Checking Up

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

Harvey shook his head to himself as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "A petty little squabble and you're prepared to abandon a man to torture and death. Olivia was right. You should be in a cell with us."

His gaze was sharp. "And what happens now? Crane goes back to his experiments, I imagine. I wonder how long before he decides he wants to get inside the Joker's head. Do you think you'll be able to stop him?"

[Harley Quinn]

'I didn't know things were going to get so out of hand, okay?' Harley replied snappishly, glaring a little before she turned her head away, looking up at the barred windows of the asylum - glad she could do so from this side.

She was quiet for a long moment after Harvey's questions, still staring at the windows before she shrugged her shoulder's gently. Right now she was more concerned about what Crane would do to himself, rather than what he'd do to other people. 'He knows that if he touched the Joker I'd have him publicly executed. He wouldn't risk losing everything like that.'

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

"What did you think was going to happen? You saw what the toxin did in the motel; did you reckon it was just going to be like a Halloween spook ride or something? Maybe one day he'll decide to use it on you. He's mad enough. How far do you trust him, Doctor?"

Harvey rubbed his knee absently for a moment before looking back at her.

"You're in love with the Joker, aren't you?"

[Harley Quinn]

Jaw clenched, Harley didn't reply with how she hadn't been sure of exactly what would happen but hadn't betted at all on the physical violence. The question made Harley think and she surprised herself when she realised that she had never once been truly worried that Crane would use his toxin on her. Over the time she'd known him, he'd creeped her out, made her angry and yes, he'd made her scared, but not really ever of him. 'I trust Jonathan Crane more than most other people.'

The question about the Joker caught Harley off guard and she really didn't know how to answer. She'd not even begun to try and put a label on her feelings for him and wasn't sure she could even define love if she did. The closest she'd ever come to love had been with Guy and she was certain that hadn't been it as she had recovered from his death rather quickly. Staying silent, Harley gave the very slightest of shrugs.

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

Harvey looked at her critically. "It didn't sound that way in the motel. The way I remember it, you were ready to rip his throat out when he told us how you'd got your job. I don't blame you. It wasn't very gentlemanly of him."

He turned back to look out over the grass. "Fair enough if you don't want to talk about that."

Harvey watched as a crow settled on a crumbling Greek statue of Venus by the pond, black talons resting on her bare marble shoulder. It cawed loudly and flew down to the pond's, picking at the half-decayed remains of some small animal that had crept to the water's edge to die.

His voce was sardonic. "I'm under no illusions that the police wil lbe investigating or that Crane will have to answer for that happened in that basement... at least not to anyone but me. If not Joker, who's next on Crane's table? You have anyone else in mind who's pissed you off lately?"

[Harley Quinn]

'Just so we're clear,' Harley started in a somewhat indignant tone, 'I could have got my job without sleeping with Crane. I'm more than qualified. Just... y'know it's how things work out.'

At Harvey's question Harley shot him a filthy look before she surveyed the area infront of them. Crane's words from the other night rang in her head. I don't know if I'll be able to stop. No-one was more at risk of being hurt by Jonathan Crane than himself with the way he was going. 'Will you just drop it?' she asked snappishly, 'I'll worry about what's happening in the basement.'

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

Harvey raised his eyebrows as she snapped at him. "Oh, I don't blame you. You have to work with what you have in this town. I've no doubt you're well-qualified, but why here, though? It puzzles me. What was the attraction in working with the criminally insane, when you could have gone upstate to one of the private hospitals? I'm not mocking you. I honestly want to know."

"You said that last time, when you promised me his experiments would stop. So no, I'm not going to drop it." He looked at her curiously.

"Why are you so protective of him? Crane, I mean. If you were this concerned about the inmates this place might actually do some good. "

[Harley Quinn]

'Criminal psychology was my focus at university,' Harley replied simply, 'And Arkham offered the best opportunities for me to further my career so I took it. I'd be on the lowest rung of the career ladder now if I'd gone to one of the fancy hospitals but look at me now,' she waved a hand towards the decaying building, 'my own asylum.'

Harley shrugged her shoulders, thinking about why she had come to treat Crane as she did. There were times when he made her blood boil and she wanted nothing more than to stick his face in a trouser press and yet a part of her knew she'd miss him if he weren't around. She'd known him for years now and had always viewed him as on the same level as her, like they were two magnets that should have worked together perfectly but someone had tried to match up their negative poles and thus they were constantly working against each other.

'I don't really have many friends and seeing as I've fucked Crane he's the closest I've got so I hang on to him.' She replied dryly.

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

Harvey looked at the grimy windows, the roofs with missing tiles, the once-beautiful gothic stonework now worn and blackened. His mouth twisted. "Congratulations," he said. "You must be very proud."

Harvey nodded slightly. "I can understand that," he said quietly. "We were never meant to be alone." He thought about Two-Face and how despite their all the bitterness of their constant battles; his other self's jeering cynicism and cruelty it was ultimately comforting to have him; to know he would never leave Harvey - that he could never leave him.

"Sometimes you hold on to whoever you have, even if they're wrong for you."

[Harley Quinn]

As he spoke, Harley slowly turned her heads towards Harvey, her arms tightly crossed over her chest. Her expression was rather blank but her blue eyes were cold as she blinked at him for a moment. 'Well if you get that then you must be aware that if you even touch Crane, I'll finish off what he tried to do to you in the first place.'

Looking out again, Harley gave the slightest of sighs. Even though the weather was fine, the asylum seemed dark and gloomy and she simply wanted to crawl back into bed. There was paperwork piling up in her office and technically she still had patients to treat but nothing could motivate her into getting through it all.

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

Harvey met her gaze. "The last time I saw an expression like that, there was a Smith and Wesson pointing at me. You might want to talk to your boyfriend about that. He and I have an understanding on the matter."

"Complicated, isnt it? If I were you I'd stand back and let it happen. You're good at that," he added, his expression sardonic.

[Harley Quinn]

'Don't call him my boyfriend,' Harley muttered with an expression like she had a bad taste in her mouth. 'We're not teenagers passing notes in class. And I really don't give a damn about what kind of understanding you have. This doesn't involve him.'

Smirking wryly with eyes devoid of any humour, Harley raised an eyebrow. 'I saved your life, Harvey,' she stated, 'I could have just stood and watched you die.'

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

A faint sneer appeared on Harvey's face. "Whatever you want to call him. The patient who you snuggle up to on his bunk like a lapdog with its master."

He couldn't help twist the knife a little. "And it definitely does involve him. Two-Face says Joker is a great kisser, by the way. Very enthusiastic. But you might know that already."

Harvey readily agreed with her. "Yes, you could have done, and as you said, it was only your own inconvenience that stopped you. That doesn't mean I'm not grateful."

"Ordinarily, death doesn't frighten me as much as you might think," he mused. "I'm a gangster, Dr Quinzel. I don't expect to die old and comfortable and in my bed. When death comes for me it's likely to be in a hail of bullets. That's ok. If that's what fate decrees, I don' t question it."

[Harley Quinn]

Harley did her best to contain her anger, clenching her teeth so as not to openly snarl at Harvey, unable to stop her nostrils flaring. She balled her hand up into a fist, digging her nails into her palm so they didn't become embedded in Harvey's face. Telling herself to breath, Harley took a moment to get her anger in check so she didn't just lash out. Slowly, she turned so her body was facing Harvey more and smiled in a completely humourless way.

'Let's get something straight here,' she began, tone clipped and cold, 'Two-Face doesn't exist. It's all you, Harvey. Everything he does is just you. You might think you're some wonderful Mr Romantic and Mr Straight Man 2010 but you're really not.'

Tilting her head slightly, Harley quirked an eyebrow. 'I don't think it'll be a hail of bullets, Harvey. It'll be a botched at-home castration if you're ever unlucky enough to ever get caught with the Joker.'

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

Two-Face growled in his head, ~Oh, that's it. When are these people going to learn, Harvey?~

~I have no idea. Go ahead and ask her. Note I said ask. You don't touch her. Old school mafia etiquette, remember?~

Harvey's body jerked at the speed with which Two-Face took control of his body.

"Surprise, sweetheart. You know what they say, speak of the devil..."

Two-Face smiled unpleasantly. "What is it with you people? You see me right in front of you and you still don't believe I exist."