stop! fic time.
PW fic this time, though it's kind of a fanfic of a fanfic. :D This is kind of an expansion of this awesome h/c fic of Daisy's where Edgeworth is shot and nearly killed by one of her OCs. It's part of our crazy awesome cracked out PW/FF7 crossover-verse thing, but I'm kind of ignoring the FF7 element for this ficlit. I just wanted to try writing for Franziska since she's totally crazy and I actually kind of love her character. XD
Anyway, here's what you need to know for this: this company Fragmented Triangle came up in a case Miles did recently, and when they come up in Phoenix's current case, he calls Miles for more info. Miles offers to try and dig up some things, and ends up digging up some...unpleasant secrets of FT's. He's on the phone with Nick one night when FT sends a guy after Miles. He gets shot, and Nick's like OMGGGGGZ so he rushes over to the hotel and Miles is in really bad shape. Nick's like DDDDD: and blames himself because he got Miles involved in the case in the first place. Miles does not die, however, and his survival is kept a secret because they want FT to believe they succeeded in offing Miles.
This ficlit takes place three days after the aformentioned shooting and in my mind takes place around case two or three of T&T (I'm conveniently ignoring all the "oh I haven't seen you for a year!" stuff in case five).
Here we goooo!
* * *
It was about eleven a.m. on Saturday. Phoenix was in his office, Maya was taking care of the grocery shopping (which both she and Phoenix had been neglecting as of late, in wake of everything that had been going on; he just hoped she didn't come back with nothing but potato chips and sugary cereal), Pearl was out in the other room constructing a get-well card for Edgeworth. All in all, it was pretty normal morning.
Key word being 'was'.
There was a loud crash and a shriek from the outer office; Phoenix jumped to his feet as Pearl came tearing in. She darted behind him and clutched at his shirt.
"What happened, Pearls!?" he asked, alarmed. "Are you okay?"
"I-it's Ms. Scary Prosecutor!" Pearl cried.
Ms. Scary Pr - oh geez.
There was another loud crash and a thump, then the sound of rapid footsteps, followed by the office door swinging wildly open, and the familiar sound of a whip cracking.
Phoenix winced. "How about a less violent entrance next time?"
"Be quiet!" Franziska barked. The whip cracked dangerously close to Phoenix's face. Pearl squeaked in terror and dove under Phoenix's desk; he rather wished he were small enough to join her.
"What are you doing here?" Phoenix asked, though he had a pretty good idea as to why Franziska von Karma was standing in his office.
At this, she whipped him. "I'm asking the questions here!"
Phoenix yelped. "Okay, fine! More questions, less whip!"
"....Miles Edgeworth's death," she began. "Tell me everything you know about it."
Phoenix sobered; he'd had a feeling this was why she was here. "Listen, Franziska, about that...I-I can explain-"
But apparently this was the wrong thing to say, because it got him a face full of leather.
"I don't want to hear your foolish excuses, Phoenix Wright!" Franziska snapped. "I -" Whip. "Want -" Whip. "The facts!"
Phoenix threw his arms up over his face. "Would you just - ow - look, I - OUCH - well, for starters, Edgeworth isn't dead!"
She froze, the whip held ready over her head. Franziska narrowed her eyes. "Start talking."
"That's what I've been trying to do!" Phoenix protested, annoyed. "If you hadn't hung up on me all those times I tried to call you, for one thing-" Phoenix had been trying to contact her with the truth of what had happened to Edgeworth, but she would abruptly hang up every time she heard Phoenix's voice.
She frowned. "That's why you were calling?"
"Well, yeah!" Phoenix threw up his hands. "Did you think I was just calling to shoot the breeze? Long distance calls to Germany aren't cheap, you know!"
She ignored this comment. “You say Miles Edgeworth isn’t dead. Why do the papers and news reports all claim otherwise?”
“That’s sort of a long story.”
Franziska glowered at him and plopped defiantly into the chair across from his desk that he kept for clients. “Tell it.”
Phoenix sighed. She deserved to know, sure, but he never imagined he’d end up telling her in person, for goodness’ sake. “How much do you know?” he asked.
“What I know about the situation is irrelevant,” she snapped.
‘So, not very much, then.’ “A month or so ago, Edgeworth prosecuted in this case where the head honchos of this company Fragmented Triangle kept coming up as key witnesses. They came up as suspects in the case I have now, too. So I called up Edgeworth to see what he knew about them. There wasn’t much, so he said he’d look into it deeper.”
“So he went looking into this company at your request,” Franziska interrupted. Something about her icy stare made Phoenix feel like he was being cross-examined.
He winced a little. “Not really... he offered to do it, I never actually asked him to. Anyway, whatever he found, Fragmented Triangle didn’t like it. So they sent an assassin after Edgeworth. At about 11:45 that night, the assassin cut the power to the hotel Edgeworth was staying at, broke into his room, and shot him twice. ...He was in bad shape by the time I got there. The paramedics were pretty sure he wouldn’t make it.”
Franziska was watching him skeptically.
Phoenix shrugged. “Look, I don’t know how Edgeworth survived. But somehow, he did. But the only ones who know that are the police and the hospital staff. We decided it’d be much safer for everyone on the investigation - and Edgeworth - if the public believes he’s dead.”
“You want Fragmented Triangle to think they’ve succeeded,” Franziska clarified.
“Exactly.”
Franziska sat with her arms and legs crossed, her expression cool and nonchalant. She was more subdued now; so much so that Pearl was feeling brave enough to poke her head up over the desk for a peep at the unexpected guest. “Will he be able to prosecute again?” Franziska asked finally.
Phoenix blinked. What a random thing to ask. Anyone else would ask how bad the internal damage was, or if there was any paralysis, or, if they were Larry, how big the scars were (because chicks dug that kind of thing).
“Well, it isn’t like he’ll be in court tomorrow...”
“I know that!” Franziska snapped.
Phoenix gave a half-shrug. “It’ll be a while before he’s fully recovered, but yeah, there’s no reason why he’d have to stop prosecuting.”
“I see.” Franziska closed her eyes, as if mulling this over. “How is he now?”
There, that was a more normal question. “Er, a little out of it from the painkillers,” he replied. “But he’s not too bad off, I don’t think, although - hey, where are you going?” Because Franziska was suddenly on her feet, as though aiming to leave.
She shrugged. “I’ve learned everything I wanted to know. There’s no further reason for me to dawdle in your office.”
“...Well, yeah, but -” Didn’t she want to know what hospital Edgeworth was in, his room number? Or was she not planning to see him? Phoenix sighed. She was already halfway to the door.
“Franziska. Listen. Edgeworth...needs to stay dead for now, alright?”
She didn’t bother turning around; merely gave a curt nod. “Understood, Phoenix Wright.” Without another word, she strode out. Phoenix heard the door open and then shut with much more force than necessary. He winced. Well, that was Franziska for you.
“Did that really just happen?” he said aloud, half to himself and half to Pearl, who had emerged, fully, from underneath his desk.
* * * *
Phoenix went to the hospital to see Edgeworth late that afternoon; he’d been going once a day since Edgeworth was shot. At first he’d just wanted to ascertain Edgeworth’s condition for himself and pass along any news of the investigation, but it seemed that they would always just end up talking. Which was somewhat weird. Not necessarily bad, just weird.
Actually, something Maya had said the day before had gotten Phoenix thinking - “Can you imagine if this happened to the Mr. Edgeworth from two years ago? He’d say -” - and here she arranged her face in the best Edgeworth-scowl she could muster - “- ‘I don’t need your pity! I don’t need visitors! Get out of my room, grr!’ ”
“Maya, Edgeworth doesn’t growl.”
But still, she’d had a point. If this had happened to Edgeworth two years ago... would anyone have even cared enough to bother visiting him?
“So, er, Edgeworth... did Hurricane Franziska come through here?” Phoenix asked.
Edgeworth just stared. “Franziska is...in the country?”
“Yeah.” Phoenix frowned. “She came crashing into my office this morning, whipping just about everything in sight, asking about your ‘death’.”
Edgeworth groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I had a feeling she’d show up and make a scene.”
Phoenix shrugged. “I tried to call her to tell her the truth, but she always hung up on me. I didn’t know if she’d heard you were dead, or if she just refused to talk to me on principle.”
“I know, Wright.” Edgeworth paused. “She didn’t break anything valuable of yours, I hope?”
“Nah. She knocked over an old potted plant, but I’d been meaning to get rid of it anyway. I’m kind of surprised she didn’t come see you today, though. Maybe she’ll stop by tomorrow.”
Edgeworth shook his head. “You say you saw her this morning? Most likely she’s already halfway back to Germany by now.”
Phoenix blinked. “Wha - you really think so?” ‘Geez, does she really have the time and money to just fly around the world like that?!’
“Wright, I’m probably the last person she wants to see right now.”
“W-well, then why’d she come all the way over to America to find out if you were dead or not!?”
“You don’t really understand,” Edgeworth said lightly. “Let me explain. She doesn’t want to see me now - except, perhaps, in court.” He smirked a bit. “She and I have...unfinished business. She’d never forgive me if I went and died before we could resolve it.”
“Unfinished business?” Phoenix asked.
Edgeworth nodded and was silent for a moment. “...She’s doing her own soul-searching right now, even though she’d never admit it to anyone.” Edgeworth really did believe Franziska could change as he had, and blaze her own trail, and he’d made that clear in the airport that night a year ago.
Phoenix crossed his arms. “You think that’s it? I guess she did seem a little different... A bit less whip-happy, maybe.”
“...No matter how many eye-opening cases she goes through,” Edgeworth deadpanned, “she’ll never be less whip-happy. She really hasn’t changed much since we were children...” He trailed off, suddenly seeming embarrassed at everything he’d revealed. Sure, he trusted Wright, but still... The pain medication made him a good deal more talkative.
Phoenix, sensing the awkwardness, changed the subject. “So... just to warn you, Pearls drew you a get-well card, then Maya got in on the act, and...well, they’ve practically turned my office into a Hallmark store.”
Edgeworth just smirked, a little embarrassed and a little amused. He could feign annoyance at being fussed over like that, but he knew Wright would see through it.
* * * *
[Wasn’t sure where to end this. Meh.
Um... case five of T&T has awakened in me a deep and undying love for Franziska. Haha.]
Anyway, here's what you need to know for this: this company Fragmented Triangle came up in a case Miles did recently, and when they come up in Phoenix's current case, he calls Miles for more info. Miles offers to try and dig up some things, and ends up digging up some...unpleasant secrets of FT's. He's on the phone with Nick one night when FT sends a guy after Miles. He gets shot, and Nick's like OMGGGGGZ so he rushes over to the hotel and Miles is in really bad shape. Nick's like DDDDD: and blames himself because he got Miles involved in the case in the first place. Miles does not die, however, and his survival is kept a secret because they want FT to believe they succeeded in offing Miles.
This ficlit takes place three days after the aformentioned shooting and in my mind takes place around case two or three of T&T (I'm conveniently ignoring all the "oh I haven't seen you for a year!" stuff in case five).
Here we goooo!
* * *
It was about eleven a.m. on Saturday. Phoenix was in his office, Maya was taking care of the grocery shopping (which both she and Phoenix had been neglecting as of late, in wake of everything that had been going on; he just hoped she didn't come back with nothing but potato chips and sugary cereal), Pearl was out in the other room constructing a get-well card for Edgeworth. All in all, it was pretty normal morning.
Key word being 'was'.
There was a loud crash and a shriek from the outer office; Phoenix jumped to his feet as Pearl came tearing in. She darted behind him and clutched at his shirt.
"What happened, Pearls!?" he asked, alarmed. "Are you okay?"
"I-it's Ms. Scary Prosecutor!" Pearl cried.
Ms. Scary Pr - oh geez.
There was another loud crash and a thump, then the sound of rapid footsteps, followed by the office door swinging wildly open, and the familiar sound of a whip cracking.
Phoenix winced. "How about a less violent entrance next time?"
"Be quiet!" Franziska barked. The whip cracked dangerously close to Phoenix's face. Pearl squeaked in terror and dove under Phoenix's desk; he rather wished he were small enough to join her.
"What are you doing here?" Phoenix asked, though he had a pretty good idea as to why Franziska von Karma was standing in his office.
At this, she whipped him. "I'm asking the questions here!"
Phoenix yelped. "Okay, fine! More questions, less whip!"
"....Miles Edgeworth's death," she began. "Tell me everything you know about it."
Phoenix sobered; he'd had a feeling this was why she was here. "Listen, Franziska, about that...I-I can explain-"
But apparently this was the wrong thing to say, because it got him a face full of leather.
"I don't want to hear your foolish excuses, Phoenix Wright!" Franziska snapped. "I -" Whip. "Want -" Whip. "The facts!"
Phoenix threw his arms up over his face. "Would you just - ow - look, I - OUCH - well, for starters, Edgeworth isn't dead!"
She froze, the whip held ready over her head. Franziska narrowed her eyes. "Start talking."
"That's what I've been trying to do!" Phoenix protested, annoyed. "If you hadn't hung up on me all those times I tried to call you, for one thing-" Phoenix had been trying to contact her with the truth of what had happened to Edgeworth, but she would abruptly hang up every time she heard Phoenix's voice.
She frowned. "That's why you were calling?"
"Well, yeah!" Phoenix threw up his hands. "Did you think I was just calling to shoot the breeze? Long distance calls to Germany aren't cheap, you know!"
She ignored this comment. “You say Miles Edgeworth isn’t dead. Why do the papers and news reports all claim otherwise?”
“That’s sort of a long story.”
Franziska glowered at him and plopped defiantly into the chair across from his desk that he kept for clients. “Tell it.”
Phoenix sighed. She deserved to know, sure, but he never imagined he’d end up telling her in person, for goodness’ sake. “How much do you know?” he asked.
“What I know about the situation is irrelevant,” she snapped.
‘So, not very much, then.’ “A month or so ago, Edgeworth prosecuted in this case where the head honchos of this company Fragmented Triangle kept coming up as key witnesses. They came up as suspects in the case I have now, too. So I called up Edgeworth to see what he knew about them. There wasn’t much, so he said he’d look into it deeper.”
“So he went looking into this company at your request,” Franziska interrupted. Something about her icy stare made Phoenix feel like he was being cross-examined.
He winced a little. “Not really... he offered to do it, I never actually asked him to. Anyway, whatever he found, Fragmented Triangle didn’t like it. So they sent an assassin after Edgeworth. At about 11:45 that night, the assassin cut the power to the hotel Edgeworth was staying at, broke into his room, and shot him twice. ...He was in bad shape by the time I got there. The paramedics were pretty sure he wouldn’t make it.”
Franziska was watching him skeptically.
Phoenix shrugged. “Look, I don’t know how Edgeworth survived. But somehow, he did. But the only ones who know that are the police and the hospital staff. We decided it’d be much safer for everyone on the investigation - and Edgeworth - if the public believes he’s dead.”
“You want Fragmented Triangle to think they’ve succeeded,” Franziska clarified.
“Exactly.”
Franziska sat with her arms and legs crossed, her expression cool and nonchalant. She was more subdued now; so much so that Pearl was feeling brave enough to poke her head up over the desk for a peep at the unexpected guest. “Will he be able to prosecute again?” Franziska asked finally.
Phoenix blinked. What a random thing to ask. Anyone else would ask how bad the internal damage was, or if there was any paralysis, or, if they were Larry, how big the scars were (because chicks dug that kind of thing).
“Well, it isn’t like he’ll be in court tomorrow...”
“I know that!” Franziska snapped.
Phoenix gave a half-shrug. “It’ll be a while before he’s fully recovered, but yeah, there’s no reason why he’d have to stop prosecuting.”
“I see.” Franziska closed her eyes, as if mulling this over. “How is he now?”
There, that was a more normal question. “Er, a little out of it from the painkillers,” he replied. “But he’s not too bad off, I don’t think, although - hey, where are you going?” Because Franziska was suddenly on her feet, as though aiming to leave.
She shrugged. “I’ve learned everything I wanted to know. There’s no further reason for me to dawdle in your office.”
“...Well, yeah, but -” Didn’t she want to know what hospital Edgeworth was in, his room number? Or was she not planning to see him? Phoenix sighed. She was already halfway to the door.
“Franziska. Listen. Edgeworth...needs to stay dead for now, alright?”
She didn’t bother turning around; merely gave a curt nod. “Understood, Phoenix Wright.” Without another word, she strode out. Phoenix heard the door open and then shut with much more force than necessary. He winced. Well, that was Franziska for you.
“Did that really just happen?” he said aloud, half to himself and half to Pearl, who had emerged, fully, from underneath his desk.
* * * *
Phoenix went to the hospital to see Edgeworth late that afternoon; he’d been going once a day since Edgeworth was shot. At first he’d just wanted to ascertain Edgeworth’s condition for himself and pass along any news of the investigation, but it seemed that they would always just end up talking. Which was somewhat weird. Not necessarily bad, just weird.
Actually, something Maya had said the day before had gotten Phoenix thinking - “Can you imagine if this happened to the Mr. Edgeworth from two years ago? He’d say -” - and here she arranged her face in the best Edgeworth-scowl she could muster - “- ‘I don’t need your pity! I don’t need visitors! Get out of my room, grr!’ ”
“Maya, Edgeworth doesn’t growl.”
But still, she’d had a point. If this had happened to Edgeworth two years ago... would anyone have even cared enough to bother visiting him?
“So, er, Edgeworth... did Hurricane Franziska come through here?” Phoenix asked.
Edgeworth just stared. “Franziska is...in the country?”
“Yeah.” Phoenix frowned. “She came crashing into my office this morning, whipping just about everything in sight, asking about your ‘death’.”
Edgeworth groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I had a feeling she’d show up and make a scene.”
Phoenix shrugged. “I tried to call her to tell her the truth, but she always hung up on me. I didn’t know if she’d heard you were dead, or if she just refused to talk to me on principle.”
“I know, Wright.” Edgeworth paused. “She didn’t break anything valuable of yours, I hope?”
“Nah. She knocked over an old potted plant, but I’d been meaning to get rid of it anyway. I’m kind of surprised she didn’t come see you today, though. Maybe she’ll stop by tomorrow.”
Edgeworth shook his head. “You say you saw her this morning? Most likely she’s already halfway back to Germany by now.”
Phoenix blinked. “Wha - you really think so?” ‘Geez, does she really have the time and money to just fly around the world like that?!’
“Wright, I’m probably the last person she wants to see right now.”
“W-well, then why’d she come all the way over to America to find out if you were dead or not!?”
“You don’t really understand,” Edgeworth said lightly. “Let me explain. She doesn’t want to see me now - except, perhaps, in court.” He smirked a bit. “She and I have...unfinished business. She’d never forgive me if I went and died before we could resolve it.”
“Unfinished business?” Phoenix asked.
Edgeworth nodded and was silent for a moment. “...She’s doing her own soul-searching right now, even though she’d never admit it to anyone.” Edgeworth really did believe Franziska could change as he had, and blaze her own trail, and he’d made that clear in the airport that night a year ago.
Phoenix crossed his arms. “You think that’s it? I guess she did seem a little different... A bit less whip-happy, maybe.”
“...No matter how many eye-opening cases she goes through,” Edgeworth deadpanned, “she’ll never be less whip-happy. She really hasn’t changed much since we were children...” He trailed off, suddenly seeming embarrassed at everything he’d revealed. Sure, he trusted Wright, but still... The pain medication made him a good deal more talkative.
Phoenix, sensing the awkwardness, changed the subject. “So... just to warn you, Pearls drew you a get-well card, then Maya got in on the act, and...well, they’ve practically turned my office into a Hallmark store.”
Edgeworth just smirked, a little embarrassed and a little amused. He could feign annoyance at being fussed over like that, but he knew Wright would see through it.
* * * *
[Wasn’t sure where to end this. Meh.
Um... case five of T&T has awakened in me a deep and undying love for Franziska. Haha.]