"There's really not, Charles." Even if there were, it wasn't likely to be something that still existed in the way it had then, things changed after a couple of decades, let alone a century and change, and that would somehow be even more of a disappointment than it not existing at all.
He was clinging to Charles' hand at that point, willing him to understand, "I know you would, protect me, and I'm not going to risk you like that. If I figure out how to fix this, I'm not, I won't force you to do anything, that would be unfair of me." And that terrified him too, if Charles decided he wanted to continue on living even if Edwin returned to their prior state.
"But if there's no fixing it, if it can't be reversed, we'll have to disband the agency. Which does mean we'll no longer be of use to the Lost and Found, but I'm not going to put either of our lives at risk just to avoid Hell when the time comes."
And there it was, the one thing he'd been trying not to say aloud because that made it all too real, the one thing Edwin was actually afraid of even more than no longer having Charles in his orbit.
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He was clinging to Charles' hand at that point, willing him to understand, "I know you would, protect me, and I'm not going to risk you like that. If I figure out how to fix this, I'm not, I won't force you to do anything, that would be unfair of me." And that terrified him too, if Charles decided he wanted to continue on living even if Edwin returned to their prior state.
"But if there's no fixing it, if it can't be reversed, we'll have to disband the agency. Which does mean we'll no longer be of use to the Lost and Found, but I'm not going to put either of our lives at risk just to avoid Hell when the time comes."
And there it was, the one thing he'd been trying not to say aloud because that made it all too real, the one thing Edwin was actually afraid of even more than no longer having Charles in his orbit.