Chapter Text
"It must be nice to have an office on the 12th floor... Incidentally, were you to jump out this window the time until impact with the ground would be... got it! Approximately 3.23 seconds!"
It was unusual for Edgeworth to open the window this time of year. It was spring and it was freezing. Detective Gumshoe appeared to be shivering to the bone all day, even with his coat, but he only questioned the window once. Edgeworth snipped at him then, saying if he didn't like it, he could do some actual work at the precinct.
But that wasn't really fair, thought Edgeworth, who hadn't even started his paperwork that evening. It was close to nine at night. He's worked harder than me. He's a better man than I... after all he works to convict the RIGHT criminal.
He shook his head. He resolved to turn over an old memo and grabbed his pen forcefully, thinking about what to write. In a messy, shaky scrawl, he wrote Taking a permanent vacation. Back whenever. He then crumpled it, uncrumpled it, tore it to shreds, and sneered at the remains. Such a sarcastic note was not right, not his style.
Then, he got up from his desk and stuck his head out the window. It was extremely dark and he could only see the lights on the street below. He had heard Lana's sister mention something about the fall height. He leaned out closer, but after looking down at the traffic below, he turned green and shot back right inside again, breathing hard. He then heard his office door shoot open.
"Prosecutor Edgeworth sir, I was ask to deliver this police report," said an officer, barging into his office. The officer seemed not to notice what he was doing before, keeping her eyes on the report. Only when she closed the distance to his desk did she notice he was out of sorts. "Were you...?"
If it was possible, his heart beat faster.
"Were you climbing on your ladder for a file? I can help with that."
He relaxed, but only a little. He was still breathing harder than normal. Officers usually weren't in the Prosecutor's Office this late... except Gumshoe.
"Oh, no, I was simply, er... I was... I saw a... spider?"
She didn't seem convinced. "Are you... alright? Any chest pains or dizziness? I mean you work so much, sir, and even though you're so young, I'm worried your heart will give ou-"
"No! No, no, I'm fine!" he said, taking the report. "Thank you. Please, get back to work."
The officer said nothing, but left the room with raised brows. For the next several minutes, he leaned against his desk and caught his breath. He tried not to think about what the officer would have seen if he wasn't so afraid of heights. The last thing he wanted was to scar someone for life. Not that he'd lose much sleep over it, in the end.
He took another piece of paper and glared at it. He couldn't do it. Nothing he wanted to say could translate well on paper. He decided he'd have one more go at the window.
He approached it again. It'll be easy if I just jump, he thought, his head aching. Three or more seconds and I'm gone. No more pain.
His brain felt certain of his actions, but his legs felt like lead. He forced himself to stand on the shaky shelf in front of his window anyways. He swayed like an elephant trying to balance one-footed on a plastic lawn chair. He cringed at all the noise this was making, and he hoped no one would come to interrupt him again. Edgeworth grasped for the window frame and immediately felt sick again when he was forced to look down.
His right leg moved quickly off the table and onto the minuscule ledge outside the window. His left leg followed and he felt more steady and in control of his actions physically. However, he immediately lost control of his emotions as panic settled in.
He still couldn't believe he had been living a lie his whole life. I ruined so many people in court... no one could miss me. He wondered how many people who be relieved to hear of his death and how many would genuinely grieve. He thought of Von Karma's wife and daughters, who practically raised him, spitting on his grave. Not that they'd travel abroad just to pay respects anyways...
Just one step forward and I'll never hurt anyone like Von Karma and Gant did... it'll be easy! But instead, he felt so incredibly uneasy. He was petrified and crushed under the burden of his own feelings. I really am weak... He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping it would make it harder to change his mind, only for obscene amounts of tears to gush out down his face.
A new voice entered his head. Just because it's easy, doesn't mean it's right.
He never thought he would have to tell his own thoughts to shut up. He opened his eyes and was so dizzy from fear, he thought he saw his father and some other shadows floating in the dark in front of him. They were gone in an instant, but still he heard the voice in his mind say, think logically! Do what's right. The voice helped seldom, since what sounded right at the moment was his own death.
Fool.
Now he was definitely hallucinating. He was surrounded by ghosts, who looked pretty solid and were lit only by the glow of the office. Not only was his father there, but so were the living. The phantom of Franziska was there along with her sister and mother, both looking very cross and broken. The Judge appeared to be standing next to him, standing as sure as Death itself. Ema and Lana watched him sadly. He even thought he saw Mia Fey shed a tear. His glazed eyes slowly fell upon Wright. He looked a complete wreck. His eyes bloodshot and baggy... his hair a greasy mess. "I hate you," the shadow of Phoenix Wright croaked and echoed in his head. His gut jolted and he couldn't breathe. He had to look away and met the eyes of his father again. Was this some sort of waking nightmare? He half expected to wake up in a cold sweat at home.
Then, Franziska's voice, more terrible and full of wrath than he had ever heard spat, "This is the way the world will be when you die. Is this right, Miles Edgeworth?"
Edgeworth finally choked a gasp of breath, realizing the weight of what he was seeing. His face was a mess, half of it coated in his tears as he whispered, "H-help..."
"Is this easy?"
"No! I-I want to live! Help!" he cried out loud, hoping someone, anyone out there would listen.
A booming scream and a loud pounding in his ears issued behind him, and then several things happened in quick succession. The ghosts and shadows before him warped and flew directly towards him. He tumbled backwards and coughed as his collar squeezed tight around his neck. He let go of the window frame and grabbed his neck, choking. Then, something huge fastened around his chest. What felt like a hand had slipped off his collar and had grabbed his hair. He crashed onto the table inside the office and crumpled into a heap on the floor. Tea leaves scattered everywhere and a few of his cups and dishes had shattered around him. He immediately tried to sit up, but sliced his hands on the broken pieces of china.
"M-M-M-Mr. Edgeworth!" said the voice that had screamed. It was Gumshoe. Edgeworth hadn't locked the door. "What happened?"
But Edgeworth knew Gumshoe had a perfectly good idea what had just occurred. He avoided the detective's eyes as his chest heaved and wracked with sobs. He heard the window slam shut and then listened to Gumshoe quickly run to the office door.
"I just... I'm clumsy. Nothing to worry about," said Gumshoe to whoever was outside the door. "Dropped a pretty expensive tea set... he'll have my head. Anyways, good night!"
Edgeworth was infinitely glad for this. The last thing he wanted was the whole floor to crowd around him like he was some zoo animal. Gumshoe locked the door and hurried to the desk and retrieved something out of the drawers. Before he could see what it was, his hand stung and his eyes blurred with more tears. Antiseptic.
The detective tended carefully to apply bandages to his hand, which bled profusely. Then, he was helped to a sitting position, followed by a leaning-into-the-detective's-filthy-coat position. Not caring, he wiped his face and nose all over it. Gumshoe looked like he was trying really hard not to jerk away from him.
"I-I, er," began Edgeworth, but he didn't know what to say. He was still panting and clutching his arm. "I'm s-sorry."
Gumshoe seemed to accept this apology. Both at a loss for words, Edgeworth felt his eyes sting and shivered. He turned away and hobbled towards a small storage closet next to the sofa. Now, he supposed, was a good a time as any to clean up the mess. His arms trembling, he swiped the broken dishware into a big pile. The detective seemed to be thinking deeply and looked out the window reproachfully.
When Edgeworth finished after dumping all the shards into the trash, he could finally string words together. He sighed.
"I can't keep prosecuting like this," he whispered, breaking the silence. "I need time to think. To rethink..." Gumshoe stayed silent. "You've seen it. It's bad for my health. I think 'Prosecutor Edgeworth' will end up killing me." If Gumshoe was confused, he didn't show it.
"Mr. Edgeworth..."
He thought about the note he had torn up earlier. A permanent vacation... that's what he had been planning, and rather shoddily. His office trash bin was full. He couldn't believe what he had just done within the space of twenty minutes.
"I sent up Officer Tourmaline, you know," said Gumshoe quietly. "I told her I was worried you were overworked and she came back and said you looked like you were gonna drop dead!" Gumshoe then realized too late his poor choice of wording but Edgeworth stopped him from apologizing.
"Then maybe I should stop working... take a vacation."
A little color came back in Gumshoe's face. "Yeah... that sounds great! I can help you plan... I can tell the new chief prosecutor that you're-"
"I'm sorry, detective, but I'd rather work on this on my own," he said, not looking in his eyes. "I want... no... I don't want people to know I'm gone. I just want to leave the country as soon as possible."
"Where will you go?" asked the detective, his face as glum as Edgeworth's.
"I shouldn't say. I'm sorry. But- I'll contact you every once in a while once I get to Germany and get a less traceable phone-"
"-so you're going to Germany then?"
It was probably the adrenaline still rushing through his body that made his tongue so laughably loose. "Well, that's one of the places I'll go to, I guess." He chuckled nervously in disbelief over how fast he blabbed. "Do you trust me to make it on my own?"
"Well... I do," said Gumshoe, but he sighed very sadly. "But you want to go without letting anyone know you're alright?"
"Yes. I don't want to be around here anymore. If I decide to come back, I'll come back. I don't have family and it's not like I'll be missed much at work."
Gumshoe's lip trembled, followed by a barking sob. "Y-your wrong! I'll miss you, Mr. Edgeworth!"
"Sh! They'll hear you!" he whispered quickly in reply. "Look... I'll uh... I'll let you take care of my things. Take my phone and don't send any messages to it. If your people, the police, ask for it, let them have it."
"Okay..." said Gumshoe, his eyes brightening. "I'll let them have it! Just they try and-!"
"By that I mean, give it to them," said Edgeworth, looking incredibly ruffled and tired.
"Right! Right..." said Gumshoe, notably less invigorated.
"Speaking of that, don't tell anyone," said Edgeworth, his voice breathy and urgent. "Not even Wright. This is extremely important. If anyone asks, I'm not around anymore. Don't tell him anything... ANYTHING other than that. Just tell him you're not allowed to talk about it."
"Him?"
"Well, I mean, don't tell anyone other than those in charge of investigating my disappearance," said Edgeworth quickly. "They'll easily track me since I'm going overseas, but... if you can convince them to shut their mouths...?"
"I'll see what I can do, Mr. Edgeworth sir!"
"Well then..." said Edgeworth with a sigh, sitting at his desk and hastily scrawling something down and slamming down his pen. He looked a little satisfied with what he wrote. "This is goodbye for now, detective."
"One more thing sir," said Gumshoe as a tear fell down his face. He crushed him into an enormous hug and bawled loudly before Edgeworth could react and his protests for him to be quiet were muffled by his old coat. "Don't forget you can ask for help any time, pal! Please, please t-talk to a therapist soon or... I'll tell Wright! I will!"
Edgeworth agreed fervently and let him indulge in the embrace for a few more moments before taking his overcoat at the door, saying goodbye one last time, and quickly slipping out unseen in the mostly empty halls of the night.
As he climbed the stairs, one by one, down 12 floors, he realized he never before felt so lucky to have such a strong working relationship with Gumshoe.