Day 57: Waiting Room/Lobby 2 (Fourth Shift)

[unheroed]

By some stroke of luck, Harvey hadn't been bothered while he'd been in the library, allowing him to lose himself in a random book for at least a little while. Even so, he'd gone through all of his possible options for who might be visiting, from Gordon (in which case he'd probably end up sedated by the end of it) to his mother to Bruce Wayne to

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[unheroed]

Harvey spotted the man the second he stepped into the room. Maybe it was because Bruce Wayne was just the kind of guy who turned heads or maybe it was because he'd been watching the door like a hawk, but he was pretty sure he saw Bruce before Bruce saw him.

It was always better to have the advantage.

Granted, it wasn't like there was much he could do about it. It was a good thing that the visitor he ended up with was one who he'd considered as a possibility, but that only meant that he was somewhat prepared; it didn't do anything for the surge of anger that came when he saw that smug face. Not that it was particularly smug right now. Bruce looked concerned, but he probably didn't know the half of it.

He didn't want to talk to this man, didn't want to face Rachael's closest friend and know that he was suffering too. It couldn't be compared, what he'd been through versus what Bruce had. And he'd just never really liked the guy, even though Bruce had seemed to support his ideas. That was all a lifetime away now.

The name that was used was all wrong, and that was enough to almost push him over the edge. He glared at Bruce with the side of his face that wasn't bandaged. "What? Why the hell did you even come here?" Bruce couldn't be that much of an airhead, to think that Harvey would have been happy to see him. It was true that he hadn't seen someone familiar from Gotham in weeks now, but this wasn't how he'd wanted to break that streak. Not at all.

[damned_visitors]

It was a good thing he'd been prepared to face Aaron's enraged outbursts. After all, he'd never been quite the same after the fire, and the animosity had been a part of that. His furious resistance against accepting Rachel's death. The doctors had claimed it was part of why he'd adopted this new persona.

Split personalities, they explained, could be deemed an unhealthy method of coping. It was easier for Aaron to live in a fantasy world where what had killed Rachel was evil that had come from nowhere. That was the reason this 'Joker' he'd manifested never had a true identity. He represented the unadulterated chaos that Aaron saw in Rachel's death, the pain that he couldn't rationalize away.

Hearing the explanations and seeing what had happened to him were two different things entirely. He'd never expected Aaron to be happy to see him, it had been clear that he'd been threatened by Bruce while Rachel was still alive, but something less than ardent loathing would have been nice. After all, he'd thought so highly of Aaron before.

"I came to see you. The doctors advised that I come check on how you're doing, get an idea for what they're doing to help you here." A beat, he kept his tone calm -- it was a part of that businesslike air that he'd learned after dragging himself out of the gutters of self-loathing a few years back. "It's always better to hear it from the horse's mouth." Side of his mouth. The working side. The corners of Bruce's mouth twitched unintentionally. "I want you to tell me what you think of the treatment options here. Has Dr. Landel been treating you personally?"

[unheroed]

Oh, this was just rich. Did Bruce honestly think that he was some sort of caretaker now? Harvey had gone off and lost his mind and now he had to babysit? That wasn't how it had gone at all, for one thing. He wished he could just tell the idiot to get lost so he didn't have to bear this ridiculous charade, and yet he knew that if he got too out of hand he'd only pay for it.

Still, maybe getting sedated would be worth it, just this once.

Of course, trying to explain just how ridiculous it was to consider anything here as healthy or helpful would take longer than the time that they had, and Harvey didn't have the energy for it. For a moment, all he did was laugh, and he realized that he was probably making himself seem nuts with his behavior. Luckily for him, he didn't really care what Bruce thought of him.

"Landel isn't even here anymore. He got the boot by the people who are really behind this whole thing, and believe me, they don't have any of our best interests in mind. But Bruce..." He paused, realizing how bizarre it was to even be talking to someone who knew about Gotham and everything that had gone on there. Granted, the billionaire had probably been oblivious to most of it, but still, this was a throw back that wasn't necessarily appreciated.

"Don't lie," he said, his tone gaining that edge again. His one-eyed stare was surprisingly potent. "You're only here to soothe your own conscience, because you think it's what she would have wanted."

[damned_visitors]

If the laughing wasn't the first hint to Aaron's fractured mental state, the statement that followed was. He'd always had some paranoia, the 'out to get him' vibe that had been very much real while he was district attorney had been exacerbated by his psychotic break and became an unhealthy level of neuroses, according to the doctors.

Now, Bruce could see it before him, playing out. He was more paranoid than any man should rightfully be, making up fantastical stories of conspiracies in the system that he was trapped within. Maybe he thought that he'd be safer if he convinced himself that they were the ones in the wrong and not him. Or maybe he really had hallucinated enough to believe what he was saying.

The sight made Bruce's lips draw into a thin, grim line -- one that was worsened and creased at the corners more still when he mentioned Rachel. After a long hesitation, he had to break away and avert his gaze from the cruel stare of his one-time friend.

"My reasons for coming aren't what's important here. What's important is seeing whether or not you're making progress and making sure that you're getting the level of treatment that I'm paying for." He, and the others who had donated to Aaron's campaign.

[unheroed]

There was a look on Bruce's face in response to all that which Harvey was able to identify, though it wasn't something he wanted to acknowledge. It was pity. The guy felt bad for him. That was enough to cause his rage to build because he didn't need that from Bruce Wayne. He didn't need it from anyone.

This was his fate. Maybe it wasn't fair, but he'd made risky moves and put people who he cared about in danger and he'd paid the price. Yes, there were people who were to blame for it, but Bruce wasn't one of them -- and Harvey would deal with those who were, once he got the hell out of here. In the meantime, he didn't need this rich pretty boy rubbing it all in.

Bruce deflected with more expertise than Harvey had thought him capable of, but what he said instead only added fuel to the fire. "There's no way you're paying for this. Why the hell would --" But Bruce could have all sorts of self-serving reasons behind it. That didn't mean Harvey was going to stand for it.

"Look, I never asked you for anything. I didn't want to be put here and I sure as hell didn't want you to have anything to do with it." It was possible this was all one big charade, but it was also possible that it wasn't, and Harvey wasn't calm enough to figure out what the truth was. "But what do you think?" he continued with a grin that pulled at his wounds, though that was all covered by the bandages. "Am I making progress?"

[damned_visitors]

There was a tenseness that tightened in Bruce's face as Aaron tried to bait him, the fury in him growing evident. No. He didn't look like he was making progress. And in all honesty, it killed Bruce to see it. There was something grim and mature like Aaron had never before witnessed in the corner of Bruce's frown, and he simply watched him with a steady look for a long, silent moment before responding.

"I hope that things change, Aaron. I really do. My goal isn't to keep you trapped in here -- no one wants that. We want you back home. The people need you." There was some mingled sadness there and then he swallowed it down with a slight shake of his head. "I'll visit again soon. I hope by then, you'll be a little more ready to talk about how things are going." He got to his feet, then he waited a beat.

"Oh, and try making some friends, will you? I'm going to get your behavior reports from your doctor before I leave. 'Playing well with others' used to be something you were so good at."

[unheroed]

Every single thing that came out of Bruce's mouth sounded like a practiced line to Harvey, and it was that insincerity that really got under his skin. Actually, even worse than that was that Bruce's squeaky clean attitude might actually be genuine, that he might actually mean everything he was saying.

The people didn't need him. In fact, even hearing that said in seriousness almost caused him to flip over the table between them and go rushing straight for Bruce's throat. He didn't need to be mocked, even if that wasn't the idiot's intention in the first place.

"Don't bother coming back," he snapped, standing with Bruce if only because he was still trying to decide if decking him was a good idea. It was good that the man's visit was turning out to be so short, seeing how Harvey wasn't sure that he could keep himself together for much longer. Being told to make friends as if he was a child was the last straw. He gripped the back of his chair, glaring at Bruce as he left, his anger only barely contained.