Disclaimer: I only own my copies of the game, and the story.

Summary: During a case she was working on having him close became a necessity, and being close to him became her addiction. He was the only man that her father ever let get close, despite raising them to despise one another, he was the closest thing she had to a real friend. He was the only one she could ever confide in, and she hated it. Rated M for Blood, Language, Violence, Nudity, Character Death and Suggestive themes.

A/N: This isn't my first attempt at a fanfic but it is my first Phoenix Wright one and its one I want to see through to the end no matter where that may be. I've read a lot of fanfics and found out that there just aren't enough Edgeworth / Franziska romance fanfics on the site. Oh and I'm very sorry in advance for any and all out of character moments, it's me, they're bound to happen.

Warning: contains AAI spoilers

Prologue – Evil never sleeps.

April 26, 1:15pm

Airport

Arrivals

Wheels screeched as the Cohdopian plane touched down in America, there was a large sigh of relief from a certain fair haired passenger, and finally this was all over. The ring leader behind the smuggling ring had finally been brought to justice and Agent Lang was leading the hunt of the remaining members. Franziska looked around for Miles and instead found Gumshoe.

'Ugh, scruffy, does that detective have nothing better to do with his time than be Miles errand boy'

He spotted her and gave her his trademark goofy grin, she found her irritation growing. She glared at him as he approached, but then did something very unlike her, she actually smiled at him, and watched him visibly flinch, she laughed a little inside, her whip wasn't even in her hands and she could still put the fear of god in him, just by simply smiling. His grin faltered, he was very scared by her sudden change in attitude.

"Um, Mr Edgeworth is very sorry that he couldn't come and meet you but he's been called in to lead an investigation, this was supposed to be his day off but Miss Skye needed him to cover the prosecutor. He's probably back in his office by now…"

Franziska allowed herself to smirk, just like him to come in on his day off, she knew this was his calling but he couldn't work like this forever, he wasn't a von Karma, he needed a proper holiday, he needed to go somewhere where he could just relax and do nothing, the stress would catch up to him eventually… Just like it had caught up to her, she maybe a von Karma but she wasn't her father, it was a good thing too. She began to walk through the busy airport, Patience wasn't really her strong point and staying in the same spot for too long without purpose annoyed her.

"So why is it that Miss Skye had Miles cover for this prosecutor? Couldn't they handle the investigation?"

Gumshoe was silent, this unnerved Franziska, Scruffy stammered and stuttered in her presence, but he always managed to give her the details, after all when it came to important details he just couldn't keep his mouth shut. Franziska toyed with her whip and turned around to face him, she was a little surprised to find he had stopped a few steps behind her. He held a look of sheer sadness on his face; he walked towards her until he was once again by her side and spoke in a low voice so no-one nearby would catch on.

"It's Mr Payne…" he said slowly, pausing as if he just couldn't find the words "…He was killed while investigating… They think it was murder…"

Franziska's entire demeanour changed in that fraction of a second. She became her usual deathly serious self.

"Where was he found?" Her voice was emotionless.

Gumshoe visibly slumped where he stood.

"He was found at the courthouse at 08:00 this morning, Mr Edgeworth's investigation ended with the arrest of Misty Engarde who was a witness to the case Mr Payne was in charge of… He'll be sorting out the paperwork for the trial in his office by now, pal." Franziska glared at him. "Gah, I mean, Sir!"

Franziska headed for the car again, with renewed purpose.

"Take me to him."

April 26, 2:00pm

High Prosecutors' Office

Room 1202

Edgeworth looked over the reports he was writing for the umpteenth time in the last hour, the rain lashing at the windows did little but irritate him further; the weather had changed from bright and sunny, to cloudy and gray, to pouring in less than an hour. Being this close to the top floor in a large building with such weather was a daunting thing. Whoever thought sky scrapers were a good idea, especially somewhere earthquakes are a semi-regular occurrence, should be brought to trial themselves, he let out a very aggravated sigh.

His entire life from the instant he first laid eyes on Manfred von Karma has seen nothing but hardship and murder. It was as if his mentor was in actuality a death god and was simply toying with Edgeworth's entire life bringing nothing but misery and stress caused by chaotic cases, involving murder. Edgeworth took a moment and reflected on his past, sipping his tea as he did so, was there ever a case he was involved in that didn't involve or end with murder? He couldn't seem to recall a time when he wasn't dealing with murderers or criminals… apart from the success of his career did anything good come from his knowing Manfred von Karma which the mad man hadn't planed on? He looked to the clock on the wall and smiled, there was one thing good that Edgeworth could think of.

He was brought back to the present by a knocking on his door, being sure to compose himself he returned to his reports before he spoke.

"Come in."

The door creaked open and in came Gumshoe, followed by Franziska herself. He glanced up at them briefly, by the look of it the detective had offered his coat to Franziska when it started to rain, her hair was clinging to her face and her shirt was wet, but compared to her the detective was soaked through, Edgeworth's eyes stayed on Franziska. The dark clouds outside and the light from the hallway illuminating her like a drenched angel.

"Sir, Miss von Karma is here to see you." He beamed

"I can see that detective." Edgeworth replied raising his head from his reports. The detective slumped again, as if someone had stolen his thunder and now they were in the limelight. Edgeworth handed a file for another case to the detective, "Could you please take this to Miss Skye and then see how things are going down in criminal affairs? I will require the evidence related to the case Mr Payne was working on." He couldn't help thinking 'that ought to keep you busy for a while'

"Understood Sir!" gumshoe said taking the file and hurrying out with pride slamming the door behind him. Both prosecutors let out a heavy sigh. That man was such a simpleton, but his heart was in the right place. Edgeworth handed her a towel and offered her a seat at his desk opposite him.

"I assume Detective Gumshoe told you what happened already?" He said as he stuck the last of his papers into their folder.

Franziska removed her gloves and laid them down on his desk trying to dry and fix her hair while she talked to him.

"I was wondering what was so important that you had to send Scruffy the errand hound to meet me. He was never good at keeping things under his hat now, was he?" she stated wagging her finger at him like she did in court.

"No, no he wasn't, to tell you the truth; I was hoping he wouldn't tell you…" Edgeworth looked at her with a small smile on his face. "After the trial in the Cohdopian court I was hoping you could have a moment to relax, we could have tea and catch up. I hear your victory was the most impressive in your career?" There was no sarcasm in his voice, it sounded as though he was genuinely interested in what she had to say.

"That can wait Miles; I want to know about THIS case." Edgeworth opened his mouth to protest but was cut short before he could even begin "I've already spoken to Lana, she said she would rather this case be over quickly so that we can bring both cases to a close. I believe she already told you that over the phone?"

"You two are on a first name basis now?" he seemed amused by this.

"I have friends Miles, now if you wouldn't mind?" she held out her hand.

He was defeated, he HAD received a call earlier from Lana Skye stating that Franziska wished to offer her assistance in this case, he couldn't argue with BOTH women. He handed her the reports without another word, her naked hand touching his as she took them, both prosecutors felt the reaction their touch had caused. Franziska tried to busy herself with the files and tried to ignore the feeling his contact had brought on her, Edgeworth on the other hand turned away, trying to hide his face from her lest it betrays the thoughts that flashed in his mind, images of her, flirting with him, slowly, provocatively removing more than just her gloves in front of him.

They spent the rest of the afternoon going over the case.

April 26, 4:35 pm

Prosecutor's Building

Front Entrance

"Thank you Franziska, your assistance will bring everything to a close much quicker and we can put this dreadful mess behind us." Edgeworth bowed giving her his usual cocky smirk. He watched as gumshoe pulled up in an unmarked car ready to take her home at Edgeworth's request of course.

Franziska just growled at him, it was bad enough that it had started pouring the second she and gumshoe got out of the car but to make matters worse jetlag had caught up to Franziska while she was going over the case with Miles. She woke up on the sofa in his office with his pink suit jacket covering her like blanket, after furiously whipping him for allowing this to happen he told her he had called for gumshoe to escort her home as she didn't have her car. She was mad at herself for letting him get so close to her, mad at herself for enjoying him being nearby but it infuriated her that he had the nerve to insult her too. She wanted to stab him with the umbrella that he had given her, but thought better of it, if her fathers experience was anything to go by not even a von Karma could perform the perfect crime and get away with it.

Discovering what her father had done had caused her such shame. She was ashamed of him for his crime, ashamed of herself for looking up to this man all her life and ashamed that she was still acting the way she did before she knew, but she couldn't change the attitude she grew up with over night, she would see her father, and completely renounce all ties to him, she would create her own legacy and then her father would be nothing more than a smear on HER name and not the other way around. But until then she had to keep up the charade, not even Miles could know what she was going to do, not until after it was done.

Edgeworth opened the door for Franziska to get in and took the umbrella off her, she curtly said thank you and watched as he closed the door and left her once again with his errand boy.

Gumshoe began to drive and it wasn't long before he started talking, most of it she drowned out, that's when she had an idea.

"Scruffy, would you mind taking me downtown first? I need to stop somewhere."