|
|
Post by Harley Quinn on Sept 10, 2010 21:59:47 GMT
Harley's head ached constantly now, besieged with the stress of trying to keep her morally decaying asylum afloat as well as being trying to process the changes in her mental state she'd been experiencing as a result of spending more time with the Joker. When she was with him, he could abandon herself to simply being happy but the minute he was gone it was like sanity and reality came crashing back to her. As a result, she'd put more of an importance on keeping an eye on Crane just so she didn't say 'screw it' and allow herself to get thrown into a cell.
The trust seemed pleased enough with the report she'd filed about Harvey's attack but knew it would all be worthless if she didn't at least plant the ideas underpinning the story into the patient's head so reluctantly she had organised to meet with him. Not wanting to be overheard by the doctors, Harley had decided to speak with Harvey when he was out exercising his leg and was now sat on a rotting bench in the grounds, tapping her foot impatiently.
|
|
|
|
Post by Harvey Dent/Two-Face on Sept 10, 2010 22:56:53 GMT
Harvey took a deep drag on his cigarette and immediately lit a second from the butt of the old one. He was walking slowly throuh the walled grounds of Arkham Asylum in a slow circuit of the main building. The day was damp and cool, the sky grey, but he relished the scent of the damp greenery and earth. It had seemed so long since he had felt fresh air.
The break in his kneecap wasn't too bad, and he was a fast healer. It could have bene fair worse. Another couple of weeks with ihs leg splinted by the air cast and he'd be fine, if a little stiff.
Harvey stopped as he saw a figure on a crumbling bench up ahead. His eyes narrowed as he approached.
"Dr Quinzel. I wasn't expecting to see you out here."
|
|
|
|
Post by Harley Quinn on Sept 10, 2010 22:58:48 GMT
As Harvey appeared, Harley stopped tapping her foot, sitting up a little straighter. He didn't look in the best shape but he still looked a damn site better than when she and Olivia had wheeled him to the medical wing. Nodding slowly as he spoke, she shrugged her shoulders.
'I figured we needed a chat,' she replied simply. 'How are you healing up?'
|
|
|
|
Post by Harvey Dent/Two-Face on Sept 10, 2010 23:25:37 GMT
Harvey's expression was something short of a glare, but still far from friendly.
"I'm alright. The ribs are painful, but I'll live. Can't wait to get rid of this cast, but if it means they let me outside, it can't be all bad." he indicated his cigarette. "And I have missed these."
He looked at her shrewdly. "You know, half of me wants to thank you for saving my life. Half of me wants to drown you in that stagnant pond over there for sending me to Crane in the first place, and then standing by and watching while he tortured me. But what's unusual is that both of us are split on the issue... so we've let something else decide for us what to do about it."
|
|
|
|
Post by Harley Quinn on Sept 10, 2010 23:32:24 GMT
Harley quirked an eyebrow as he spoke, not justifying or apologizing for her actions. She had been disturbed by her actions in the days following the attack but now she seemed to be at peace with what she'd done. Afterall, Harvey was still alive and more pressing issues were eating away at her for her to allow too much time re-evaluating something she couldn't change.
'Flip a coin on it?' She questioned somewhat scathingly, too tired and grouchy to really watch herself better.
|
|
|
|
Post by Harvey Dent/Two-Face on Sept 10, 2010 23:35:48 GMT
"Actually, no. That's for when he and I want different outcomes... and as I said, we were equally split on the issue. You can thank the Joker for the fact you're still breathing. That, and the fact I don't want to spend the rest of my life in here."
Harvey walked closer to the bench. He indicated the other end of the stained, broken marble. "Room for one more?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Harley Quinn on Sept 10, 2010 23:39:32 GMT
Unable to stop the small smile that tugged on the corners of her lips when he implied the Joker had forbidden him from hurting her, Harley glanced down at her feet like a coy teenager inspite of herself. 'I guess I should thank him for that, then.'
At Harvey's request, she shrugged her shoulders slightly, shuffling up a little. 'Go ahead.'
|
|
|
|
Post by Harvey Dent/Two-Face on Sept 10, 2010 23:46:11 GMT
Harvey sat down and stretched out his injured leg. He was quiet for a moment.
"Are you going to tell me why you did it? I'd hate to think it was just jealousy about Two-Face and Joker that meant you sent me to die in there. Or perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. Ever heard the phrase 'the banality of evil'? I used to think about that concept a lot when I was DA."
|
|
|
|
Post by Harley Quinn on Sept 10, 2010 23:53:09 GMT
'I don't have to be jealous about you and him,' Harley replied, refusing to draw a distinction between Harvey and Two-Face as she gave a self-assured little nod.
At the question, she inclined her head towards him slightly but didn't meet his eye. 'I've heard of it,' she stated coolly, not liking the implications of his words. 'In fact I mentioned it in the thesis that sealed off my PhD.'
|
|
|
|
Post by Harvey Dent/Two-Face on Sept 11, 2010 0:04:01 GMT
Harvey's face was carefully neutral at her nod. "Good. Then don't be."
He bent his leg slightly to a more comfortable angle. "In that case I'd be interested to know your thought on the concept. How easy do you think it becomes to accept evil as a normal part of life? To just go with it and let it carry you along? Speaking from experience, I'd say it's easier than most people think. It takes somebody very special to fight it... to stand up and refuse to let the world around them go to hell. Or indeed to Crane's basement."
He turned his head and fixed his gaze on her. "You must know that I'm going to kill him one day."
|
|
|
|
Post by Harley Quinn on Sept 11, 2010 0:11:01 GMT
'Even the world's 'best' people let evil go on without standing up to it. Those people who fight poverty or injustice ignore other things that threaten natural harmony. Every person on the planet's evil in some way,' Harley murmured, remembering back to how she'd dissected herself in her thesis, of course pretending she had never been the one to carry out the experiment on Guy. 'We're not taught to be good. Take the Bible for instance; it preaches an eye for an eye. Evil logic and evil arguments are right at the heart of good old Christian values.'
When Harvey said he'd kill Crane, Harley raised one eyebrow just slightly, her blue eyes cold as she held his gaze. 'I'd really like to see you try,' she murmured, unsure where her loyalty to Jonathan Crane had sprung from.
|
|
|
|
Post by Harvey Dent/Two-Face on Sept 11, 2010 0:39:32 GMT
He nodded, looking out over the blighted expanse of the garden. They must have been beautiful once; full of brilliant, lush flowers and acres of soft green grass. And then like so much else in Gotham, they had decayed into a broken, rotting shell of what they had once been.
"You sound like him. But it's certainly true. We're amazing creatures, really.. so much duality. We're created with such capacity for good and for evil - the only beings on earth with free will, yet we're tied to what chance decides fro us. I think sometimes I understand the mind of God better than most theologians. An eye for an eye - I'm not sure that's a teaching as much as divine license to do what our darker nature wants. To kill those who've harmed us and those we love, to take vengeance on those we judge undeserving of this gret gift of life. Is that really wrong?"
Harvey's voice was level. "You will. It might be weeks, months, years even... but I won't forget what happened in that room. Jonathan Crane is a dead man. He just doesn't know it yet."
He was silent for a long minute, gazing out over the dead grass and shrivelled trees.
"You haven't answered my question. Why did you save me?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Harley Quinn on Sept 11, 2010 9:21:58 GMT
'I think there's a profound difference at planned revenge and just acting on an impulse immediately after someone wrongs you,' Harley stated, trying to ignore the fact that though she'd originally wanted Harvey to pay for upsetting her just after it had happened, she had also not changed her mind as the initial hurt wore off. Everyone applied different standards to their own actions.
At the question, Harley too looked out across the overgrown landscape, shrugging her shoulders. 'If he'd of killed you, he'd of ended my life and his with it. We'd be in jail or in here. It was self-preservation,' she stated. 'And besides, I have enough to deal with without your blood on my hands.'
|
|
|
|
Post by Harvey Dent/Two-Face on Sept 11, 2010 22:19:21 GMT
Harvey shrugged slightly. "Semantics. It's the same impulse behind both actions; the indulgence of our dark side. Sometimes I think I'm lucky - at least mine is out there for everyone to see. I don't need to hide it. Most people never even admit it exists, even to themselves."
He nodded slightly at her explanation. "As good a reason as any." He looked at her again. "And why did you have me sent to Crane in the first place? Tell me the truth."
|
|
|
|
Post by Harley Quinn on Sept 11, 2010 22:25:41 GMT
Mulling over his words, Harley gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. While she did her best to keep her own dark side from becoming public knowledge, she wasn't deluded enough to pretend she didn't know it existed, even if she'd buried it from time to time.
With the question, Harley turned back to look at Harvey, her expression blank. 'You pissed me off,' she replied simply. 'So I didn't see why I should bother making sure Crane didn't use you anymore.'
|
|
