Chapter 1

It had been a long day for Miles Edgeworth. His perfectly straight forward case, instead of being over in an hour or two, had been drawn out over the entire day thanks to the incompetence of one certain detective.

Miles silently cursed this day under his breath as he sped along the freeway. Due to the trial running late, Miles had been forced to stay at the office late in order to finish his days' work.

"Of all days to be late!"

Sitting carefully on the passenger's seat was a small box, wrapped in tasteful paper and finished with a bow. Today was Franziska von Karma's 25th birthday and Miles Edgeworth had promised to take her out to dinner at 7pm sharp. Miles looked at the clock on his dashboard, silently cursing as he realised it was now after midnight.

Under normal circumstances, Miles might have expected Franziska to understand and accept his reasons for his delay. However, this was the first time in over 10 years Miles and Franziska had been in the same country, and able to celebrate her birthday. Franziska was going to be angry and he knew it.

"I hope you don't have high expectations for your next salary review Detective Gumshoe." Miles muttered to himself.

It was 12.45 before Miles arrived outside the apartment of Franziska von Karma. Taking a deep breath and preparing himself for the inevitable sting of Franziska's whip, he knocked on her door. Much to his dismay, there was no answer.

"Franziska…"

He called to her through the door before knocking again.

Still there was no answer.

"Franziska, ignoring me won't solve anything. Let me in so we can talk this over."

Miles waited patiently for a reply. 10 minutes passed in silence so Miles decided to take matters into his own hands. Ever since they started working in the same office, Miles and Franziska had a copy of each other's front door key. It was, of course, for purely professional reasons. If there was a particularly important case file that the other needed, they would leave it in their apartment for them. Franziska had always made it clear that, under no circumstances, the key should be used for any other purpose. Still, Miles needed to talk to her, to try and make up for his broken promise. Feeling it best to clear the air, sooner rather than later, Miles took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the entrance to Franziska's apartment.

"Franziska?"

He called out to her again as he stepped through the threshold, closing the door behind him. Miles placed the gift on the glass coffee table in the middle of the room before calling out again.

"Franziska, I know you're home."

He knew this for two reasons. One, her car had been parked outside of the apartment block when he had arrived. Two, her cell phone was still sitting on the coffee table, and Franziska never left her apartment without her cell.

Miles sighed. Why did she have to be so stubborn? He took another deep breath in, this time his senses hit with an all too familiar scent. Blood.

"Franziska?"

Wasting no further time, Miles made his way through the living room and into the kitchen, searching every room he passed. The sight that greeted his eyes as he entered the kitchen froze Miles Edgeworth to the spot. The lifeless body of Franziska von Karma lay in front of him, slumped against the wall, surrounded by a pool of blood. Unable to move from the sheer shock of his discovery, Miles was helpless to do anything other than stare at the mortal remains of his sister.

Deep inside of him, Miles felt his heart drop as the reality of the situation gradually sunk in. It wasn't until a faint gurgling sound reached his ears that Miles found he was able to react. Instinctively he ran forward to his sister, taking her in his arms.

"Franziska!"

The panic quivered through his voice as his fingertips brushed against Franziska's ice cold skin.

"Franziska, wake up!"

All too fast panic was consuming him as he desperately searched Franziska's body for any signs of life.

"HELP!"

Miles shouted at the top of his voice.

"SOMEBODY HELP!"

As Miles clung tightly onto his sister's body, a familiar voice answered his cries for help.

"Hello? I heard someone shouting."

Trying the front door to find it unlocked, Adrian Andrews made her way into Franziska's apartment.

"A-adrian! "

Miles called out to her, desperation saturating every note of his voice.

"Mr Edgeworth? What's wrong?"

She made her way hastily into the kitchen, letting out a scream at the sight of a blood stained Miles Edgeworth holding Franziska's body.

"H-help!"

Adrian, like Miles had been, was frozen to the spot, unable to process what was going on. Franziska had always been a good friend to Adrian, even offering her blessing when Miles expressed an interest in pursuing a romance with Adrian and being there for her when it all fell through. Through everything, Franziska had always been so strong, her rock, her support. Adrian had never once imagined that anything like this would ever happen.

"A-adrian help, she needs help!"


A/N: Sorry, this is another short one. I'm hoping to make my chapters longer in the future! Hopefully it's not too OCC!