The Little Brother and Big Sister Turnabout

Franziska von Karma and Miles Edgeworth both sat in the backseat of the taxi which was on its way to bring them to the courthouse.

'I am still not forgiving you, Miles Edgeworth. You were gone for a year, running away. You are nothing but a foolishly foolish coward,' Franziska spoke, giving Miles glances.

'...'

'And then you suddenly come back and start meddling in my case!' Franziska glared angrily at him, threatening him with her whip in her right hand.

'W-we have arrived, sir, ma'am,' the taxi driver softly said and parked the car at the back entrance of the courthouse. It was quiet at the back door, as the reporters and photographers were all standing at the front of the building.

Miles paid the driver, bid him goodbye and stepped out. Franziska was already walking to the door with her whip in one hand and her files in the other, not waiting for him.

Miles saw the taxi drive away and followed his sister to the courthouse.

Then, a loud bang was heard, echoes following the sound owing to the presence of the buildings around them. Miles recognized it directly and his eyes grew big as his hands started shaking.

'Ahhhg! Franziska let a loud groan, instantly grabbing her shoulder.

'Franziska!' Miles shouted and ran to his sister, who immediately fell to the ground.

He crouched down in a hurry, taking her into his arms and inspecting her. The blood came flowing from her right shoulder.

'Franziska! Franziska!' He was worried to death and let her sitting body rest to his. She had her eyes still open in shock, tears were filling them.

'M-my trial!' she shouted and cried at the same time.

'I am calling an ambulance!' He got out his phone of the pocket of his black coat.

'N-n…no,' she managed to say, holding her shoulder firmly as her hand was covered in blood.

'Don't be ridiculous, Franziska!'

'I,' she began, suddenly breathing heavily. 'I need… to...win…' She fell unconscious, which made Edgeworth more panicking as he held her close.

'Hello? I need an ambulance, immediately! My sister has been shot in the shoulder. Um… in the back entrance of the Californian courthouse. Please, do hurry! Yes, thank you.'

Miles put away his phone as he tried to stop the bleeding with his Franziska's shawl. He sat down on the dirty paving stones, his sister hanging into his chest with her eyes closed and her arms laying next to her. Miles kept pushing on the shot wound with the cloth, shaking his head when remembering his sisters words 'I need to win'.

'Mr. Edgeworth, sir? Are you alright?! I waited for you, sir, but you did not come in. Did you hear that bang as well? It sounded like an explosion or a gu-' Detective Gumshoe saw his boss sitting on the pavement and ran towards him. It was then he saw Franziska von Karma laying in Miles' arms and the blood on his hands.

'Sir, what happened?!'

'Franziska was shot in her shoulder. I am waiting for the ambulance to come.'

It was ten minutes later that the sirens were heard in the distance and slowly coming closer. He had not moved and spoken to the detective in those minutes and just kept looking at Franziska.

'They are coming,' Miles whispered, although he knew she was not hearing those words. He brushed away some hair out of his sister's face.

The ambulance stopped in front of them, as Gumshoe made a sign with his hand that the vehicle had to be right there were he was standing. The two men hopped out of the car, one running towards Miles and Franziska, the other getting the large rolling stretcher from the ambulance.

The man immediately grabbed Franziska's wrist to check her pulse.

'She is unconscious, likely owing to the sudden shock. She was shot in her shoulder,' Miles said and gently pushed her away a little and removed the cloth to show the man the wound.

'Well done pressuring that shawl on the wound. We will get her to the hospital right away, where the bullet will be removed.' The other paramedic had put the stretcher on wheels next to the two prosecutors and Miles slowly stood up, holding Franziska close. With help of the two, he managed to lay her down.

'You can take place in the ambulance, sir,' one of the paramedics said. The other pushed her to the ambulance in a hurry.

'I… cannot,' Miles answered, to which the man standing opposite gave a weird look. 'I must take her place in court, and also this detective will testify. She will not forgive me taking her place, but she will kill me if I do not do anything. We both cannot come.'

The man kept looking at Miles and the detective, wanting to leave but suddenly experiencing this weird situation.

'We need to leave now, Dennis!' The other man shouted, who took care of Franziska in the back of the ambulance.

'Please, hurry and take care of her well. I will come immediately to the Hotti Clinic after the trial,' Miles spoke.

'A-alright, sir,' the paramedic answered and ran back to the yellow vehicle's driver's seat. With sirens and flashing lights back on, the ambulance drove away with high speed.

Miles kept following his sister until she was out of sight. He then looked next to him, where the files of the case were laying on the ground. One of the files was covered with a bloody hand and he picked them all up.

'Sir, are you really going to do this?' Gumshoe asked him with a doubtful expression.

'Yes. I have to, detective,' Miles answered without looking at the man in the trench coat and headed towards the back door.

His sister was laying asleep in the hospital bed when Miles arrived. He saw how her shoulder was wrapped up in bandages and the morphine was injected via an infusion. He sat down on the white plastic chair next to the bed and sighed.

He sat there for a quarter of an hour when she woke up.

'Miles?!' she blinked a few times and slowly sat up straight. Miles tried to help, but she glared at him, so he returned to his chair and sat down again.

'I hope you are feeling better. Fortunately, the doctor said that the bullet was removed successfully and you did not lose too much blood.'

'Hmpf,' Franziska only replied and then turned her face in his direction.

'My trial… This would be MY trial, Miles Edgeworth!'

'Franziska, please. Do you really think you could have stood there with a bullet in your shoulder?!'

'Of course I could have managed! I prepared this case so well, I would have beaten that Phoenix Wright in five minutes without any doubt!' she angrily said.

'You could not have managed that. Franziska, you were shot!'

'So? My father was shot and he did not even go to the hospital,' she replied, already regretting that comment a few seconds later. That incident had hat hurt her 'little' brother, it had ruined her father. She stayed silent, staring in front of her.

'I was worried sick about you, Franziska.'

'You shouldn't have. I am fine. You are far too sentimental.'

'You fell unconscious and I caught you! You could have been hurt even more.'

'Little brother,' she then firmly said and again locked eyes with Miles. 'I am fine now. However, I still despise the fact that YOU took MY place in the trial against that Phoenix Wright lawyer.'

Miles knew this was coming already and decided not to give an answer. The two of them were silent for a minute when suddenly Miles started talking again.

'I am glad to see you are alright now,' Miles stood up and closed his coat, deciding it was better to leave her for now and continue with investigating the case. He was relieved and his heart was at ease seeing her acting as herself.

'I will continue my research here and call scruffy about it.'

'…You should rest as well, your health comes first.'

'I cannot sit here doing nothing, Miles Edgeworth! This is a special and difficult case.'

'…It is indeed a case which is out of the ordinary.' He knew that his message about health fell on death ears.

'And despite that I hate you for taking MY case…,' she began but then stopped talking when she realized that what she wanted to say would hurt her own pride. Miles was the one who called the ambulance. She heard from the doctor that Miles was the one successfully prevented the huge loss of blood. He was the one taking over her case, and not one of the annoying foolish Payne brothers. Miles had always been there for her, ever since he came into the Von Karma Household. He helped her, protected her, despite her whipping him and yelling at him saying it was foolish and unnecessary. He was always acting as her big brother, opposite of the title she had given him.

'What is it, Franziska?' Miles asked her, looking up from the buttons of his coat.

'Never mind. I expect you to do well tomorrow, little brother. Nothing short of perfection,' the young woman spoke with her index finger in the air. Miles glanced at her in silence.

'…The truth will be found out,' he then answered. Sharp-eyed, she watched him coming closer. He then did something Franziska never expected him to do. Miles smiled and gave her a single pat on her head. 'Do not worry, big sister.'

'MILES EDGEWORTH!' she exclaimed, but then went quiet when she saw Miles walking away and opening the door of the room.

'Take care, Franziska, I will visit again tomorrow,' he said and vanished, without even waiting for a reply.

'You..,' she said, but swallowed the last words of the sentence. Franziska looked at the door through where her brother exited the room. 'You don't have to come, I will be fine on my own!' is what she wanted to shout at him, but she knew that was a lie. Having her 'little' brother not around for a year made her realize that Miles was someone she held dear. She had denied it many times, but she knew that she cared about him. Miles was her irreplaceable brother who also cared about her. Now that he was back, Franziska knew that she would not want to lose him ever again. Even I grow sentimental, she thought and let out a snort.

Miles would be doing fine in the courtroom, she knew that for certain. She would call that foolish detective and assist her brother in the case, even from the hospital. A smile appeared on Franziska's face and she lay down again, staring at the white ceiling. Because, well, that is what a big sister is for, right?

- END -