Respite

[The Joker]

Even though death had been so certain (to him, at least), Joker was on the road to recovery. Apparently sleep and proper nutrition helped one heal. He would need to remember that.

Joker was still staying at Harvey's flat. He had only moved from the large, cushy bed to use the bathroom. The Harveys and Tartlette had brought him food when he was deathly ill and he was rather used to it.

Joker was currently sitting up against a mountain of pillows flipping through the channels. His hand still shook slightly but he ignored it. His stomach grumbled. "Haaaaaarvey, I need some crackers or I'm gonna die again. Cheese, too. I want the squirty kind."

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

Harvey looked up as he heard Joker calling from his bedroom, and he set down the rag he was holding. He was sitting at the kitchen table, cleaning his handguns. He had stripped them both down, and each piece was laid out neatly on sheets of newspaper before him. It was going to take him a while, and the last thing he needed to distract him was a demanding clown.

He tried to ignore Joker and failed miserably. Wiping his hands on a rag he made his way through the flat to the bedroom. "I've got my hands full right now, Joker. I'll bring you some food as soon as I'm done. Or feel free to help yourself if you feel like getting up."

[The Joker]

Joker frowned and pulled the covers all the way up to his chin. He coughed loudly. "But Haaarvey, I'm still ill. Listen to how ill I am." Joker coughed as miserably as he could. It wasn't that difficult to act sick since he still felt miserable.

He tossed the remote against the night stand. "Harvey I dropped the remote. Pick it up when you bring me my crackers. I want some ginger ale too. Uh...please."

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

Harvey sighed testily. Like busy parents who were both on shift work, they seemed to have settled into a routine of him looking after Joker during the day and Two-Face at night.

"I told you, Joker, I'm busy. My hands are covered in gun-crap." He held up his hands to display the black smears of oil, burnt powder and carbon.

[The Joker]

Joker grunted in annoyance and got out of bed. His legs shook badly but he managed to stumble in to where Harvey sat. He dropped down in front of Harvey and rested his chin on the other man's leg, gazing up at him pitifully.

"I almost died, Harvey." Joker said, adding a weak cough in for effect. "I still could go downhill. Ya never know with this sort of illness." He wrapped his thin arms around Harvey's calf and jutted his lower lip out. "Pleeeease?"

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

Harvey glanced sharply at Joker as he entered the room on unsteady legs.

"What are you doing out of bed?" he asked, tone halfway between annoyance and gentleness. "You still look like hell."

He looked down at Joker's wide brown eyes and relented. He knew full well he was being played, but how was he supposed to resist?

"Ok, Ok. I must be a soft touch. Go back to bed and I'll bring you something. And let go of my leg, you're worse than a puppy."

He began to wipe his hands on a rag. "By the way, you weren't in any danger of dying. Apart from when Two-Face tried to drown you in the bath, and I'm sorry for that on his behalf."

[The Joker]

Joker rubbed his cheek against Harvey's leg one last time for good measure. "If my dad had been like you then I probably wouldn't have killed him. You're the greatest."

Joker pulled himself up on Harvey's leg and began stumbling back into the bedroom. "He should apologize to me himself." Joker said moodily as he collapsed in a heap on the lush bed. "You'd apologize even if you weren't wrong. He's gotta mean it."

Joker sighed loudly. "Where's Tartlette? I've been meaning to talk to her and Two-Face about having a very special evening. I think it'd be fun. We'd have to wait until I recovered, of course. Can't risk going into respiratory arrest in the midst of an adventure!"

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

"You killed -" he bit back his words, eyeing Joker carefully and trying to decide if this was one of Joker's many stories the truth of which even he was unsure. Eventually Harvey turned to the sink and began to clean his hands of the gun residue.

A few minutes later, he appeared in the door of the bedroom with a glass of orange juice and a plate of cheese and fruit along with the requested crackers. "Don't get crumbs in the sheets," he said and set it down on Joker's lap.

Harvey sat on the edge of the bed, eyes passing over the pale face. He knew he should probably leave Joker alone to eat and regain his strength, but he knew from experience that once he was well he'd deny ever having mentioned anything about his past. It was only in the depth of exhaustion or black depression that he ever spoke of life before he became the painted, grinning clown that had begin to terrify Gotham City, and Harvey had been trying to piece together the events of the other man's life. Joker was like a jigsaw missing half the pieces, he mused to himself, but one that the person trying to complete the puzzle didn't realise or care was incomplete.

"How much do you remember about your father?" Harvey asked quietly.

"His eyes widened at the suggestion of him, Joker and Olivia together and he barely managd to conceal his frustration. "Oh, for - don't even joke about that. It's not funny." He leaned forwards slightly. "Joker, you cannot keep doing this to Two-Face. He's unstable at the best of times. A suggestion like that is going to drive him into a state you probably don't want him in."

[The Joker]

Joker's eyes lit up at the sight of the food. "You're the best ever, Harvey!" He began chowing down on the food while Harvey looked at him. The orange juice burned his throat but tasted delicious. At Harvey's question, Joker set down the crackers and sighed.

"Just flashes of pain." He said, staring at Harvey's knee. "I don't even know what he looked like or if what I'm remembering is real. He was a bastard, that much I'm certain of..probably. I'm pretty certain he broke my arm more than once and I'm almost positive I put a knife in his chest."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh please. I want Two-Face in any state, especially in a state with Tartlette in the middle. Don't be such a prude, Harvo. I bet the kid'd like it. Besides, it wouldn't be like she was cheating on you! It would just be like a party with a little more fondling than usual."

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

He smiled slightly at Joker's enthusiasm. "Not too fast or it'll come right back up," he chided gently.

He nodded slowly, eyes drifting down from Joker's face to gaze at the floor. "If your father did half the things you've mentioned I don't blame you in the slightest." He debated internally for a moment before lifting his head. "The reason I asked is that I remember everything my father did to me." His voice was bitter. "Everything."

He made a slight noise of frustation. "That's exactly what I mean! He's lying next to you every night, bringing you food and medicine and God knows what else, and you're talking as though nothing has changed between you. Don't do this to him. Be with him or don't. But this half-way thing is driving him even more insane than he usually is."

[The Joker]

Joker was silent for a long moment as Harvey admitted his own abuse. Finally he moved the food aside and rested his head on Harvey's thigh. "I'll kill the bastard for ya if you'd like. I could draw it out and make it hurt. Maybe I could put pictures of you as a kid around like that Dexter guy on TV does."

He sat back up when Harvey started getting frustrated. "For the love of Pete...when did Two-Face get so damn sensitive? I'm back, we're fine, chill out. I really don't see what all the fuss is about."

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

Harvey gave a mirthless laugh and patted Joker's shoulder. "That's... sweet. But he died a few months ago, don't you remember? It was before your coup at Arkham. He had a heart attack in his sleep; it was far too good for him really. That reminds me, I should call my Ma. See how she's doing. Probably much better now the old bastard's decaying."

He looked at Joker with the weary and doomed sort of expression one might wear when trying to explain quantum physics to a three year old. "You've tried to murder each other since you broke up, and while I don't really mind another murder charge being added to my rap sheet, I'd rather it wasn't you at the other end of the gun."

Harvey spoke quietly "He's sensitive because he loves you, and he thought you'd never be back. He doesn't forgive things easily, Joker... and he doesn't ever forget them. You know him, He's not as changeable as you."

[The Joker]

"Oh right." Joker mumbled, rubbing his aching head. "I remember now. Well in that case I can dig him up and hang him outside of a school or something. That'd be fun."

Joker moodily peeled the skin off of a grape with his teeth, one part of his brain noting how it was almost more enjoyable than peeling the skin off of a human. At least you could eat grapes.

"I don't care if he shoots me. I mean, I'd rather he didn't since I still have stuff to do but its really no skin off my nose."

He ate his mutilated grape. "Well he should be as changeable as me. Being like a stupid rock is just idiotic. Situations change. You two should know that better than anyone. Ya just gotta roll with the punches and adapt."

Joker grinned and offered a piece of cheese to Harvey. "Thanks for not wanting to shoot me. That's awfully pleasant of you."

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

Harvey raised his eyebrows, mildly nonplussed. "You do say the sweetest things sometimes."

He leant on one elbow on the bed. "I'd care if he shot you. I'd actually miss you. I'm not entirely sure Two-Face is capable of feeling remorse, but if he was, he'd be sorry to kill you. After the event, anyway."

He looked up at Joker in surprise, then nodded slowly. "Do you know, I think you're right." Some part of Harvey had always known there was wisdom behind Joker's painted face and selfishness and his childlike tempers, but the clown so rarely showed it that it was easy to forget it existed.

He was right, though. He and Two-Face had always been so dedicated and set in their opposite existences. Maybe that was why they lacked the resilience that Joker seemed to have... but Harvey needed something to belive in. His splintered reality was all he could believe in any more. It was all that made sense; the notion that the world ould be divided straight down the middle and that no compromise could ever be entertained .

He took the cheese and popped it into his mouth, smiing at Joker with genuine fondness.

"So, I'm guessing you'll be moving back to Arkham once you're feeling better. I hate to say it, but I've enjoyed having you here. You drive me crazy, but you do light up the day."

[The Joker]

Joker smiled absently at Harvey. "You always seem so surprised when I say something that's worth listening to. I wouldn't be so successful if I was stupid, Harv. If I took an IQ test it would probably be off the charts."

He shrugged and popped a strawberry in his mouth. He briefly allowed himself to enjoy the sweet taste of the fruit before answering. "'m not going back to Arkham. I've found a nice little abandoned amusement park that I'm going to ah...renovate to suit my needs. Its pretty sweet, I'll have to show you around once its finished."

He leaned back against the massive pile of pillows he had requested the day before and gazed out the window with an odd gleam in his eyes. "Soon, Harvey. Everything is going to change for me very soon. I hope you're not disappointed. Ruby's making me some nice bombs to catch the Bat's attention."

He glanced back at Harvey with a crooked grin. "Not that he'll ever replace you. I doubt Batsy would bring me grapes when I got sick. He'd probably just punch me in the face." He wet his lips, eyes dilating. "Not that I would complain about that."