When we're better (Franziska von Karma x Female Reader)

Distance Makes the Heart...

[Author's note: sorry for the super long break. Got hit with a hurricane this fall, big power outage, and then exams were this week, but I'm going to try and update weekly. This isn't meant to be a very long fic so it may be over in a few more chapters. Depends on how many details I want to add to my original idea.]

We began our meeting at HQ the next day. I had managed to stomach some breakfast despite the rollercoaster of emotions in me. Franziska still had no idea what Agent Lang and I spoke about, which meant she would get the news of our partnership today.

The room was packed full of Interpol agents, but I was able to snag a spot near the front by the door right where I wanted. I leaned against the wall, placing a hand against my chest, the beating of my heart mixing with the overpowering chatter of excited agents.

This was it! I was going to be (kind of) leading a smuggling case!

"Alright, pack settle down!" Lang's voice boomed through the room. Like magic, everyone fell silent. My back even straightened on its own.

We all listened intently as he went over the next steps of our investigation. Several teams would be splitting up across the globe, with most people in the room staying at borders and checkpoints, inspecting currency. Then a select few would be staking out airports marked as hotspots for smuggling.

"I want everyone to meet the prosecutor in charge of Borginia: Von Karma." I noticed Lang glance my way, but I didn't pay him much mind. She walked in, and the room felt electric. The clack of those heels made me feel both on edge and back at home.

"Agent Lang... you know my thoughts on this power in numbers foolishness. I hope you don't expect me to take on too many of your men for this crucial mission."

Lang held back a chuckle.

"I hear ya, sis. You won't have a single one of my men on your team." He turned back to the group. "Von Karma and Y/N will be handling Borginia's primary airport on their own. Like she said, too many agents will draw suspicion. I trust Y/N to make wise decisions."

I felt my face warm at the compliment. Faint mutters arose from parts of the room and then I felt a chill run up my back.

At the very front of the room, only a few feet from me, Franziska was staring daggers into me. The rest of her body language gave no cues of being surprised, but I knew that look. I gave her a nervous smile, then pulled the brim of my hat over my eyes.

When we were dismissed, I tried to sneak out of the door as quickly as possible, but a hand snatched my shoulder and pulled me back.

"Not so fast, fool! You. Mutt. A word."

Once everyone else besides her, Lang and I had left, Franziska shut the door behind her.

"Is this some kind of joke? Are you making a mockery? Explain yourself!"

She whipped the ground at Lang's feet, but he didn't flinch. He just grinned.

"Come on, sis. I dunno what you're talking about! I only picked the perfect partner for you."

"You are obviously trying to put this mission in jeopardy. Don't play the fool, fool!"

I watched his expression grow faintly annoyed as she continued lambasting him.

"Hey. Von Karma. You can cause a fuss all you want, but I couldn't give a damn about your history. Y/N has worked with you before. She knows your patterns and preferences. Not only that, but she's a lot more unassuming than my other men. I'm not just tryna be funny. Are you saying you don't trust her?"

Franziska clutched at her whip, darting her gaze between us both before letting out a frustrated huff.

"Fine. I'll make it work."

She stormed over to the door.

"Y/N! With me."

I took one last look over my shoulder to Lang before following her out.

A few days later, we were on our way to Borginia, and I was reminded of a simple pleasure of working with Franziska. She always required the best of the best when it came to accommodations. Normally, if I traveled with Interpol, I would just take the cheaper hotels to not rock the boat, but she had fought tooth and nail to get a 5-star hotel that was close enough to our airport to not be an issue.

"Hmph. It seems they took our bags to our rooms already. I will check in." Franziska started toward the front desk, then stopped to spin around, pointing at the ground.

"Stay. Here."

I shrugged, confused. I didn't have an issue sitting in the lobby, but why was she being so bossy about this?

"Yes ma'am, but, er... do you know Borginian? I-I'm normally the translator-"

"Foolish! You think I don't know enough of this language to check in at a simple hotel?"

She stormed off. Since we got partnered, Franziska had been much more erratic. A part of me in the back of my mind said she was nervous, but... that couldn't be right. After all, we hadn't seen each other in a while. Maybe I lost my touch when it came to reading her emotions.

As I sat in the lobby, I observed the people walking about. Since the hotel was so close to the airport, there were people from all over the world here. Most of them were dressed fancy, and if I were to guess, they were art dealers. So far, nobody matched the description of Dawik. Figured.

The click of her heels was so subdued that I didn't register it was Franziska until she was directly above me.

"Hmph! Those foolish Interpol fools made the most foolhardy mistake." The "fool" to other word ratio suggested she was furious, but something was off about her tone.

"Oh no! Did they book a different hotel?"

"Even worse. Apparently, their budget constraints meant they only booked one room for the two of us."

"Oh... o-oh!" My eyes widened with realization. "Well, that's okay! If you need your space, I can go find another place down the street. I have some emergency pocket money for that reason-"

"Absolutely not, Y/N! You are MY assistant and I need you close by. We will work with this. Now come on. We need to unpack."

She took my wrist and dragged me along with her to our room. Well now her footsteps were the right amount of angry, but her grip was... more gentle.