I guess we both know we're in over our heads

[harvey_twoface]

Who: Harvey Dent, Lex Luthor, The Joker, and Batman
What: A friend in need.
Where: Lex's penthouse

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[thisislexluthor]

Lex wondered if the lab was always this cold. He didn't remember it being that way, but maybe that was because everytime he'd been down here, there had always been someone in the holding cells.

What was referred to among his scientists as the 'Specimens Lab' had the same basic layout of the rest of the labs scattered throughout Gotham's branch of LexCorp, with the key difference being the soundproof walls and human-sized cells.

Cages, Lex, whispered a little voice inside his head. It's where you put people in cages and experiment on them like rats. And you're about to put your best friend in there.

Lex shook his head rapidly. He needed to be lucid for this, or as lucid as was possible these days.

He laid Harvey down in the cell, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. He'd be waking up soon, and the less he panicked, the better. Lex backed out of the cell and closed it, locking it with a click that seemed far too loud in the quiet lab. He turned to see the Joker poking some of the lab beakers stacked on a shelf.

"Don't touch those."

[el_joker_man]

Joker raised a brow at the tone. Sauntering over to the man in full regalia and paint now that he was ready for the games to begin.

"Really?" He cooed at Lex as he approached like a prowling cat. "I thought I was allowed to touch anything of yours these days."

As if to demonstrate he grabbed the front of Lex's shirt and jerked him forward, teeth sinking into the side of Lex's throat. Enough to bruise and leave obscene smears of greasepaint as telling evidence.

[thisislexluthor]

Lex shuddered. He was torn between shoving the Joker back and the desperate, instinctive feeling that if he just held still, it wouldn't be so bad.

He closed his eyes and wondered how this had happened, but he couldn't focus on it for long. These days, he could barely stay focused on anything.

"Get off. Harvey will be awake soon," Lex said, trying to shuffle back and put some distance between himself and the Joker. Telling him to get off hadn't worked before, but...

Lex straightened his shoulders. He needed to block everything out, the raging chaos that his mind had become. Harvey was what mattered.

[el_joker_man]

Joker made him pay for it. Letting his teeth drag across vulnerable skin as he was pushed away and left a scarping mark almost to his adams apple. A red tongue snaking out to lick his red lips.

"Oh now wouldn't that be en-ter-taining..." He drawled with a smile but backed up all the same. Though it was obviously his own decision and not Lex's.

"But I have a date." He said cheerfully as he turned on his heel and jingled a pair of keys in the air as he walked. away. "Borrowing this, you mind." He wasn't asking as he kicked the door open and strolled on his merry way to meet his bat-man.

[thisislexluthor]

Lex's hand flew to his throat, hissing as he felt blood under his fingers. One more scrape to add to his collection. His eyes flew to the keys in the Joker's hand. Those were the only keys to Harvey's cell. But Lex knew that saying anything was asking for trouble, and if the Joker's attention was focused elsewhere, he wasn't going to draw it back to him or Harvey. The door slammed shut, and he was left alone.

He shivered, and sat down on the floor near Harvey's cell.

Sleep would have probably been good, but Lex was too wired on day-old coffee and adrenaline to do anything but rest his head on his knees. Food would have been good. There was a vending machine somewhere on this floor, and Harvey might be hungry when he woke up...

His disjointed thoughts were interuppted by the sounds of Harvey starting to move.

[harvey_twoface]

Harvey groaned and shifted on the tile floor, trying in vain to ease the tension in his lower back. Finally he gave up and forced himself into an upright position, bracing himself awkwardly on his elbows.

"I... what? What is this? Where am I? Lex? Lex, where are you? He's going to hurt Bruce, Lex, he's going to- Oh."

"Are you okay?" Harvey asked softly, kneeling and shifting closer to the bars.

"Lex, where are we?"

[thisislexluthor]

"We're in the Gotham branch of LexCorp, in one of the sub-basements," Lex said, not raising his head from his knees. "You're in the cells we use for people, when we need to keep them down here." It was a good thing he wasn't looking at Harvey, he decided. There were some things he had never really wanted to tell him, and this was one of them.

"The Joker's going to turn on that spotlight with the bat shape on it," Lex continued. "The batsignal or whatever. He'll make Bruce come to him." A little quieter, he murmured, "Bruce will win. He has to win."

[harvey_twoface]

"Of course he will," Harvey answered confidently. "Lex, it's Bruce. He's dealt with Joker before. But that doesn't mean you should have put him in this position."

Harvey's tone remained surprisingly neutral, considering the formidable anger he had been feeling just before he was sedated. Lex was unwell, this Harvey could tell just by looking at him. At the same time, he was fully aware of his actions, and in all likelihood equally aware that he was overreacting to a ridiculous degree.

"You know this isn't going to bring him back," Harvey remarked conversationally, situating himself so that his back was against the cell wall.

"Putting the only friends you have left in danger isn't going to do a damn thing to help, and you know it."

[thisislexluthor]

"This isn't about Clark," Lex murmured. He let his head thump back against the table behind him, the clanging sound echoing through the otherwise silent room. "He's had me for days, and it just...this was..."

He swallowed and wiped his watering eyes against his knees. Crying wouldn't help anything. It wouldn't help Harvey understand.

"I'm sorry. I'm not what I used to be."

[harvey_twoface]

"I know," Harvey said on a sigh. "There's something very wrong with you right now, it's obvious. And I want to help you, Lex. But you're going to have to help me first. Tell me where Bruce is. And let me out of this damn cage. Please. Then we can get you the help you so obviously need."

Harvey curled his fingers around one of the bars separating himself from Lex, trying to keep the urgency in his voice to a minimum. He had to make Lex understand without upsetting or angering him.

[thisislexluthor]

"He's going to turn on the spotlight on the police station," Lex said, finally looking at Harvey. "I don't know what he's going to do to Bruce. He probably won't kill him. You know how he is about Batman."

That at least was something Lex could understand, even if he wished he didn't. He'd like to think that he and Clark were different than the Joker and Batman, but...But he and Clark had managed to destroy each other.

"He's got the keys to your cage. I would've let you out otherwise, I promise, but I..."

[harvey_twoface]

"I- Okay," Harvey replied quickly, making a split-second decision to trust his former friend.

"I believe you. But Lex, there's got to be something, some way for us to fix this. We have to warn Bruce, or help him, or-" Harvey stood and began pacing while he considered the limited options presented by the situation. Finally he stopped pacing and turned to Lex, stepping closer to the bars.

"Can you get the keys from Joker?" he asked in a low voice. "I'm sorry, I hate to ask this, especially considering that he seems to have hurt you, but I have to get out of here. I have to help Bruce. Is there any way you can get your hands on the key to my cell?"

[thisislexluthor]

"The Joker's already on his way there," Lex said, chewing on his lower lip. "Calling him back would be a bad idea." He rested his head on his knees again.

The Joker wouldn't keep his promise. Lex knew that for a fact. If the Joker came back, it would mean Bruce was dead or hurt or otherwise incapacitated, and that would hurt Harvey. And then the Joker would hurt Harvey more. The thought of the Joker playing with Harvey the way he had with Lex...the cuts on his back hurt a little more, and Lex shivered.

"I could....I might be able to get you out, but it might be dangerous and it involves acid."

[harvey_twoface]

"Yeah, sure, dangerous is fine," Harvey said airily. He was far too relieved by Lex's apparent change of heart to be afraid of the risks inherent in entrusting his personal safety to a man who seemed to be vying for the classification of "criminally insane."

"Acid, you said? I guess it's worth a try. Just, you know, try to avoid the face."

[thisislexluthor]

Getting up was hard to do. Not just because he was injured, but because he was half-convinced that the Joker was going to burst through the door any second, that this had all been some kind of test and-

No. Harvey wouldn't do that to him. He needed to focus on Harvey right now, to keep himself grounded.

"It might be more of a base than an acid," Lex said, mostly just needing to speak. He began rifling through the drawers, looking through the assorted chemicals. "Just depends on what I can find."

He'd need something that could weaken metal, obviously, but he also needed to be sure it wouldn't give off any poisonous fumes or explode. But any kind of liquid might take too long to weaken the bars of the cage. He had no idea what the Joker had planned for Bruce, or how long it would take. He might be on his way back right now, could come through the door any-

"Thermite, maybe," Lex said distractedly. "Easy to make and it'll burn through the metal, though we'd need to protect you. Hmmm."

[harvey_twoface]

Lex muttered to himself softly as he collected vials, beakers, anything that might prove useful. Harvey watched him work with fascination, unwilling to interrupt what was clearly Lex in "mad scientist" mode. Fortunately for Harvey, madness (or near madness) didn't appear to be interfering with Lex's knowledge of and skill with chemicals, and in a few minutes Lex had assembled a wide array of supplies and an improvised safety kit. He slipped a fire blanket between the bars, followed by a pair of safety goggles which Harvey accepted with some cynicism.

"So this is science, huh?" Harvey asked once he had the goggles in place. "You're going to combine some chemicals and create a solution strong enough to melt metal. And all I have in the way of protection from this metal-eating acid is... goggles and a blanket." Lex shot him an annoyed look and Harvey inwardly rejoiced at the small sign of his old friend.

"Okay, then. Just making sure. Fire away, chief."