thedawniscoming | [rl] Harvey and Bruce

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[rl] Harvey and Bruce

[You have a visitor. Even the orderly seemed surprise. 'John Doe' didn't have family or friends, mistaken identity case that he was. Harvey on the other hand had been expecting it for some time. Jim Gordon perhaps, who else? Would he look mad, guilt ridden, a clashing mix of both? After all only two people knew where 'Harvey Dent' truly was, unless Jim Gordon couldn't keep a secret.

God knew the Bat could.

They brought him into sterile room, sterile white with plastic chairs and tables. He took his seat, glancing dully as the guard settled to wait for the visitor to arrive. He offered the man a sharp smile, almost meaning the gesture when the man went a touch pale at the stretch of exposed muscle and glanced away.]

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An old friend can't ask a question or two to catch up? That's cold Bruce.

Because they'll fix me. [said idly while he turns the coin over and regards it. They'd take the coin away from him as soon as Bruce left, decide later if he was allowed the 'luxury' of knickknacks. He could make the choice right now, to stay and be made all better or to escape, but in doing so he'd have to use Bruce as his buffer, his bargaining chip. He wasn't so far gone he'd try that, no, not yet. He could wait and see.] I killed two men Bruce, and another by proxy. Will that be hidden as well?

[he tries his best to look surprised] What are you talking about, Harvey? Gordon said that the Batman was responsible for those men's deaths. That's why he was gone when I arrived to bring you here.

Oh is that what he's saying. [flatly] The only one the Batman helped kill was Rachel, those three aren't on his hands.

Batman didn't kill Rachel, the Joker did.

[glancing away - what did Bruce know of all this? One of them could have lived and the Bat decided that wasn't Rachel] He made his choice.

If you had died instead, the Joker would have won. [shakes his head]

[clenching his fists around his coin so hard his knuckles turn white] So she was just a pawn in the chest game Bruce? Sacrifice her to save the king?

[slamming his fist down] The Joker won the minute Batman he began playing with Gotham as a game too. Gordon, Batman, Joker- ha, Harvey Dent, it was all a glorified chess board cloaked in good intentions.

Edited 2009-01-13 04:01 (UTC)

How do you know what the Batman's thinking, Harvey? Maybe it's not just a game to him. [trying and failing to reason with him, this is why Bruce is not a psychiatrist]

If you really think all of that, then maybe you should work on getting better and getting out of here so you can put them in jail the right way. The cry to see the Batman behind bars is stronger than it's ever been.

His actions spoke loudly enough. [He played the Joker's game, forced Harvey's hand at the press conference, choose who he was sure the Joker expected to be saved given that hospital visit] I shot him you know, the Batman. [said almost offhandedly as he stares somewhere beyond Bruce.] Chance said he should die and the Joker should live. [voice lowering, the therapy and drugs and calm actually breaking through, giving his tone an audible uncertainty] That's what's fair.

The right way. [a derisive snort and nothing else. In Gotham the only 'right' way was six feet under.]

Chance doesn't apply when it's someone's life on the line, Harvey. [shakes his head] You can't let yourself sink to their level. [he tries to look surprised at the fact that Harvey shot the Batman]

Besides, I thought you were the masked man's biggest supporter - and he didn't die. Doesn't that say something? There's a reason, a higher power, maybe, I don't know, that wants him to be able to keep on doing what he's doing.

Chance is the only thing that should apply. [still not quite certain but stronger in conviction. He looks back at Bruce angrily.] This isn't their level, they don't fight fair. I gave them all the same chance, the chance they wouldn't give in return. [trails off at that, sitting back]

And you were his biggest naysayer. [said offhandedly before continuing.] He was Gotham's hero. What was it I said Bruce, at the dinner? You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain. Funny now, isn't it? [said deadpan]

He's not a hero - he's never been a hero. That doesn't apply to him. [Bruce looks very serious, now] But, it does apply to you. Are you ready to give up and become the villain already or are you going to keep being the hero Gotham needs you to be - not the one you think is just, but the one the law does. The one Rachel did.

Do you think she would like to see that you've become a murderer over the flip of a coin?

Rachel- [glaring quite heavily now, voice calm but everything else pointing to the opposite] -trusted Gordon's men, she trusted Gordon and Batman, she trusted me. Look where that got her. [he stops as soon as he says it, the words sound exactly like-

He stands up, turning away to pace down the small room.] I already told you Bruce, Rachel's dead, what we do doesn't matter to her anymore. [he stops pacing, when he speaks again it's much quieter, in a voice that could almost be Harvey Dent's.] I want to do what's right by her. [He stares down at his coin as he speaks because he doesn't know anymore, what's right and what's wrong. Not without chance's guidance.]

Edited 2009-01-13 04:40 (UTC)

[he's on his feet again now] Dammit, Harvey, of course she trusted the Batman. He jumped out a window to save her when Joker threw her out at my party. He saved her from the fear toxin that Crane was spreading through the city last year. And, Gordon's not guilty of anything but trusting the wrong people - he would not have kept those officers on the force if he'd known. He's a good man, Harvey, I've met him.

[takes a deep breath, sits back down] If there's anything Rachel is good at, it's knowing a good man when she meets him. You can't tell me you really want to insult her memory by becoming the type of man who was responsible for her death.

Gordon's a fool, we all were fools.[spat out venomously. The conversations hurts in a way only Bruce fucking Wayne could manage- in a way that makes him want to strike the other man just to quiet him. He ignores the conversation, the comments, keeping his back turned to Bruce when he speaks again. The restraint is something new that feel foreign when he exercises it, even though his life before had been only restraint and how far it could be pushed.]

How's the new DA. [a fairly neutral topic but one he does put a great deal of merit into.]

He's a joke. Just like the ten before you, and if you choose not to overcome all of this, just like all of those after you.

[he's folded his hands together, and is trying to calm himself down so he doesn't lose his nerve with Harvey again, because he's already been letting things slip by getting emotional - he's too used to Rachel being the only one who can set him off like that]

[another snort, almost like a laugh] What will it take for you to stop believing in me Bruce? [tired- he wasn't sure if that was something he wished for or the last straw on the camel's back if it came.]

You haven't done anything to betray my trust, threaten my life, or those of my loved ones, yet, so assuming you don't? [a smile, but there's a threat behind it] Nothing.

I know how you feel, Harvey. When my parents died, I... thought there wasn't any good left in the world. Even Rachel couldn't pull me out of the depression I'd sunk into. When I found out the man responsible was going to be released and put on probation early for testifying against Meroni, I was furious. I came back to Gotham to see the hearing.

[there's a long pause while he tries to work out what he's trying to say] Harvey, I brought a gun with me to that courtroom. And, if it hadn't been for Meroni's men doing it first, I was going to pull the trigger - because it was just. But, I was wrong.

And, Rachel, she told me, and she slapped me... so hard when I told her, and she told me that there is nothing impartial or just about revenge.

[He listens, first to the very subtle threat (Harvey would never but things were no longer up to him, now were they?) and then the story following. so there it was, the prince's seven year absence. Had he been running from what he had almost done? And there was that otherside of Bruce Wayne. He was a stronger man than Harvey was.]

If you had a gun to the Joker's head, would you still agree? [a pause before speaking again.]

You were in love with her weren't you? [asked idly, it didn't matter anymore if he was. it just meant Bruce understood better than anyone would ever know.]

[Bruce almost laughs at the first question, because hadn't he had the chance to let the Joker fall? He couldn't do it - or, was it Batman who couldn't do it? Why was it so hard to tell which was which anymore?]

I'm not saying I wouldn't rough him up first, but I would never end his life. The justice system exists for a reason, and just because the people he victimized were close to me doesn't mean he gets punished differently. I'm no judge or jury.

[his strong response falters as he realizes he should answer that second question]

...And yes. I was in love with her. [but that doesn't mean Harvey needs to know that she was going to wait for him.] He killed the woman I loved and blew you - one of my best friends - half to Hell, and I still wouldn't kill him if I got the chance. [it's so hard to speak in hypotheticals about this]

I spent seven years getting myself thrown in jail, moving around the world, doing things people like you are above so that I would be able to find the strength not to sink so low as murder for the sake of revenge.

You're a stronger man than I am Bruce. [he nearly pulled the trigger even after the answer had been heads.] Maybe you're what Gotham needs.

[he turns to watch Bruce as he speaks about Rachel, about himself, about things that touch a little too close to a possibility Harvey will not consider. The Batman helped kill Rachel, Bruce loved her. That was all.]

[He's silent for a long moment, twirling the coin in his hand before he speaks again.] You're a good man Bruce. I want you to know that. What happens next? It's out of your hands. [another pause as he glances down] It's out of my hands.

You're wrong. [shakes his head] You're wrong - it's in your hands, Harvey. When you get out of here, you can be Gotham's hero again. You can do exactly what Rachel loved you for doing and keep cleaning this place up.

What happened that night... can stay between you, me and Gordon. No one else has to know.

No one else will know. [sits back down- he didn't say Batman. Batman, no, he'd never tell. He lets his coin fall on the table, spinning until it landed heads up] I promise you that Bruce. [he could allow Bruce that hope. No matter what happened he would not parade as 'Harvey Dent.' Let them have their small grasp at hope.]

Rachel wanted me to clean Gotham. [he could still hear that sometimes, when the drugs weren't as strong] I won't break my promise to her.

Make me one more promise, Harvey. Do it the right way. Not by chance, not with a gun. Do it right. [shakes his head] Please.

[watching him almost blankly, perhaps the slightest hint of remorse. Not because he will kill, because he has no control over it. Bruce wouldn't understand, he cannot make that choice, he cannot make any choice of such gravity any longer. One day perhaps, bruce's hope is infectious, but now-]

I can't promise that Bruce. [his tone edges on tired] Give up, go back to your life. You owe me nothing and this is no place for you.

This is no place for you either, Harvey. [sighs, shaking his head] And, I'm not giving up on you. I'll be back on Friday.

[just watches him for a beat with unnatural intensity before sitting back with an almost exasperated, normal look] Still stubborn.

[there's a brief smile] Admit it, you'd be disappointed with anything less.

[he stands for a final time, smoothing his suit] When I stop by Friday, I'll bring some real food - plastic forks, of course. [there's a hint of amusement and it's accompanied by a wink, because he's not worried about Harvey shanking anyone with silverware to escape - though, maybe he should be]

[an amused snort, a touch more sincere] Or think it a sign of the apocalypse.

[standing as well as one of the orderly's comes in, still watching Bruce before he glances away and answers in a monotone] Thank you Bruce.

[fixing his gaze on Harvey for a moment longer] I want to do all that I can to help. [turns to head out the door]

I'll see you in a few days.

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[rl] Harvey and Bruce

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