[active/closed]

[e_thicality]

Characters: Rachel Dawes, Harvey Dent, and (eventually) Bruce Wayne
Content: Out of the frying pan, into the fire
Location: Union Square Park
Time of Day: Early evening
Warnings: None

Comments

[makeyourluck]

Everything he had done, everything he had lived for since the supposed death of his family-Rachel, it was all wrong. For a split second, he felt guilty, and it weighed him down for his entire trip to the park. Terrible thoughts flew through his mind. Thoughts of her being disfigured like he was and in terrible pain, thoughts of her never being able to live happily again. All his fault. The reason she was here was probably his fault, too.

The thoughts grew heavier the closer he was to her. What if she can't look in his eyes, what if she doesn't love him anymore...what if?

What if it was all a trick. The Joker in some sick disguise. He'd been fooled before.

Harvey approached the park carefully, crowbar in hand. If that was really her, up ahead, maybe he could be happy after all.

[e_thicality]

At the sound of someone approaching, Rachel lifted her head. It could just as easily be Crane or, God forbid, the Joker that was coming to pay her a visit. It was hard to tell from the distance, but at the very least it didn’t seem to be either of them. When Harvey came close enough that she could properly identify him she abandoned her makeshift weapon on, hurrying towards him in an awkward looking hobble. Her legs were working against her, but she refused to let that stop her

[makeyourluck]

Grabbing her arm with his free hand to keep her from falling, he could feel his heart nearly stop. It was actually her, his Rachel. The woman he lived for.

And she was standing before him, full of life. Not someone else in disguise, or worse, the real her fleeing in terror. This was real. This made Harvey feel alive again.

"I thought I lost you..." he mumbled, pulling her closer to him, the half of his face that could still show emotion more happy that he probably ever appeared to be, before.

[e_thicality]

“Harvey,” She repeated softly, letting more of her weight relax against him. It was at least a little easier for her to keep on her feet like this. This was all too much, too impossible, and despite the situation, she felt lucky. Lucky to be alive, lucky that Harvey and Bruce were both here.

“I-” The right words weren’t coming to her, what was she supposed to say? She was supposed to be dead, not here in Manhattan, with no idea how it even happened. “Well, I’m here now,” It was the best she could come up with.

“I must look in a pretty sorry state right now,” Rachel continued with a slight smile, trying to make light of the situation. If the faint smell of burnt hair was any indication, then ‘a pretty sorry state’ was going to be an understatement.

[makeyourluck]

"You look beautiful, Rachel. Just like I remember you." he tried to reassure her. He looked her over, noticing the burns across her back, feeling absolutely horrible about the entire situation. So upset that she was hurt that he could feel his gut churning. But he knew the feeling, and he knew it would get better. He could help her.

"And you're ok. That's all that matters." he hugged her as tight as he could, which was really only a small squeeze since he was trying not to hurt her.

"I'll take care of you, Rachel. Don't worry."

[e_thicality]

Rachel chuckled softly-she felt far from beautiful right now, but hearing Harvey say it helped ease her self consciousness. “Thanks,” She told him with a timid smile, trying to thank him for everything with just that one word and her smile.

There was no point in wasting her time wondering how she had gotten here or why she was even still alive, and Rachel pushed all subsequent thoughts to the back of her mind. It would only be a waste of time dwelling on them.

“What did I miss after… after the accident?” It was no accident, but she was trying to soften it up for both their sakes. “You got the Joker put away, didn’t you?”

[makeyourluck]

"He..." Harvey stumbled a bit over his words. He was not sure what happened to the Joker back in Gotham, but that didn't really matter over here.

"He's here in Manhattan." Harvey muttered, looking around them to be sure he wasn't hiding nearby. "He likes to follow me around, but he hasn't found where I'm living, yet."

He continued to hold onto Rachel, it made him feel like he was protecting her. "Don't worry about him, right now. He's the least of our troubles. Right now, I want to get you to a clinic."

[e_thicality]

Of course. She should have expected something like that, after all, she had spoken to the Joker not long ago. Even if he had been put away back in Gotham, that certainly wasn’t the case here.

“Right,” Her displeasure that the Joker was even here came out quite clearly in her voice. At the mention of the clinic she was properly reminded of her burns, which had been temporarily forgotten in place of something much more pleasant. “Just watch out for him.” They were all going to have to.

“Is it far from here?” Please let it be close-she wasn’t sure how much more her legs could take at the moment

[theknightisdark]

Rachel. Rachel was alive, and she was here.

Bruce had rushed towards the Union Square Park area with only these solitary thoughts on his mind. He had picked up something to defend himself beforehand (his trek to where Rachel was located felt far, far too long already), something that could be used to fend off anything that had enough horrible misjudgment to stand in his way. It was nothing more than a simple, somewhat crooked metal pipe, its original function long lost when it had been undoubtedly torn apart from whatever building it once belonged to.

But it didn't matter. As if driven by some underlying instinct to protect, Bruce's grip on the makeshift weapon was so unknowingly tight that his knuckles might have been turning white

[makeyourluck]

Harvey's attention flew to the other man. He was fond of Bruce, but couldn't help but feel his timing was absolutely inappropriate.

Continuing to hold Rachel on her feet, he turned to acknowledge Bruce.

"Bruce!" he called back, waiting for the man to get closer before continuing.

"We need to get her to a clinic. Fast."

[e_thicality]

“Bruce,” Her greeting was a bit weaker, shuffling to properly face him. The self consciousness as to her appearance was beginning to rise up again, but she pushed it aside to let herself be happy to see two people

“I…” She had started to speak, stopping herself as Harvey began to. “That wouldn’t hurt,” Rachel agreed, wishing that she could stop being reminded about it. It had been easier to forget about the pain when she had first seen Harvey. “I’m a little, ah, roughed up, if you couldn’t tell.” Even if Bruce couldn’t see her back the singed hair was obvious enough, as well as the smell of gasoline that was probably permanently embedded into her clothes.

[theknightisdark]

"I can tell," he said somewhat bluntly, brow furrowing. Though it was purely out of growing concern for her health, the statement undoubtedly did very little for her self-consciousness.

Bruce had countless things he wanted to say to her, but these things would have to wait. Perhaps for a time when Rachel had recovered a bit. Or for a time when the situation was a bit more private than it was right now.

"Do you know where the closest clinic is?" he asked Harvey, glancing over at him.

[makeyourluck]

"There's one on 30th, I know the way." Harvey only knew of the existence of this clinic because the Joker had lured him there recently. But at least he kept his word, there were pain killers available.

It was hard for him to let Rachel go, he wanted to hold onto her for eternity. Now that she was here, he was complete. He just wished they were both in better shape.

[e_thicality]

Her knowledge of Manhattan was not good enough for her to be ale to figure out just how far 30th street was from here. Rachel peered over Harvey’s shoulders, searching for a street sign. There was one, just barely within sight, bent and crooked. The edge of park was just on the edge of 17th street, which meant that it would be at least another thirteen blocks.

"I can walk," Rachel murmured, not so sure of it herself. If anything she wanted to at least try, to not look any weaker in front of them than she already did.

[theknightisdark]

"30th..." Bruce muttered to himself, taking a second to gaze around in an attempt to evaluate how far it was, and how long it would take them to get there.

30th. Not exactly close, but there seemed to be little other choice at the moment.

"Don't be stubborn," he responded. He would have offered to further aid Rachel down their journey to 30th street (have her lean on him, carry her, anything at this point), but reconsidered this after noticing how closely Harvey seemed to be holding onto her.

[makeyourluck]

"Are you sure?" he asked Rachel, then looked up at Bruce as he spoke. "I can't let you get hurt anymore than you already are." he continued. He was here to protect her now.

30th wasn't close, that much was true, but it was the only place he knew of that he could count on to have the supplies. Better save than sorry.