "Wait until she gets out and isn't busy." She then walked away from him when the next patient's chart was put on the counter.

He continued staring at Serena, who was now filling out the chart she held. "Serena Sterling…what an elegant name. Quite fitting for such an elegant woman."

Serena was leaning over a chart at the counter near the nurse's station, reading it carefully when she sensed a presence next to her. She slowly lifted her head up and turned to her right to see a man wearing a blue dress shirt and slacks. "Um, can I help you with something, sir?" She inquired with a polite smile on her face.

"No, no, I'm fine."

She nodded, and then turned her attention back to her chart. That guy is still standing next to me. I can feel it. What does he want? "Er…are you sure there's nothing you need?"

"Absolutely nothing."

Once more, she turned to her chart. She leaned down, trying to ignore his presence, but it was useless. *Sigh* That's it. She stood up straight and turned her body to face him. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've met."

He cleared his throat and bowed rather dramatically at her. She took few steps back from him. "I am Otis Emilio, at your service," he introduced himself, then looked up at her from his bent position. "Milady."

Serena stared at him before shaking herself out of her reverie. "It's very nice to finally meet you, Dr. Emilio." She held her hand out to him, a friendly smile on her face. "My name is Serena Sterling."

"Enchanted to make your acquaintance, Serena Sterling." He held her hand.

Serena squeaked when he brought it up to his lips and kissed it, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head. She quickly pulled her hand away as soon as his grip loosened. She smiled uneasily. "Right. I'll…uh…talk to you later."

She picked up her chart and pressed it against her chest as she quickly walked away from the doctor. She could feel that her face was still bright red. That…was way too awkward. She turned around to see that he was watching her. She quickly faced the front once more, her face turning even redder. Why did he kiss my hand?! Who even does that these days?! Well, maybe he was taught that that's the polite thing to do…Yeah. I bet that's it.

It was 12:30, and Serena was sitting in the doctor's room idly. If only someone would come in to be seen. I haven't seen a patient in the last ten minutes!

"Hey, Serena." She turned in her seat to see that it was Dr. Emilio who had called out to her. He was sitting a couple of chairs away from her. "Since there aren't any patients here, I thought it might be a good time for us to get to know each other better."

"Oh…er…sure, why not?" No harm in that. It'll be nice to get to know him a little better. "How about you start and tell me a little bit about yourself, Dr. Emilio?"

"Please, don't call me Dr. Emilio. You may call me Otis. And me? Oh, there isn't much about me. I grew up in San Francisco, went to college there, as well as med school." He grinned. "Would be surprised if I told you I was a theater major in college?"

Serena's eyebrows went up. "I can't say I'm surprised, but that is an interesting major to take up, especially for someone who ended becoming doctor."

"I took a theater class my freshman year, and my professor told me that I simply just had to major in theater, which is why. Now, how about you tell me about yourself, Serena?"

"Oh, about me?" She shrugged. "There isn't much to say about myself. I grew up here in Los Angeles, but I went to med school in Borginia, then I came back and started working here. That's pretty much my story."

One of his eyebrows went up. "Oh? I find that hard to believe. A lovely lady such as yourself must have a bigger story to share, hm? I can just see it in your lovely brown eyes." He happened to be staring right into her eyes when he said that.

Serena couldn't help but turn a little red again. She wasn't exactly used to getting complimented so much, especially by a guy. She turned away from his green eyes, hoping that her face wasn't as red as it felt like it was. "I assure you, that's pretty much all there is to know about me which is important."

"I beg to disagree. I'm sure there's much more I have to learn about you. But it's fine. I like a challenge."

Serena nodded, logging into her computer. She checked the time. 12:35. Oh boy. It's going to be a long hour and a half before I get home. She got up to see if any new charts were in the rack. She resisted the urge to groan. Especially with things going so slow.

"Athena. Athena. Athena!"

"Huh? What?" Athena realized that Trucy was calling out her name.

"I've been trying to get your attention for so long, Athena! Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking is all."

"Oh. I was also thinking. We need to continue on our mission."

Athena was confused. "Mission? What mission?" She doesn't know about our mission to find out Mr. Wright's secret, does she?!

"The mission to find Mr. Edgeworth his special someone, silly!"

"Oh! Right! That mission!" Phew! That was a close one!

"Yeah! I was wondering…do you have any idea what our next move is going to be?"

Athena grimaced. "Well, after that little incident at the restaurant, I think Mr. Edgeworth is going to be a little more careful before accepting offers to go out with us."

"I guess you're right about that. But the first thing we need to do is find out who we should set him up with next."

"We should find someone else. Someone not as crazy as that other girl."

She and Trucy shuddered at the memory of Hazel. "Good idea. We should also talk to Kay about this, too. After all, she is the one who probably knows Mr. Edgeworth the best, and I'm sure she's still interested in being a part of our mission."

That afternoon, after she had gotten out of work, Serena and Sabrina were walking down the street towards the movie theater. Sabrina had somehow convinced Serena to go outside of the apartment so that the two friends could do something fun together.

Sabrina had been going on and on about her new job, while Serena patiently listened to her friend. Sabrina, however, immediately got distracted by a display in one of the stores they were passing, so she stopped to press her nose against the window before she entered the store.

Serena stood outside, leaning against the wall. She looked to see a familiar.

"Ms. Sterling. I'm glad I ran into you. I had something to tell you."

Serena walked over to him. "Hello Mr. Edgeworth. What is it?"

"I've spoken with Prosecutor Blackquill and Prosecutor Faraday about what you told me regarding their cases, and they'd like to meet with you to get ready for the trial. Would you happen to know when you might be available to go speak with them?"

Serena thought for a moment. "Well, I have work tomorrow, so that won't work, but how about the day after tomorrow, which is…Monday? Would that be fine?"

"Yes, that sounds alright. Thank you."

"RENA! I got the best sale ever on so many clothes!" Sabrina came out of the store with two bags in each hand, a round hat on her head and a white "I LA" t-shirt. "I even saw some cute outfits you should get!" She then stared at Edgeworth for a moment. "Who's this, Rena?"

"Oh! Right. Mr. Edgeworth, this is Sabrina Reece, my best friend. And Sabrina. This is Miles Edgeworth. He's Chief Prosecutor here in Los Angeles."

"Hello," Edgeworth greeted the blonde woman with a nod of his head. Reece…I wonder if she's related to the Reece family.

"A prosecutor, huh? It's nice to meet you. Gee, Rena." Sabrina nudged Serena in the side. "You seem to be chummy with a lot of lawyers. What? Are you planning on committing a crime or something?!" Sabrina laughed.

Serena just stared blankly at Sabrina, shaking her head. "That…isn't funny, Sabrina."

She stopped laughing. "Oh…Sorry."

"Ms. Reece. You wouldn't happen to be related to Mr. and Mrs. Reece?" Edgeworth remembered the couple whose party he had attended a while ago.

"Oh, that business couple? No, I'm not." Sabrina crossed her arms, an annoyed look on her face. "People have been asking me that a lot." She gave him a once over. "So…are you single?"

Serena's eyes widened in shock. "Sabrina! What have I told you about asking people such personal questions?!" She reprimanded. Shaking her head, Serena said to Edgeworth, "I'm so sorry, Mr. Edgeworth. She only means well."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "It was just a simple question, Rena. No need to freak out! Seriously! Take a chill pill!"

"I'll take a chill pill when you take a stop-being-nosy pill!"

They're arguing like siblings. "Ahem. It's…fine, Ms. Sterling. And for the record, Ms. Reece, I am single. Is that an issue?"

"Oh…That's not an issue at all! That's actually nice." Sabrina placed one hand on her hip and pointed with her right hand at him, all while still holding onto all of her shopping bags. "You know, I may be a fashion designer in training, but I just so happen to also be a matchmaker! So if you'd want to-"

"I think that's enough from you, Sabrina." Serena grabbed her friend's arm lightly, cutting her off. "We should get going if you don't miss that movie." Serena smiled apologetically to him. "I'm sorry we have to leave so abruptly. And thank you for letting me know about the cases. I'll make sure to come to the office Monday morning."

"It's alright. Thank you. Good day."

"You too!" Serena began dragging Sabrina away, who was yelling aloud at her.

"Hey! I was just trying to see if I could get some business!"

"Sabrina. Not everyone's looking for a relationship, you know!"

"And not everyone's like you, Rena! Just because you aren't looking for a relationship doesn't mean other people aren't."

"I know that, but still. Just…try to not to be so blatantly nosy! Get to know the person a little better before you start offering your matchmaking services to them!"

"Alright, alright! You can stop lecturing me, now! I've learned my lesson. No more random matchmaking!" Sabrina gasped loudly.

"What?! What's wrong?!" Serena asked, concerned at Sabrina's action.

"LOOK AT THOSE SHOES! I MUST HAVE THEM!" Her best friend shrieked before she ran into another store.

Serena noticed how some people had been staring at the two of them. She held her head, sighing. "Oh Sabrina. You really haven't changed," she mumbled to herself. Nonetheless, Serena couldn't help the smile that emerged on her face.

I promise that Phoenix, Iris, Apollo and Juniper will be in the next chapter! Hope you guys liked this one, even though there weren't many canon characters in it. Feel free to leave a review or private message me! Thanks!