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There's a tension that sits in the air between them, hanging heavy and suffocating in the silence, ticking by and stretching, stretching until the air conditioning kicks on above them and startles her. She looks up with it, lips quirking faintly at just how helplessly twisted she had let herself get. It hums and she breathes out her nerves, leaning back against the couch, arms thrown casually over the back of it.
Her eyes find Edelgard again, watching her slow pace from the window back to the chair opposite where she sits. "Drink?" she asks, motioning to the glass bottle of what Byleth assumes is whiskey sitting on the table between them. Two glasses sit on either side of it, and she considers it, considers Edelgard when she sits finally, settling heavily into her chosen seat.
"Maybe later," she replies finally, resting her ankle against her knee. "After you talk."
Edelgard turns her head, laughing quietly into the back of her hand. "Fair," she says, sucking in a breath. "There's quite a bit to cover. But I'll spare you some of the detail, because it's not important." When she looks back at her it's a look she recognizes, cold, closed off. It's the businesswoman and not the woman hidden underneath the mask. She's put it firmly back into place, clicked the walls up again no matter how much she was willing to extend this trust.
Byleth wants to assure her that she doesn't have to close herself off like this, but stops. She doesn't know what happened yet, doesn't know fully why Edelgard shuts herself off the way she does. For all she knows it could be the way she copes and Byleth doesn't want to try and poke holes in it. Not now.
Not ever.
"When I first founded Adrestia Corp after the accident I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, so I did everything I could. I started partnering with other small companies, got into every branch of work I could think of. Tech, medical, trade, charity, I did it all at least once." She sits forward as she trails off, opening the whiskey and pouring herself a portion.
"A few years back I partnered with another company, a larger one, on the promise that they would bolster my research branch provided I aided in advancing their trade. I agreed, since when I asked them what it is they were interesting in trading they cited a lot of medical equipment, medicine...things I believed would be of use to in need areas." She takes a pull of her drink, and Byleth takes time to process everything she'd been told so far. And there's a part of her that can almost figure out what happened next, mind turning over what had happened recently, fitting it into the puzzle of Edelgard's life.
"A year in I found out they had gone from moving medical equipment to drugs, weapons and even people. And upon having Hubert do some...perhaps not quite legal digging, I found out the entire company was a front for a rather large crime syndicate."
Byleth's eyebrows raise, lips parting slightly with the surprise that drums through her despite her guess having been nearly on the mark. It's not what she thought it was, not as bad, and it brings her to wonder what the reporter from the other day had even been on about. "What did you do?" she asks finally, laughing at herself a moment after the question leaves her lips. "I mean I assume you turned them in."
"Of course," Edelgard replies. "I had Hubert gather the evidence and deliver it to my Prosecutor friend and that particular arm of the syndicate was dismanteled within a month. Unfortunately, with it, it painted a rather large target on my back. Other members of the syndicate tried to have me killed, and since I refused to go into witness protection, Hubert hired me another bodyguard." She gets quiet again, staring down at the glass cupped between her hands.
It's not at all hard for Byleth to fill that one in. "I'm sorry," she says, frowning.
"I just learned to disappear after that, after being helpless and only able to watch someone I had come to call a friend die. It was easier to become a ghost, to make sure only to be seen in highly public areas. I vowed that I would bring the entire syndicate down, so I partnered up with another Tech company and the Prosecutor I mentioned and that's what we've been doing. Adrestia is a front."
"A charitable one," Byleth adds, leaning forward to finally pour herself a drink. "I was right about you, all along. I'm glad."
Edelgard takes it in stride, the mask chipping away a bit in the form of a slight smile and the way her eyes avert to the window. She watches her guard drop bit by bit, lips parting around a long breath. "Deciding to keep you on, I was afraid it would put a target on your back too. So I wanted to keep you as uninvolved in my extra curricular work as possible. Yet you still ended up involved."
"That's me," she says around the rim of her cup before she takes a sip, the whiskey going down smooth. "Always getting in everybody's business."
"If you leave now you don't have to worry, there'll be no risk of getting shot or...God only knows what else might happen. The case is moving better than we expected but there's always a chance something could go wrong and I-"
"No," Byleth cuts in, holding up her hand. "I told you, you hired me to protect you. I'm going to protect you, I don't care if it puts me in more danger then my usual type of job might, it just means I have to work harder." Her grin is lopsided when Edelgard turns back to look at her, and she shrugs while the other woman struggles to find something to say in response.
"But-"
"Edelgard, you're not going to change my mind. I care about you...a lot. If I walked away now and you got hurt? Or worse? I'd never be able to live with myself knowing that maybe if I had been there you might be okay." It hits her just how much emotion had come to be behind this odd relationship of theirs, that it could easily just become more than just sex, and she steps down on it with another drink from her glass. "I won't leave even if you fire me."
Edelgard snorts, sharp and harsh, and she looks up in time to see the tail end of her eye roll. But there's relief there, relief that manifests in the slump of her shoulders, in the hand she lifts to press against her face, in the way her breath shudders out on her next breath.
"Thank you," she whispers, the waver in her voice telling of fought back tears. It's a rare moment of weakness, one she hadn't ever expected to see from the other woman. It makes her set her cup down, makes her rise to her feet and step around the table and into Edelgard's space. She touches her hand, her jaw, sliding her fingers across warm skin in an attempt to get the other woman to look up at her.
"Hey," she whispers, leaning down, lips pressed to her forehead. "Please, look at me..." she trails off, staying close. She breathes in the scent of her shampoo, hair tickling against her nose as her hands curl around the back of the other woman's neck. Briefly, so very briefly, Edelgard looks up at her, eyes red rimmed and shimmering with unshed tears. She watches as the other woman pulls herself together, abrupt and practiced, shutting down the emotion and coming back to herself with a clear of her throat and tears wiped away with a thumb.
"I'm sorry," she says, leaning back against her seat. "I didn't meant to get so emotional."
Byleth sits on the table in front of her, moving her glass out of the way with her fingers as she does. "No need to apologize, I don't mind." But she sees it for what it is, how the standard she's held up to has chipped her and kept her aloof and distant. Had forced her to keep her emotions in check at all times unless she was entirely alone. It didn't matter that Byleth had seen other sides of her, she was afraid to be fully vulnerable like this. "I understand," she adds a moment later, reaching out to rest a hand on Edelgard's.
"Most people would have left," Edelgard replies, voice still a little thick with the emotion she keeps at bay. "Especially when they found out I had been hiding something like that from them."
"As you know," Byleth begins, thumb rubbing across her knuckles. "I'm not most people, not at all."
"No," Edelgard agrees, lips quirked in a slight smile. "You're absolutely not."
They trail off after that, sitting close and silent as the time ticks by. She listens to Edelgard's breathing, to the occasional hum of the refrigerator and the occasional blare of a horn far down below. It's Edelgard's own bubble, a place far separated from the world at large, silent and as safe as anywhere could be for someone like her. Someone who wanted to stand against the people chasing her instead of ducking away like anyone else would.
It's worrisome, but it's also so...so painfully Edelgard.
"It's late," Edelgard says, casting a glance somewhere over her shoulder. "You're welcome to stay if you wish." And it is late, as she finds out when she looks down at her watch, too late for her to be quite willing to make the drive back home.
Midnight, minutes draining quickly away to one.
"I'll stay," she says, pushing up to her feet. "Not really in the mood to drive home now." She retreats back to her side of the table and the seat she'd vacated, sitting back in it to finish her drink and pouring another. Silence sets in again and Byleth stares out the window while she drinks, again losing track of time until her eyes burn and she wants nothing more than to close them.
Edelgard takes their glasses and slips off into the kitchen, rinsing them out and adding them to the small collection in the apartment's dishwasher, Byleth trailing in her wake. One room, to the next, each all sparsely decorated, books, some files.
The space of a woman always ready to run.
"I can sleep on the couch," she comments as they still outside what she assumes is Edelgard's room. "Do you have any-" Edelgard cuts her off with a kiss, lingering and possibly the most innocent one they'd shared. She leans into it without question, lifting a hand to cup the other's cheek, the other hand finding a hip. She savors it, the taste of Edelgard's lips and the hint of whiskey that still remains, savors how the other woman melts into her, pressing closer.
She promises herself in that moment that she would never leave Edelgard's side, no matter what.
"You can sleep with me," Edelgard murmurs when the kiss breaks, both of them taking a breath. "It's not like we haven't shared a bed before."
"Very true," she agrees, letting Edelgard take her hand and lead her into the room. "I just didn't want to assume." She watches while Edelgard undresses, studying the lines of her body she was already intimately familiar with, smiling to herself at the memory of how it felt underneath her hands. But she keeps them to herself tonight, peeling off her own clothes and climbing in to bed beside the other woman.
"I appreciate the fact you were willing to give me space," Edelgard says as they're settling, light out and blankets pulled around them. "But....I want you close."
"I'm not going anywhere," Byleth replies, closing her eyes. "I'll stay as long as you want me."
Edelgard hums low in response, murmuring something Byleth translates as 'good night' before she's drifting. It makes her realize she was more exhausted then she originally thought, and she doesn't fight it either, relaxing more into the mattress, comforted by Edelgard's warmth beside her.
She wakes to the sound of a phone ringing, the sound rattling around in her skull and drawing her up out of the blissful unawareness she half wants to sink back in to. She opens an eye when she hears Edelgard's voice, sleep rough and groggy.
"Hello?" There's a pause, and Byleth can just barely hear the sound of a man's voice and not one she's familiar with. Slowly Edelgard sits up, knees drawn to her chest and phone cradled against her head. "They did?" she asks, eyebrows raised, shock and relief playing across her features.
Byleth sits up, reaching out to rest her hand against Edelgard's back.
"When?" Edelgard's shoulders fall, breath leaving her in a long sigh she directs away from the speaker. "Okay. I'll be good to finally get this all over with. Yes, yes I know. It's all admissible? Even what Hubert got?" Edelgard laughs, sharp and sarcastic. "Well when you put it that way, alright."
The conversation goes on for a few minutes more, Byleth left trying to piece together everything until the other woman hangs up and looks at her. "The FBI got them...over the past few months they've been tracking high profile targets and just over the past couple of weeks they finally gathered enough evidence to raid their warehouses and safe-houses. There's still work to be done but...I might have to worry less about getting assassinated." She laughs again the relief from earlier unwinding her in a way that makes something in Byleth's chest warm.
She grins, laughing herself when Edelgard's body hits hers and they go down in a tangle of limbs and helpless giggling. She hugs her, holding her close and letting herself get lost in the glee of it. She hadn't been here from the beginning but it didn't matter, she'd been here for enough, seen a hint of what the other woman had been dealing with since this all began. "I'm glad," Byleth breathes. "But you know we can't let our guard down yet."
"I know," Edelgard replies, face pressed to the crook of Byleth's neck. "We still have to prove them guilty in court, and there's still a chance they could be let free. However slim." There was always that chance, looming like an executioner's axe. Edelgard sits up with the realization of it, it's tempered her earlier relief, but not enough to have put it out.
Not when they hadn't even began yet.
"The Prosecutor on the case is ruthless, believe me," she says as she slips out of bed and stretches. "None of them will walk if he has anything to say about it."
"Good. When is the court case going to be?" Byleth asks as she gets up herself, letting herself slip back into business mode regardless of their lack of clothes. It's as easy for her to click on her mask as it is Edelgard, and she meets the other woman's eyes when she turns to face her.
"Next week," she says, hands on her hips.
"That's...faster then I expected."
Edelgard huffs a note of laughter. "That's Dimitri for you, he moves fast when he's motivated."
It's a good thing, Byleth thinks as she watches Edelgard gather clothes and disappear into the bathroom to shower. She regrets not bringing her own change of clothes, choosing to put on the outfit she had been wearing the night before and wait.
"Hey Edelgard," she asks when she sees the ghostly reflection of the other woman in the window she looks out of. Edelgard pauses, turning her head to regard her in silence. "What will you do if this all goes well, will you keep Adrestia Corp up and running or..." She turns as she speaks, taking in the sight of the other woman dressed in a familiar suit, still damp hair tied up in it's usual ponytail. She had begun to wonder what the fate of it would be, knowing it's origins, knowing what Edelgard had used it for despite all the good she had still done with it.
"Adrestia Corp isn't going anywhere," Edelgard replies, heading for the door. "There's still too much to do, and a lot of people depend on me and my company for work. I'm not about to take that away from them."
It's what she expected.
----
The week goes by in a blur of everything she'd grown used to. There's hours of standing around, piles of paperwork, meetings and always being as close to Edelgard as she's allowed. By her side, at her back, shoulders practically touching. They talk in the interim, about work about other random things, everything, nothing. Sometimes speaking just to hear the other's voice.
"...Maybe after this case is over I'll finally go on vacation for a bit," Edelgard says at one point, shoving a completed stack of papers again. "Somewhere quiet, maybe just for a week but..."
"Alone?" Byleth inquires, wondering why Edelgard even brought it up.
"I-I hardly want to assume-"
"I know a perfect place," she says, leaning against Edelgard's desk. "Assuming you don't mind literally being out in the middle of nowhere for a week."
Edelgard stares at her for a minute, red faced and caught off guard. It reminds her a little of the first time they ever got really close. The first time Byleth pushed the boundaries to see just how far she could get Edelgard to bend. Slowly the other woman regains her composure, breathing in and closing her eyes.
"I'd like that," she says, going back to work.
Byleth takes it for what it is.
------
The case itself is a slog, time bleeding by both too fast and too slow. Byleth gets lost in the meetings and the court dates, sitting in the court room and watching as Edelgard is grilled by both the prosecution and the defense. It makes her nervous, leg jumping but Edelgard never breaks under any of the litany of questions and accusations. She's only comfortable when Edelgard is sat beside her and they're watching as other people are giving statements and being asked questions, as evidence is presented and the defense tries to wiggle his way out of the hole his clients have dug themselves in.
It cycles around and around, and Byleth has memorized every picture and every word and every attempt to turn it all in favor of the criminals.
"How did you come across this evidence, again, Ms. Hresvelg?"
It's been hours, Byleth thinks, but maybe only twenty minutes. They've returned back to the same questions and she knows the defense is running out of time and days to try and wiggle a way out. But Byleth knows that this is the one thing that could ruin the entire case, how Edelgard procured the evidence that had started the entire thing.
Edelgard doesn't flinch, doesn't cringe, doesn't even react beyond the slide of her eyes from where she had been focused straight a head to where the defense lawyer stands. "I told you," she says, flat, entirely in control of ever facet of her expression and the tone of her voice.
I swear to tell the truth--
"As CEO of a large company I'm legally at a right to know what it is my resources are being used for. I had my security check in to some odd records and through that they discovered that the 'shipments of medical equipment' actually happened to be crates filled with innocent people."
--Some not so legal digging--
Byleth's wrings her hands until the tips of her fingers numb, shifting in her seat again until Hubert shoots her a withering glare from his spot beside her. They'd all been through the wringer and then some at that point, but she was tired of seeing Edelgard under fire as constantly as she had been. Yet the woman weathers it like she has everything. Steadfast, confident, unwavering. Through it all every company she'd helped had come to back her up with evidence and statements of their own.
"Yes but did your security do it by legal--"
"Objection!" The Prosecutor -- Dimitri, as Byleth had come to know him through various meetings -- shouts, rising up from his seat. "The defense is reaching, Hresvelg has more than proven every shred of evidence she has was obtained by legal means. No amount of repetition is going to change that."
"Sustained," The judge says, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
The lawyer stills, hung for another question and staring at Edelgard whose attention as drifted back to the back of the room.
"....The Defense rests."
--------
They watch the rest of it unfold unaccosted, witness statements, victims, dealers who took deals. By the end Byleth almost feels bad for the defense and a week later the judge rules.
Guilty.
Edelgard makes good on her choice to go on vacation a month after a flurry of activity. More meetings, more paperwork, changing things around to better suit every company involved. Power and freedom given back to those who had given it over in an attempt to save everything they had to lose. It takes time but Edelgard starts the wheels turning for it all, knowing everything will play out over the next year.
Then they disappear together, pack up, get in a car and drive. Byleth takes her to the cabin she spent weekends in, both of them disconnecting for technology and the outside world to just lose themselves in the wilderness. Fishing, reading, walking through the woods for hours without a goal in mind but keeping the memory of the way back fresh.
She watches Edelgard unwind, sees more and more of the woman underneath the mask the more comfortable she gets around her. She laughs more, she smiles more, she makes stupid jokes and gets flustered when Byleth pokes fun at her.
Byleth loves every minute of it, and relishes in peeling back the layers and getting to know Edelgard all over again.
And through it, fall in love all over again.