All Work and No Play
Title: All Work and No Play
Author: Waitingforjimmy
Universe: TDK-Nolanverse
Rating: Pg-13 for language
Characters/Pairings: Harvey/Gordon
Word Count: 1,291
Warnings: None
Summary: A little look at the history between Gordon and Harvey as young men working together at the MCU. A little look into how Harvey got his nickname at MCU as well.
Harvey ate his lunch at the same place, on the same bench, by the same fountain, under the same tree every day. Even his sandwich was the same; ham and cheese on rye with a diet soda and chips. He packed them in the same Tupperware container he had been using since he was in college, washing it carefully every night and letting it dry, packing his lunch in the morning before work.
Harvey loved the MCU building. It wasn’t new, shiny or polished. Is still had that old Gotham feel to it. Some might look at it and turn their nose up at its old bricks and broken sidewalks but Harvey thought it looked unique, a stand out in a City that was slowly starting to mimic itself with its identical skyscrapers and hotels.
Harvey looked at his watch to see how much longer he had left on his break. The watch had been a graduation present from his parents. He wondered how long they had had to save up for it. It was silver on one side of the face, gold on the other and he knew it must have cost them a fortune. He had tried to give it back, to talk them out of spending that kind of money on him but they had taken his guilt as an insult and asked him why he was so ungrateful and so now he wore the watch every day. It and his Father’s lucky coin were the two keep sakes he allowed himself to find sentitmenal value in.
“Five minutes right Dent?”
Harvey nearly dropped the crust of his sandwich onto his napkin covered lap. Gordon was standing over him, pointing down at his watch.
“That’s a nice watch you got there. Was it a present?”
Harvey nodded, wiping his mouth on a napkin.
“Yes sir. It’s from my parents. It’s a graduation present.”
Gordon nodded, his lips twisting up and down in funny shapes. He put one hand in the pocket of his slacks and eased himself down on the bench beside Harvey. Both men had their feet crossed over their knee, one of Gordon’s arms was on the back of the bench.
“Some of the boys said you were uh…here pretty late last night.”
Harvey nodded.
“Big case going down…I knew if I went home I wouldn’t be able to sleep I’d be thinking about it too much so,” Harvey shrugged. I figured I might as well stay and see it through.”
“Uh huh.” Gordon scratched a spot behind his ear and squinted towards the MCU building. His vision was going to hell. One day he would need glasses. Barbra had been telling him for years now to go to the Doctor but he had refused. He didn’t want to look any older than this job already made him feel.
“You know Harvey…there’s an old saying, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” He looked at the twenty year old something wonder boy Dent with a smile.
“You can’t do it all you know. I know you’re young and ambitious and you think you’ve got something to prove but…” Gordon sighed and looked up at the sky.
“But I do.”
Gordon shook his head. “No, no you don’t. People see what they wanna see Harvey, don’t you get that son? Don’t make yourself an old man before your time especially for people who aren’t even worth it.”
Harvey took a long sip of his diet soda and smacked his lips.
“Are you saying the citizens of Gotham aren’t worth my time and effort Gordon?”
Jim’s face was tight and full of misery.
“No that’s not what I’m saying at all. All I’m saying is…just…be careful Harvey. You have to look out for yourself too. Not a lot of people believe in…heroes anymore, especially in Gotham.”
“Well I do.”
Gordon closed his eyes and rubbed a hand across his forehead.
“Ah damnit…youth is wasted on the young,” He murmured.
Harvey was grinning now; his blonde hair appeared to look almost like a halo in the sun.
“Oh come on, you have to believe in something right? We all do.”
“Yes, yes. That we do Harvey. That we do.”
Gordon got up now.
“Break time is over Dent.”
He started walking back towards the building.
“Gordon!” Harvey called after him from the bench.
Jim turned around. “Yeah?”
“You know there’s a saying I’m pretty fond of as well. It says never let it rest, until your good is better than your best.”
Gordon’s smile almost looked like a frown, his shoulders were slumped in some sort of hero’s defeat.
“Get back to work Harvey…and good luck.”
“I don’t need it!” Harvey called after him but he was already gone.
~ ~ ~
“You know his voice has barely changed, his balls just dropped yesterday and the goddamned kid thinks he owns the place.”
“Yeah tell me about it. You know he was here until midnight last night? You shoulda seen him, working his little blonde ass off, I bet he had twelve cups of coffee on his desk.”
“Are you shitting me? I heard he even asked to go out on some beats with the cops last week, wanted, get this, first hand experience on the streets, wanted to see how things was run by the boys in blue I guess, make sure they was doing their job. You ever heard ‘a such a thing?”
Gordon came around the corner to see the usual cluster fuck of badges all leaned up against the walls, water coolers and coffee machines.
“It’s 5 o’clock boys, what are you still doing here? I’m sure you all have wives or…something waiting at home for you, dinner maybe?”
“Hey Gordon you know this ain’t a 9-5 job,” Gonzalez said.
Gordon smiled.
“True.”
“Especially if you’re Dent,” McDougal said rolling his eyes. Gordon noticed the man’s gut hung way over his pants, pushing his brown leather suspenders to their limit. It disgusted him.
“Hey hey enough about the kid alright? Now go home and get some rest. You’re gonna need it for this new case we got coming in tomorrow…we all will.”
A collective groan rose from the crowd.
“Fucking make Dent do it, he’ll be here half the night anyway.” McDougal was on a roll and Gordon knew there would be no stopping him once he got started.
“Yeah,” Gonzalez piped in now. “You know I don’t believe anybody can be that good, that hard working all of the time you know? Something’s not right.”
“I don’t trust him.”
“Yea me either.”
Gordon shifted uncomfortably.
“It’s like you know there’s two sides to him” McDougal continued. “The good side, the light side, the wet behind the ears college boy my Mommy loves me side but I don’t know…you just know there’s something else there, something he ain’t showing, something dark and selfish, only wanting things right so he can take the credit for them. He doesn’t believe in people. He believes in himself.”
“Harvey Dent, Harvey Two Face Dent.”
“Harvey Two Face! What a fucking riot!”
The crowd erupted in laughter and Gordon allowed himself a little chuckle.
“Look, we even made Gordon laugh,” Gonzalez said slapping him on the back.
Jim looked up and down the hallway to see a figure there, half shrouded in the ugly fluorescent light over head, half hidden in the shadows. Harvey stood there watching but only Gordon could see him as he turned away from the crowd that was laughing at him at his expense, the two cups of coffee clutched tight in his hands as he headed back towards his office.
One cup had been for him, one cup had been for Gordon.
Author: Waitingforjimmy
Universe: TDK-Nolanverse
Rating: Pg-13 for language
Characters/Pairings: Harvey/Gordon
Word Count: 1,291
Warnings: None
Summary: A little look at the history between Gordon and Harvey as young men working together at the MCU. A little look into how Harvey got his nickname at MCU as well.
Harvey ate his lunch at the same place, on the same bench, by the same fountain, under the same tree every day. Even his sandwich was the same; ham and cheese on rye with a diet soda and chips. He packed them in the same Tupperware container he had been using since he was in college, washing it carefully every night and letting it dry, packing his lunch in the morning before work.
Harvey loved the MCU building. It wasn’t new, shiny or polished. Is still had that old Gotham feel to it. Some might look at it and turn their nose up at its old bricks and broken sidewalks but Harvey thought it looked unique, a stand out in a City that was slowly starting to mimic itself with its identical skyscrapers and hotels.
Harvey looked at his watch to see how much longer he had left on his break. The watch had been a graduation present from his parents. He wondered how long they had had to save up for it. It was silver on one side of the face, gold on the other and he knew it must have cost them a fortune. He had tried to give it back, to talk them out of spending that kind of money on him but they had taken his guilt as an insult and asked him why he was so ungrateful and so now he wore the watch every day. It and his Father’s lucky coin were the two keep sakes he allowed himself to find sentitmenal value in.
“Five minutes right Dent?”
Harvey nearly dropped the crust of his sandwich onto his napkin covered lap. Gordon was standing over him, pointing down at his watch.
“That’s a nice watch you got there. Was it a present?”
Harvey nodded, wiping his mouth on a napkin.
“Yes sir. It’s from my parents. It’s a graduation present.”
Gordon nodded, his lips twisting up and down in funny shapes. He put one hand in the pocket of his slacks and eased himself down on the bench beside Harvey. Both men had their feet crossed over their knee, one of Gordon’s arms was on the back of the bench.
“Some of the boys said you were uh…here pretty late last night.”
Harvey nodded.
“Big case going down…I knew if I went home I wouldn’t be able to sleep I’d be thinking about it too much so,” Harvey shrugged. I figured I might as well stay and see it through.”
“Uh huh.” Gordon scratched a spot behind his ear and squinted towards the MCU building. His vision was going to hell. One day he would need glasses. Barbra had been telling him for years now to go to the Doctor but he had refused. He didn’t want to look any older than this job already made him feel.
“You know Harvey…there’s an old saying, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” He looked at the twenty year old something wonder boy Dent with a smile.
“You can’t do it all you know. I know you’re young and ambitious and you think you’ve got something to prove but…” Gordon sighed and looked up at the sky.
“But I do.”
Gordon shook his head. “No, no you don’t. People see what they wanna see Harvey, don’t you get that son? Don’t make yourself an old man before your time especially for people who aren’t even worth it.”
Harvey took a long sip of his diet soda and smacked his lips.
“Are you saying the citizens of Gotham aren’t worth my time and effort Gordon?”
Jim’s face was tight and full of misery.
“No that’s not what I’m saying at all. All I’m saying is…just…be careful Harvey. You have to look out for yourself too. Not a lot of people believe in…heroes anymore, especially in Gotham.”
“Well I do.”
Gordon closed his eyes and rubbed a hand across his forehead.
“Ah damnit…youth is wasted on the young,” He murmured.
Harvey was grinning now; his blonde hair appeared to look almost like a halo in the sun.
“Oh come on, you have to believe in something right? We all do.”
“Yes, yes. That we do Harvey. That we do.”
Gordon got up now.
“Break time is over Dent.”
He started walking back towards the building.
“Gordon!” Harvey called after him from the bench.
Jim turned around. “Yeah?”
“You know there’s a saying I’m pretty fond of as well. It says never let it rest, until your good is better than your best.”
Gordon’s smile almost looked like a frown, his shoulders were slumped in some sort of hero’s defeat.
“Get back to work Harvey…and good luck.”
“I don’t need it!” Harvey called after him but he was already gone.
~ ~ ~
“You know his voice has barely changed, his balls just dropped yesterday and the goddamned kid thinks he owns the place.”
“Yeah tell me about it. You know he was here until midnight last night? You shoulda seen him, working his little blonde ass off, I bet he had twelve cups of coffee on his desk.”
“Are you shitting me? I heard he even asked to go out on some beats with the cops last week, wanted, get this, first hand experience on the streets, wanted to see how things was run by the boys in blue I guess, make sure they was doing their job. You ever heard ‘a such a thing?”
Gordon came around the corner to see the usual cluster fuck of badges all leaned up against the walls, water coolers and coffee machines.
“It’s 5 o’clock boys, what are you still doing here? I’m sure you all have wives or…something waiting at home for you, dinner maybe?”
“Hey Gordon you know this ain’t a 9-5 job,” Gonzalez said.
Gordon smiled.
“True.”
“Especially if you’re Dent,” McDougal said rolling his eyes. Gordon noticed the man’s gut hung way over his pants, pushing his brown leather suspenders to their limit. It disgusted him.
“Hey hey enough about the kid alright? Now go home and get some rest. You’re gonna need it for this new case we got coming in tomorrow…we all will.”
A collective groan rose from the crowd.
“Fucking make Dent do it, he’ll be here half the night anyway.” McDougal was on a roll and Gordon knew there would be no stopping him once he got started.
“Yeah,” Gonzalez piped in now. “You know I don’t believe anybody can be that good, that hard working all of the time you know? Something’s not right.”
“I don’t trust him.”
“Yea me either.”
Gordon shifted uncomfortably.
“It’s like you know there’s two sides to him” McDougal continued. “The good side, the light side, the wet behind the ears college boy my Mommy loves me side but I don’t know…you just know there’s something else there, something he ain’t showing, something dark and selfish, only wanting things right so he can take the credit for them. He doesn’t believe in people. He believes in himself.”
“Harvey Dent, Harvey Two Face Dent.”
“Harvey Two Face! What a fucking riot!”
The crowd erupted in laughter and Gordon allowed himself a little chuckle.
“Look, we even made Gordon laugh,” Gonzalez said slapping him on the back.
Jim looked up and down the hallway to see a figure there, half shrouded in the ugly fluorescent light over head, half hidden in the shadows. Harvey stood there watching but only Gordon could see him as he turned away from the crowd that was laughing at him at his expense, the two cups of coffee clutched tight in his hands as he headed back towards his office.
One cup had been for him, one cup had been for Gordon.