FicWad

His mother had cried the whole time Mister - no, Prosecutor Von Karma had been talking, one of her arms folded around Miles and the other wiping tears from her face with an already-damp handkerchief. Miles hadn't really paid attention to her tears; he'd been more interested in watching Prosecutor Von Karma laying out reasons why she should let her son go to Germany with him like his father showing evidence in court. His mother lasted about as long as any witness - after Prosecutor Von Karma assured her that he would be well looked after, as befitted the son of his most respected rival, that she could visit him, that it would be selfish to keep such a bright, promising boy away from the opportunity to follow in his father's footsteps - eventually she broke down and asked "Do you want to go, Miles?"

And Miles had looked up at Prosecutor Von Karma, who had seemed larger and more imposing than anything else he'd ever seen, who'd never have let a criminal get away with killing his father, who'd help Miles make sure no one ever got away with something like that again, and said "Yes."

*

Franziska's court debut was an important event in the Von Karma household. She spent weeks preparing for her father to give her a case, racing across the city gathering evidence on his behalf and whipping the policemen at crime scenes into submission - Von Karma had even gone so far as to introduce her to several defence attorneys. Edgeworth hadn't been there for those particular interviews, but she and Von Karma spent dinner discussing them after they exhausted all the more interesting factors of cases. Apparently her reputation was getting ahead of her; she'd smirked at the most recent attorney and wished him all the best for the next day, and the man had turned nearly fainted with fear.

"It's such a shame my poor little brother hasn't presided over a trial, yet," Franziska said eventually, giving him a smile that would have been wolfish if it hadn't been on the face of a small, delicate thirteen year old girl. "Perhaps when I have time between cases I will be able to give him advice."

Edgeworth smirked at her across the dinner table, thinking of the plane tickets hidden under his mattress, of his own court debut - in America, where few would have even heard of the Von Karma name, and long before Von Karma would have been able to bully his way into having her preside over a trial. "I'm not sure, Franziska, that it will be necessary."

*

If anyone had paid attention after Chief Prosecutor Skye's trial - or even after Edgeworth's own trial, as it that was when it had truly begun - they would have noticed it earlier. However, they were rather pre-occupied with Edgeworth himself, which wouldn't have yielded anything under ordinary circumstances, let alone now. Gumshoe was coming to Edgeworth's office more constantly than ever, bringing him coffee and inviting him to dinner ("But could ya pay, pal? My pay check's kinda…"). Before she went to France, Ema Skye had taken his part in almost getting her sister locked away for murder as an invitation to drop in on his office whenever she liked so she could chatter at him and take notes on whatever he happened to be doing at the time. Wright appeared to get the nerve to call him, although Edgeworth never answered the phone to him.

However, if anyone had walked into his office - which he hadn't bothered dismantling and wasn't planning to; he had made quite an impression on the new Chief Prosecutor and was certain that he could safely assume that his office would be left as either a shrine to him or a museum of cases - they would have seen him asleep at his desk or on the sofa, his flight bookings still on the computer screen.

If anyone had seen into the boot of his "nasty, bright red sports car" - and although he had had it carefully scrubbed out after the incident, he could never quite be rid of the urge to check it after every visit to the police station - they would have noticed the suitcases in them a good two days ahead of time.

If Gumshoe had come to Edgeworth's office even half an hour earlier, he might have been in time to catch Edgeworth as he was leaving.

As it was, no one realised he had even been planning anything until they found the note he left.

Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death.

*

"Are you staying in the Prosecutor's office, Mister Edgeworth?" Gumshoe asked, shaking out his coat with an expression of genuine delight at seeing it return. He certainly didn't seem to be any worse for his accident earlier, although the doctor had said they'd keep him in overnight just in case. Gumshoe had just been pleased about getting free food. "I mean, you've been helping us out a lot, and if Miss Von Karma's gone, we'll need someone -"

"I have work to do," Edgeworth pointed out. "I only interrupted it for this case because I was asked to look into matters related to Shelley de Killer."

Gumshoe visibly drooped. "Oh yeah." He scratched at the back of his head, then flinched and dropped his hand. Edgeworth did the exact thing when Gumshoe grinned at him and said "Well, at least we know you're not dead this time, right?"

*

Wright caught up with him as he left the party at Trés Bien - caught up with him literally, grabbing his arm as Edgeworth reached his car. When Edgeworth looked at him, it seemed that Wright's actions had surprised him as much as they had surprised Edgeworth - he was looking at the hand gripping Edgeworth's sleeve as though he wasn't sure what he was going to do now.

Finally he said "I was just wondering what - what you were going to do now. Seeing as Larry dragged you all the way out here."

Edgeworth could feel his jaw clenching at the very mention of Larry's name and forced himself to relax - after all, Larry had been proved useful during the trial despite himself. That should balance the fact that he had been utterly useless during the investigation and had convinced Edgeworth that Wright was dying, but it would be a while before he could force himself to accept that. To Edgeworth's credit, he managed to keep his tone mostly neutral as he said "I should be getting back to my studies. I had to leave a lot of things undone getting here so quickly."

Wright grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that, Edgeworth. But - thanks. For coming back."

"We've already had this conversation, Wright."

"Yeah, but we had other stuff to talk about then." Wright's grin was a little less sheepish, a little more like the grin he wore when he thought he had control of a trial. "I was just wondering if you were planning to come back when you'd got everything wrapped up."

Edgeworth stared at Wright blankly. "Of course I am. Eventually." He hadn't actually thought about coming back - he had, in his wilder moments, considered remaining in Europe. And yet - and yet as soon as Larry had called and told him Wright's life was in danger, he'd chartered a jet and come as quickly as he could. Perhaps that said more about him than he'd like. "As I said, I have a lot of work -"

"I know, I know." Wright looked as though he wanted to say something, but couldn't think of the words - a common occurrence, and certainly reminiscent of his flailing in court. But for some reason, Edgeworth found it in himself to take pity on him. Perhaps just because Wright still had hold of his arm, and showed no sign of letting go - another common occurrence, albeit usually in a more metaphorical sense.

Miles Edgeworth covered the hand on his arm with his own and said "I'll return soon. I promise."