Okay. Sorry for the long wait, y'all who are still reading this! I'm trying to update every week and a half, but school is literally taking away every minute of my spare time.

Tell me what you think; I'm excited to get the next chapter out to you guys!

My temples were throbbing in pain.

I lay in bed, and my mind was wide awake, but I didn't dare open my eyes. I was too afraid that a certain someone (a someone named Franziska Von Karma) would be lying next to me.

There's always a depressing feeling that accompanies one night stands... even though you wake up next to someone, it ultimately makes you feel more alone knowing that you'll probably never talk to that person again without getting an awkward feeling in your gut. I didn't need a reminder of what happened the night before. It was all a mistake, and although it was wonderful while it lasted, I was sober by the time I woke up-- so, at that point, I realized how unfortunate of a situation I was in. The memory, although it was slightly blurry due to the alcohol, was still playing over and over in the back of my brain.

The drinks, the initial first kiss, the laughing, the ensuing kisses, the awkward pause on the way to the bedroom, and finally, the removal of clothing...

I shuddered, and accidentally opened my eyes to rid myself of the image that was streaming in my mind.

Holding my breath in fear, I looked around my bedroom, praying that I wouldn't see...

Damn it.

Franziska, wearing nothing but her slip, stood in the doorway of the room.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to wake up, Miles," she said matter-of-factly.

"Why are you still here?" I asked groggily. Very polite, Miles Edgeworth.

"Why wouldn't I still be here? It would be rude to leave without saying goodbye. Especially after you were so... hospitable, to me," she smirked.

"I'm not sure," I began, getting up from my bed, "if 'hospitable' is the right word to use." Well, this was certainly awkward. I paused, and figured the conversation was over. "Thanks for waiting for me, though. It was a nice time. Goodbye."

I looked down at myself-- I was wearing only my boxers, even though outside my window, it was snowing. I shivered, and quickly found a shirt from off the floor to put on.

"...A 'nice time'? Pfft. I'm not leaving yet, you... fool. I'm not dressed," Franziska declared, walking out of my sight. She called from the other room, "So, you're going to keep your end of the deal, aren't you?"

"...What deal?"

"The deal that I wrote up last night-- concerning Mr. Wright. You said you would help me stop him from ever beating me again-- I mean, from ruining your reputation. You signed it. Don't you remember?"

"Uhm." God, how many other things did I do the previous night that I didn't remember? The situation kept getting worse and worse...

Franziska came back into the room, buttoning her shirt. She handed me a piece of paper.

I, Miles Edgeworth, agree to seek vengeance against Mr. Phoenix Wright, along with Franziska Von Karma...

I almost had to laugh-- the contract was so poorly written. I could definitely tell that Franziska was a little drunk when writing it. There was a short paragraph following that first line, indicating how I would "seek vengeance".

My signature was at the bottom of the page. There was no doubt about it, that was my writing. I cringed. "I wasn't exactly thinking straight when I signed this... and neither were you. Can we just forget about it?"

"No."

"What?!"

"Why would you want to forget about it? Sure, you didn't know what you were doing when you signed-- but you really should stand up for yourself and get Mr. Wright back for what he's done."

"In all honesty, I don't care if Wright ruins my reputation as an attorney. I'm never going back to prosecuting. I don't need a good reputation."

"Hmph," Franziska pouted, but I could tell she wasn't done speaking. She was fully dressed by now, yet she still looked a little disheveled. She turned to face me, and gave me the fiercest look I'd ever seen. "You do realize that I have something on you, don't you?"

I paused. I wasn't really sure what she was talking about.

"Let's just say that you were to... NOT help me get rid of Mr. Wright."

"Okay...?"

"I wouldn't be very happy if you broke your contract with me. Do you know what I plan on doing, if such a situation arises?"

I scratched the back of my head awkwardly, Wright-style. "No. What?"

Franziska laughed at me, as if I were the biggest idiot in the world. "Being slightly drunk wasn't the only reason I slept with you last night. I planned on doing that the moment I entered your apartment."

I grimaced. The situation was going downhill faster than I could keep track.

"Just in case you didn't follow through with our little contract... I had to have a back-up plan. Von Karmas are known for being ready for anything to happen, you know."

I didn't like where the conversation was going. I asked tentatively, "So, what are you saying?"

"It'd be a sad thing if people thought that you... took advantage of me, if you know what I mean..." Franziska gave me an innocent-yet-devilish look.

Suddenly, things made sense.

Date rape? There was a reason I told myself I never wanted to see Franziska Von Karma again. That reason being that she is a manipulative, conniving individual who stops at nothing to get what she wants.

"You wouldn't."

Franziska, fully-dressed at that point, said, "I wouldn't say something I didn't mean, Miles." She flashed me a sickeningly evil smile. I'd had enough.

"Get out," I snarled, pushing her out of the doorway and slamming my bedroom door shut. I grabbed Franziska's hand furiously, and she honestly looked frightened as I dragged her to my front door.

She looked at me, and angrily whimpered a bit as I shoved her out of my apartment. I slammed the door in her face mercilessly.

DAMN IT.

I leaned against the door, still tightly holding onto the doorknob, uttering every single expletive I could think of.

When did I become such a pushover?

Emotions that had been bubbling in my brain for the past few days finally boiled over. I was so angry that I had to remind myself to breathe. I gasped for air through my clenched teeth, and made my way to the bathroom.

I turned on the shower, hurriedly ripping off my shirt and boxers. There wasn't anything I could do about the situation at that point. I was hoping a shower would wash away my issues, but it didn't. I was still the usual Miles Edgeworth-- and that alone is a heavy burden to have to constantly carry around.

I've been used.

I let that thought bounce around inside my head, as water pulsed against my back. I was being used... to destroy a person I didn't want to destroy --Wright-- because of something --the letter he had written-- that I wasn't even sure he had written. The worst part was that I was being used by someone I planned on abandoning four years ago.

Hm...

Four years ago, right around this time of year, I was packing away some of the things in my office...

To be honest, I had just been fired, and I was quite happy about that.

Some bridges had been burned in the process, but I wasn't letting that stop me from feeling relieved.

It was late at night, the weight of my miserable life as Edgeworth-the-Prosecuting-Attorney had just been lifted off my shoulders, and I wasn't expecting anyone to visit... so I started singing to myself.

"And someone's sneaking 'round the corner... could that someone be Mack the Knife?" I sang, as I pushed the papers that were piled up on my desk into the trash. Really, I'm a decent singer.

I heard somebody approaching my door, and immediately silenced myself. I might've blushed a little, wondering if anyone had heard me.

Franziska barged in the door, not even bothering to knock. The atmosphere in the room suddenly went from lighthearted to dark and frightening; my mood suddenly went from optimistic to cynical. It was the same routine that usually went down when Franziska entered a room.

"What are you doing, you FOOL!?"

I immediately took on an irritated tone. "Considering I've just been fired, I'm packing my things up."

The girl screamed louder than I had ever heard anyone scream, and she cracked her whip so violently that I jumped back-- and I was standing twenty feet away from her. "WHAT!?"

"I'm not sure why you're so surprised, considering the fact that you were the one who convinced me to forge the most crucial piece of evidence in the trial--"

"The only reason I did that," Franziska said fiercely, pounding her fist on my desk multiple times and pointing a finger in my face, "was to protect YOU from losing another case! It's not MY fault that you were so foolish as to make the fake evidence incredibly obvious! All of my hard work-- for NOTHING!"

I slammed my briefcase shut dramatically. Growling, I whispered intensely, "All of your hard work?"

...I paused, and things started to make sense. "From the beginning... it's been about you. You 'helped' me win a case, but you knew the moment I presented that damn thing that I was going to be fired... so that YOU could take my place in the Chief Prosecutor's Office!"

Franziska, stricken with shock, retorted half-heartedly, "Why, how dare you--!"

"I'd like to ask the same thing!" I began marching out the door.

Desperately, she called after me, "Mr. Edgeworth, I'm not the only one at fault!"

I stopped mid-step.

"I confess, my actions were self-centered. I won't lie about that, but... you aren't innocent either. You, like a foolish fool, believed every word I said along the way! It isn't my fault, completely, that you can't stand up for yourself!"

"Don't even try to convince me of that! All this time, you've been nothing but a lying, selfish BITCH!"

"Did you just call me, Franziska Von Karma, a--"

"Yes, I did." In one swift motion, I flung my briefcase towards the girl out of sheer anger. It hit her in the chest, and she fell to the floor. I felt no sympathy. "If we ever cross paths again, I'd run the other way if I were you."

And with that, I slammed the door shut. I never entered my office again. I promised myself never to come in contact with any Von Karma again, either. I didn't bother saying goodbye to Wright or Gumshoe-- I was sure Franziska would do that for me.

...I snapped back to reality as I realized that the hot water coming out of the shower suddenly was freezing cold.

Thinking about that night, I realized something. Franziska was right-- I had always been a pushover; I just camouflaged my sheepishness with cold, distant, and pretentious behavior.

I turned off the shower and dried off. I didn't feel any better than I had half an hour earlier. I heard the phone ringing its usual, annoying ringtone. I was getting a lot of calls lately. I grabbed the phone off my dresser and spoke; "Hello?"

"Hey, pal!"

I groaned. Loudly. "Gumshoe."

"Er... is this a bad time?"

"Yes, it is. But I suppose there won't ever be a good time to talk, especially to you. So, what is it?"

"That hurt, Mr. Edgeworth," Gumshoe pouted. After a second, he cleared his throat and began as if I had greeted him with open arms, "So, I have something weird to ask you, pal."

"I'm listening."

Gumshoe spoke in gibberish, "Mr.WrightandMayawantyouoverfordinner."

"Huh? ...Gumshoe, I have a massive headache. This better not be a joke--"

"Let me try that again, pal. Mr. Wright and Maya Fey want you over for dinner... um, tomorrow."

Well, that was certainly unexpected... AND unwanted. I paused, not knowing what to say.

"Why...? Don't they have any family? And doesn't Wright think I'm dead?"

"I told him that I saw you yesterday, pal. He got all quiet, and after a minute, said that he wanted to invite you over."

"I'm not sure if I want to--"

"It'll only be for a few hours, pal! I'll be there, and you never have to see Mr. Wright again, if you don't want to!"

I searched through my drawer for something to wear. I grumbled, "I really can't think about this right now..."

"...Something wrong, Mr. Edgeworth?"

I didn't say anything for a while. Finally, I spoke up. "Yes, there is something terribly wrong."

"Wait a minute, didn't Franziska visit you last night?"

I laughed cynically, and --still barely awake-- blurted, "...Yeah, she just left this morning."

...There was silence on the other line.

"I mean... DAMN IT."

Gumshoe laughed, "Mr. Edgeworth, you mean--?"

"I'm not having this conversation." I hung up abruptly.

I sunk to the floor miserably, laying inbetween piles of unwashed clothing.

I was really craving some of Franziska's wine.

...And I mean that in the cleanest, most literal way possible.