Chapter Text
MILES
Miles has only been abroad for a week when he hears about that damn man being disbarred.
He doesn’t hear it from the man himself, that would be too courteous. He hears it instead from his own sister, who mentions it in passing in an email that is mostly about the best places to eat in Germany and Miles Edgeworth should really pay a visit to–
But he stops reading the moment he reads those words.
He calls her, wants to know the details, but she doesn’t have many. All she can offer is he presented some false evidence. False evidence? Wasn’t that once the von Karma’s bread and butter? And now Wright does it once and they strip his title?
It’s a mistake. He can prove it. He can go home and prove it and all of this will go away. At least, those are the words that urge him to pack his bags and get himself to the airport.
The hard plastic chair at his gate doesn’t help to calm his nerves as he stares down at his phone. Flying is not his favorite thing and yet, here he is again. He planned to stay abroad for longer, to avoid hopping on another plane so soon, but that damned man had other ideas. And now he doesn’t even have the decency to pick up his phone.
Miles has called him, of course. Several times; left several messages since finding out the news 24 hours ago. But he has received nothing in return, not even an emoji. Which leaves him with one option, Wright’s assistant, whom he has asked to call him.
The phone vibrates and Miles hurries to put it up to his ear, nearly dropping it in the process. “Hello?”
“Mr. Edgeworth!” Maya says breathlessly from the other side of the world. “Oh my god, are you really going home to see Nick? I wanted to go but I can’t get out of training.”
Strangely, he’s calmed by her frazzled tone. Miles is the one who is logical and calm. People depend on him for stability. Other people panic and worry. He does not and he is not worrying now. “Yes,” Miles says, glancing up at the time on one of the huge screens bearing the GoYou airlines logo. Boarding will start in ten minutes. “Have you heard from him? He hasn’t answered my calls.”
“He called me when it happened, but… otherwise he’s been hard to reach. Oh! I track his location though. I can send it to you when you land.”
Miles blinks. “You track him? Surely that’s an invasion of privacy?” But even as he says it, he wishes he could have a certain thief’s location, just for his own piece of mind.
“Nah,” Maya laughs out over the phone. “We track each other; it’s just smart. Think about how many times we’ve known people who have been kidnapped. This could have solved like five cases instantly, right?”
Perhaps he should seriously consider it. It certainly would have saved him a lot of headache tracking down Winner and Shaun recently. “I suppose. That would help tremendously, thank you.”
“Of course. Let me know if you need anything else,” Maya says brightly before her tone goes right back to the worry. “I hope he’s okay.”
“Thank you. I’ll make sure he is.”
They exchange goodbyes, with Maya thanking him over and over. It might be naive of him, but Miles is certain this is something he can fix. All he has to do is get back there and talk to the right people, say the right things and this will all go away. And then Wright can go back to being a thorn in the side of every prosecutor in California. Then Miles can return to Germany and put that man out of his mind again.
The phone buzzes again, a text. He opens it quickly, but of course, it’s not from Wright.
FRANZISKA: Are you really doing something so impulsive and returning home?? And you expect ME to be at your beck and call to return the ONLY apartment key you own? I have to WORK unlike some people. I will be on recess at NOON TOMORROW ONLY. Pick it up then or WAIT UNTIL THE TRIAL IS OVER.
Mile can’t help but let out a chuckle at that. He had merely asked Franziska when she would be free so he could retrieve his apartment key. While he was gone, he’d entrusted it to her, but now he would be needing it sooner than anticipated. He would be deplaning around one, so he wouldn’t be able to retrieve the key. He supposes he could wait but…
An announcement over the intercom announces that boarding will begin in five minutes. Miles stares at his phone again before opening a new text.
MILES: I am sorry to bother you, Kay, but would you be able to pick up my apartment key from Fransiska at noon at the courthouse tomorrow? I am coming home earlier than expected and she has the key.
He hates to ask Kay for a favor like this, but he doesn’t fancy sitting in the courthouse for hours waiting for Fransiska to be finished. He is already dreading this flight and the inconvenience of getting home from LAX, he doesn’t need to add key retrieval to the mix.
As Miles is getting up to join the boarding queue, his phone buzzes.
KAY: Sure!! You only have one key to your apartment???
MILES: Yes….
KAY: I guess that’s more secure but it’s not going to stop the Yatagarasu from breaking in!
MILES: Please don’t.
With that sorted, he boards the plane. Sitting in business class takes some of the nervous edge off, but not much. It doesn’t help that he still hasn’t heard from Wright at all. Will Wright take offense to him showing up like this? Will he even want his help? Is it stupid to drop everything for this man who can’t even answer the damn phone?
Probably, but he’s already on the plane and it’s too late to turn back.
KAY
Kay was happy to hear from Mr. Edgeworth and even happier to do him a favor. He seems like the type to never ask for help, so she jumped on the chance to do even the slightest errand for him. It makes her feel good, like he trusts her. Well, and he must if she’s going to retrieve his ONLY apartment key.
That part is still weird to her, but also kind of funny and somehow so like him.
Kay gets off the bus at the courthouse at 11:55. She’s early, which is new. Usually she is not the most punctual person, but since Mr. Edgeworth trusted her with this, she can’t screw it up.
It’s weird to head up the steps of the courthouse. Her father died here, all those years ago, and every time she’s been back it’s been under wilder and wilder circumstances, but today she’s just here on an errand. Just an errand to meet up with Mr. Edgeworth’s formidable younger sister…
Kay likes Ms. von Karma, but also she is very much intimidated by her. She is nice in her own way, despite the constant whip use, and she seems to at least care whether Kay lives or dies… which is a plus. But Ms. von Karma is just so… cool. She’s only like a year or so older than Kay, but she seems so much older and more mature. She definitely is not someone who hangs around with people like Kay.
Of course, Kay is awesome, and a world renowned thief, but she’s not fancy or mature, she can admit that much.
The courthouse is quiet as Kay makes her way down the hallway. She stops to check her phone again, to make sure she’s remembered right. Courtroom 2. Check. She checks the sign on the door in front of her. Courtroom No. 2 Lobby. Check. Part one of the heist complete.
She steels herself as she opens the door. Part two, the most challenging part: not embarrassing herself in front of Ms. von Karma.
Unfortunately for Kay, she opens the door at the same time someone is trying to leave, and that person runs into her at full force. She lets out a decidedly uncool yelp before going down in a tangle of arms and legs with none other than…
Eustace Winner.
“Get up, you fool!” a voice snaps from somewhere in the lobby as Kay struggles under the whimpering mess of a prosecutor. A whip cracks and suddenly Eustace is on his feet, blubbering.
“It wasn’t me! She opened the door too hard and smacked me with it!”
Kay blinks and sits up, rubbing her head as she looks up to make direct eye contact with one Ms. von Karma.
She looks flawlessly put together as usual with her heels and frills and whip at the ready. And then there’s Kay, sitting on the floor looking like a mess while Eustace blames her for hitting him with a door.
“Kay Faraday?” Ms. von Karma says, the look of fury at Eustace melting into confusion and then concern. She extends a hand to Kay quickly. “Are you alright?”
Kay feels her cheeks burning. She has successfully managed to look lame in front of Ms. von Karma. Stupid Eustace. She reaches up to grab the hand offered to her and staggers to her feet. “Er, yeah, a-all good!”
Ms. von Karma watches her for a moment longer before rounding on Eustace, who shrinks back. “Apologize, now! And then get out of my sight!” She cracks the whip menacingly but, luckily for Eustace, it doesn’t make contact.
“I’m sorry!” Eustace manages before he flees out the open door Kay just came from.
“Er, it’s okay?” Kay says to his retreating back. She shakes her head, at least a little soothed by the fact that Eustace is ten times more embarrassing than she could ever be.
Not that Kay is embarrassing at all. She’s cool! She’s awesome. And Ms. von Karma thinks so too? She hopes? She tries to shake it off. Kay is not used to feeling like this, like she needs to impress people, and she doesn’t like this feeling.
“Don’t go easy on him,” Ms. von Karma warns. “He needs to learn.”
“It was an accident,” Kay offers generously but changes her tune when she sees Ms. von Karma’s eye twitch. “Er but I’ll uh, get him next time?”
Ms. von Karma nods gravely. “He’ll never learn otherwise. But, what are you doing here?”
“Oh! Right, um, the key! For Mr. Edgeworth.” She fumbles for a moment before managing to regain composure.
There’s a moment of silence as Ms. von Karma processes this. And in that moment, the rage returns to her face. “He sent you ?”
Kay blanches and rubs the back of her neck as Ms. von Karma readies her whip. She has never used it on Kay herself but she supposes there is a first time for everything. “Yes?”
Ms. von Karma follows her gaze and lowers the whip before clearing her throat. “I swear, he can't do anything by himself. The nerve to send you here like you’re his personal valet.” She huffs and looks very indignant on Kay’s behalf, which is kind of endearing. “In any case, here." She slips her hand into her pocket and pulls out the singular key. It’s attached to a keychain of a character that looks vaguely like the Steel Samurai, but Kay can’t place it.
Kay laughs, feeling relieved that she was not about to be on the receiving end of Ms. von Karma’s wrath. “It's okay, I don't mind doing it, really. He never asks me to do stuff like this, and I figure I kind of owe him.” She accepts the key and pockets it.
“You owe that man nothing,” Ms. von Karma says, crossing her arms over her chest. “It's his fault for being such a fool and only having one key.”
“I thought that was weird too! Who just has one key?” Kay grins, feeling more easy about the whole interaction. If she has to poke fun of Mr. Edgeworth a bit to get in Ms. von Karma’s good graces, then so be it.
Ms. von Karma scoffs. “Don’t ask me. I don’t know what’s going through that fool’s head. I can’t believe he just dropped everything to return like this.”
Kay’s ears perk up at this. The great mystery of Mr. Edgeworth’s return had been nagging at her and here is her chance to steal the truth. She had been planning to ask him in person, but she thinks he’ll probably be withholding as usual. “Why is he coming back? He didn’t say anything to me.”
“Phoenix Wright was disbarred,” Ms. von Karma says with a mix of pity and disdain.
It feels like Kay should know who that is, but she super doesn’t. She tilts her head to the side and considers it for a moment. “Er, is that a friend of his?”
Another derisive noise from Ms. von Karma. “Ha! I have no idea as to the nature of their relationship, but that man is the one my little brother is referring to when he waxes poetic about the person who changed his life.”
Kay blinks, filing that information away for later. Mr. Edgeworth is simultaneously probably her closest friend, but also a total mystery. “Really?! Wow from the way Mr. Edgeworth talks about him, I thought he was dead or something.”
“Very much alive.” Ms. von Karma sniffs. “I don’t know what Miles Edgeworth thinks he can do about the situation, but here he is.”
Kay smiles a bit. “He’s a good friend,” she says. “I’m sure Mr. Edgeworth can do something about that. He’s pretty good at figuring stuff out, especially when his back’s against the wall.”
“Hmm.” Ms. von Karma shakes her head. “You give him too much credit.”
“Maybe.” Kay flashes her a grin. “But he hasn’t steered me wrong yet. Thanks for the key, Ms. von Karma.”
A strange expression crosses Ms. von Karma’s face. She seems suddenly softer, younger, for just a moment before she clears her throat and her face hardens again. “Ah, don’t mention it. And… feel free to call me Franziska. We are nearly the same age, after all.”
Franziska. Kay feels parts delighted and horrified to say that to her face. “Oh, r-right, of course. Er, and you can call me just my first name!”
Franziska nods and fumbles with something in her pocket before producing her phone. “Here, give me your number. Let me know if you need me to whip my little brother into shape. I expect he might be a handful in the coming days.”
Kay blinks and finds her cheeks slightly warm again as she trades Franziska her own phone. It makes her happy that Franziska wants her number, even if it’s just for keeping Mr. Edgeworth in line. “Oh, yeah, good idea. And if he’s giving you a hard time too, I can help. But I feel like you probably know how to handle him better than I do.”
She feels a bit bad talking about Mr. Edgeworth like this, but she knows Franziska cares about him deeply and just doesn’t know how to express it. So Kay plays along, happy to make Franziska comfortable.
“Honestly, when it comes to Phoenix Wright and my little brother I think I’ll need all the help I can get,” she says dryly as she inputs her number in Kay’s phone.
“I’ll do anything I can,” Kay promises, grinning as they trade phones back. “Alright, I better deliver the singular key to Mr. Edgeworth’s apartment.” She smirks. “Good luck on your trial, Franziska!
Franziska’s eyes dart away from hers for a moment and she clears her throat, that vulnerable look creeping onto her face for just a second before it’s gone again. “Thank you, and good luck with my little brother, Kay.”
For some reason, Kay’s heart doesn’t stop racing until she gets back on the bus.