468/Second Time Around

Second Time Around
Date of Scene:	18 May 2017
Location:	Gotham City
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Two-Face, Karrin Murphy

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Two-Face has posed:
Arkham Asylum

Harvey Dent is often sent to Arkham Asylum due to the strange nature of his issues and his problems. When he was dragged into this place this time, he was kicking and screaming and violently trying to get himself free. He couldn't function and he couldn't be sedated. He fought the sedation with every fiber of his being and actually won a few times. However, those times he lost he found his way back to the land of being awake and turned violent again.

This all stopped when he had a newly minted coin in the palm of his hand.

It has been a couple of weeks since that day and Harvey sits in the center of his two-toned cell of a room. One side is made and pristine, looking as though he had just passed inspection with the orderlies. The other side is trashed and grimy as though he couldn't be bothered. Or didn't want to be bothered. It was perhaps quite obvious which side belonged to who.

The inmate had managed to secure an outfit befitting of his dual nature. His right side was decked out in the specified orange jumpsuit that fit him perfectly. Wrinkle-free and pressed, even in an insane asylum, Harvey Dent had to look his best. He was a former Apollo, after all. His left side, though, left much to be desired. A back version of the orange jumpsuit was on. A broken shackle was around his left wrist and there were many bloodstains all over that side of his outfit. All in all, he looks comfortable even while seated on the floor, each half of him on the proper side of the 'cell'. His eyes are closed but he's not sleeping. He's probably just happy to not be talking to himselves for once.

Karrin Murphy has posed:
In those initial days, Karrin visited a few times. It broke her to see him like this. She didn't even know if he was aware or understood that she was there, but she visited. She always brought some quiet stories -- things about the pranks they played on the new rookie cop, or someone getting a promotion, or how things are going down at the DA's office. How the intern finally passed the bar exam. Good stories, happy ones, ones to make him feel like he's still a part of things. Maybe. She tries.

But then life went all to hell in Gotham. The JOKER became commissioner, things magically went a bit strange, Denarius coins came into town. She hasn't been able to visit. It just makes her feel worse. So, the first evening she's finally gotten free, she's drug herself down to the Asylum with a new book for Harvey and a tired smile on her face. She's out of uniform, just in a pair of jeans, a comfortable teeshirt and her preferred black leather jacket. Her blonde hair is getting a bit long, a messy bob she has to keep tucking behind her ear now. She looks half sleepless. After getting searched and patted down twice, she's finally emitted to the cells.

"...Harv?" She calls into the room, her boots echoing quietly on the cement floor as she crosses in the direction of his cell. Her blue eyes hood a bit with concern as she sees the state of things. That answers questions she had -- not really any better. But she still gives him a game, caring smile.

Two-Face has posed:
Harvey Dent doesn't move from his position except to lift his head a bit. One eye can't close so the other one that actually can function opens slowly. His head tilts just enough to be able to see out of the cell but he doesn't make any moves to get up. Why bother? He's stuck in here for the rest of his days anyway. At least, that's what he's trying to make happen. Harvey is not about to let Two-Face tell him that he needs to get out of here. He's just not. It's finally time to put the Two-Face down for good.

"I'm not decent." That voice is decidedly Harvey's even though there's half of him that's completely the image of the model inmate. Even while it seems that his left half is trying to tug him away from paying any attention to the visitor, his right hand is raised and those fingers are wiggling in a small wave.

"Hey." Harvey adds with a tired and frustrated energy. It has been a long few past weeks/days/however you want to count them. He's tired. Just so tired.

Karrin Murphy has posed:
"Hey, handsome." Karrin states with a ghost of a smile across her lips. She still calls him handsome. She always did. She always will. And not in a mockery of what he is, but because of what she sees left in him. Even in the hospital after things, she cracked that same old smile, touched the good side of his face, and called him handsome. It probably never helped things. "Good to hear your voice. You...weren't all that chatty the last time I visited."

The small blonde walks the rest of the way over to his cell, standing as close as she can without leaning on the bars. She smells like a fresh shower, her strawberry shampoo and light soap. And the oil on her well cared for leather jacket. She holds the book up, shifting it between the bars, "Brought you a present. Figured it'd be more fun to read than the paper. No one wants to read the shitty paper these days." Especially her.

The book is a classic. Science fiction 'Stranger in a Strange Land'. Something sweet, distracting, and very much about the human condition.

Two-Face has posed:
"That makes me want to read the paper." Harvey manages to fight Two-Face off long enough to make a joke. He even sits himself up a bit, looking at the book from afar. He's not going to get up. Not yet. Two-Face isn't done wallowing in self-pity and hatred for the fact that his coin was flattened. Anger makes things a lot more complicated. Even the simplest of actions.

"You shouldn't be here, Karrin. He's dangerous." Harvey doesn't want to tell her to go but that's exactly the tone in his voice that he's carrying right now. Even below that there's another level of Two-Face's rougher voice that's trying to twist those words into more of a threat than it actually manages to sound like. Harvey's too strong right now.

"Thanks for the book, though. I'll have plenty of time to read it."

Karrin Murphy has posed:
And that gives-no-shits, bring it on smirk crosses Karrin Murphy's lips. "Yeah. So is half of Gotham. So is my boss, right now. You ever seen that stop me before, Harv? Never... I'm more worried about you than me. I can handle him. I've taken bigger guys." And it is true. She's won several martial arts championships. Just for the east coast, not quite the country yet, but she's close. He might have even come to see her compete once, when things were good between them.

She keeps the book held up, between the bars, offered in his direction but not just going to toss it in his cell like a dog. She'll never treat him that way, even when Two-Face comes out. So, she waits patiently, blue eyes studying the shadowed man as close as she can in the dim room.

Two-Face has posed:
Maybe it's the smirk that gets him up off his ass but Harvey's pushing himself up on the wall and it takes him a few moments but he stumbles over towards the bars. It's not really a stumble that he wants to be doing but he's been sitting down there so long he's not even sure how his legs are still working. He gets just close enough to the bars to be able to reach the book and stops himself. Just in case. "Thanks." Harvey says, again and with an even quieter tone to his voice this time. He reaches out and grabs the book.

"I've heard a lot of things about what's going on out there. Are they all true?" He figures he doesn't need to repeat any of them. Probably because if he heard what he thought he heard about the Joker, there's probably some truth in everything he's heard since that alone.

Karrin Murphy has posed:
That familiar old smirk turns into a softer smile as he comes closer. Karrin can't hide the worry from her face, watching his stumbling, but it's not pity. It's never pity. She knows that would be worse. She hands over the book gently, letting her fingertips linger a heartbeat or two. Not directly reaching for him, but the hand is there. An offer. A moment of human touch, should he accept it.

"Your welcome. You want any different one, you let me know, okay? I'll bring you any book... Well, any one they let me past the front gate with." She reassures him, half joking. "So...nothin' dirty. Maybe I can sneak in a Hustler between the covers, though." She winks teasingly, really trying to get a smile to his ruined face. THe questions about what is going on out there, however, that makes her smile fall away. SHe doesn't exactly go pale, but she looks more tired than he's seen her in ages. She gives a small dip of her head. "Yeah. It's... shit."

Two-Face has posed:
"Heh." That's the bulk of his response to both her offer of human contact and the Hustler quip. He takes a moment to lean against the table that keeps him closer to the bars than the wall did. He starts thumbing through the book, not really reading or even skimming, but mostly just to be able to do something with his hands. Idle Hands make for coin flipping. And he doesn't need to do that right now.

Even if Two-Face wants him to.

"I wish there was something I could do." Harvey sounds like he's actually hurting because he's stuck behind these bars and not able to help out the city of his birth. "I wish I wasn't..." Harvey trails off and gives a shake of his head. "Things should've been different. Maybe none of this would be happening then." Harvey still blames himself for the arrival of Two-Face. He always will.

Karrin Murphy has posed:
It felt like this was the longest conversation they'd managed in ages. It just may be. Karrin will take every moment she can get of it, actually stretching her fingertips through the bars, a bit closer to him. "Hey..." She reaches for his hand, trying to draw his eye up to her. "Look at me, Harv. Seriously. This is Not. Your. Fault. I need you to trust me on that." If she manages to get his hand, she gives it a tight, warm squeeze. "You know me. I'm not a bullshitter and I'm not going to kiss your ass about this. This isn't you. Gotham... hell, we both know it's always had issues. We've both bent over backwards our whole lives to help save this city and it still feels like treading water. This would happen whether you were sick or well. You... your just still sick, now."

THat ghost of a smile returns to her lips, her head tilting, still looking to keep his eye even as he looks away from her, "Remember when I had the flu and tried to go in? You told me you have to take care of yourself before you take care of anyone else. Hell... You tossed me over your shoulder and you are so lucky I WAS so sick, or I'd have dislocated your arm. But you put me back in bed and told me to stay. To heal up. It...it's just your turn to rest now. To heal up."

Two-Face has posed:
"I think this is a bit different than the flu, Karrin." Harvey almost touches that hand of hers but instead uses his own hand to point towards the completely disfigured and missing side of his face. It's just not a pretty picture and he's coming to terms with it. Except for the part where he's not. And that much is clear from the way he can't just let things go.

"It's not my fault. It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault. But it is our responsibility. All of ours. We should've been better. For Gotham. I should've been better." Harvey looks towards concrete ground that serves as the floor to his abode. "I don't need to rest. I need to be fixed. I need to be the man that I was before this happened." He makes sure that she can see the tore up side of his face more clearly than she can see Harvey. It's weird. It's almost like Two-Face is doing that part.

"Gotham needs its White Knight."

Karrin Murphy has posed:
As he goes on about being the man he was, Karrin can't just stand there any more. He's avoiding her hand, but she reaches out, wrapping her small palm tightly around his. Same hand as always, callouses from the gun range, the little bend in her pinky from where she broke it ages ago. She squeezes his hand tightly, the pad of her thumb running across the side of his palm. Almost reassuring him she is here, she is real. Like she did in the hospital all that time ago.

Karrin doesn't look away as he forces that scarred, viciously ruined side of his face towards her. She's never looked away or even disgusted. She's a cop, she's seen far worse. "You ARE the man you've always been. Your mind is just... sick. But you are still the man I knew. He's still in there. I know it. What you look like...that... That doesn't matter. What you do matters, you know that's true. And yes, this city needs you... Hell, *I* need you. Someone I can trust out there again. But it's going to take...time. You're not yourself right now. I know that. We... we need to work on getting you better and I don't know how to do that better than the people in here. They are experts... "

Two-Face has posed:
Harvey tries not to accept the hand that's squeezing his but he can't find the energy to pull away. Not when there's actual affection there. He very rarely gets anything like this. "Nobody can help me. Not these people. Not Batman. Not even you, Karrin. I'm sorry but it's the truth. I'm no good to anyone like this. I might as well be dead." That's when Harvey pulls away. He realizes something's bubbling up inside of him and he knows he won't be able to control it when he starts pushing back against him. He can feel him coming, almost like footsteps in the hallway of his mind. They're getting faster and faster.

"...Go." There's a rough and raspy twing to his voice though it's still mostly Harvey. He looks up at Karrin and mouths a quiet: 'He's coming.' at her before he starts trying to put himself on the other side of the table. The book is left on the table to give himself two hands to work with. Life's always better with two hands.

"Where ya' sendin' ya' friend offta' so fast, Harv?" Oh shit. There it is. There's that voice. "Come on. Share."

Harvey's eye gets wide as Two-Face regains control of the body. and half of the mind. "Tell ya' what. We can flip for her, yeah? How's that sound?" And Two-Face's hand is already headed into that dingy pocket. Out it comes with that coin, which he holds up for all to see. Twisted grin on his face and everything. Except for Harvey's eye. Harvey's eye looks like its pleading for help... or death. One or the other.

Karrin Murphy has posed:
One last squeeze of his hand, Karrin not wanting him to pull away. Like she feels she might be able to keep HARVEY here and grounded, with her, if she could just hold his hand. But it never works that way. Eventually, he loses the fight to the thing in his head. Karrin's fingers remain loose and open in mid air, almost reaching for him, but as he asks her to go, she just shakes her head. "No. I came to visit you. No matter what state you're in. I'm here." Loyal to the end, that was Karrin Murphy. Her stubborn blue eyes staring back into his good one, even as he mouths that warning.

It's enough that she withdraws her hand from between the bars. While she's not walking away, she won't give him a chance to hurt her and hurt what is left of Harvey's heart at the same time. She stands there, calm and straight, watching as her friend devolves into this other personality. It breaks her heart more every time she sees it. "...There is nothing to flip for, Harvey. I'm here. I came to visit. You know who I am." She still tries to use his name, to call to the part of him she knows. She stares cool as a cucumber back into that ruined face and the twisted grin. She shows no fear.

Two-Face has posed:
"Ya' hear that, Harv? She wants us. Both of us. /Bad/."

Two-Face grins and heads over to the chair on his side of the cell. He's not worried about flipping anymore but he's got the coin out and just twirls it between his burnt and ragged fingers. "This ain't healthy for you, comin' here all th' time. Ya' gonna' make Harv think ya' still love 'im. And whaddaya' think he gonna' do when he finds out ya' jus' playin' 'im like a frickin' fiddle over an' over an' over..."

Two-Face is just ranting and rambling at this point but he's enjoying the free time so he spins in his chair a bit. "Here's tha' thing, dollface. Don't ya' worry 'bout nothin', see. We gettin' outta' here. Sooner than anyone thinks. An' when we do, we gonna' make Gotham pay for what it's done to us. Two lives at a time..."

Karrin Murphy has posed:
A quiet sigh escapes Karrin's lips as he comments on her wanting them. "Not like that. I came because we're *friends*." She reiterates. It's the same dance she's done with Two-Face what feels like a hundred times before. But she doesn't let him seemingly get to her. She just handles it calm and in a flat, quiet voice, like one would a child throwing a temper tantrum.

She steps over to the wall, leaning against it for lack of anywhere to sit, but making a clear indication that she's not running away just because he's come out or because Harvey asked her to go. She's camped out for a bit. "And I'll always care about Harvey. He knows that. You do too." They shared a head, after all. "I'm not playing him. This is what friends DO for each other. They visit when one is sick."

Concern deepens across her face, however, as he comments about getting out of there sooner than she thinks. That makes Karrin frown. "Why do you think you're getting out? You're not better, Harvey... They aren't going to let you out. It's safer in there. For everyone. And no one needs to pay.. what happened was an awful accident. It's not the city's fault."

Two-Face has posed:
"THIS WAS NOT AN ACCIDENT! THIS WAS FATE!"

Two-Face is back on his feet and raging like a psycho. Probably loud enough for things to be heard and the people with the jacket are probably already on their way. Two-Face's movements have him at the table and snatching the book and hurling it at the bars all in one fell swoop.

"Nobody does what they did t' me an' gets away with it! Nobody! An' this city, this cesspool that everybody cares so much about? It's gonna' burn, see. We're gonna' make sure of it." Two-Face's breathing is heavier now but he seems to be trying to calm himself down Either that or Harvey's reeling him back in.

"We tellin' ya' now, Murph. Get outta' 'ere. While ya' still can. Cuz when we get outta' 'ere, Gotham's gonna' get a whole new class of criminal. An' we don't think nobody's gonna' live it tell 'bout it."

Two-Face must be up to somethin'. He must have a plan. Or two.

Karrin Murphy has posed:
The thing that gets the smallest wince out of her is the hurling of the book. Dammit. That was a present for Harvey. Poor, dear Harvey. But Karrin forces herself to take a deep breath in and let it out through her nose. She won't let a mad man get to her. That's what he WANTS. He wants her to react, to be riled up, to yell or fight back. She won't play that game. So she lets him ramble and burn out. Lets that anger find some place to go. Karrin is calm as a saint through it all, other than that single moment.

"You know I'm not going to do that. I took an oath -- To serve and protect -- and I mean to keep my oath to this city. I always will. Harvey would want me to as well. I... I take care of Gotham for both of us now. And there are others out there. Allies. There is still hope for Gotham. And it'll be waiting for you, Harvey... when you're better. I'll be waiting for you." She holds up her hand against the bars for just a moment, a bittersweet smile cracking across her lips. But she knows it's probably soon time to go.

Two-Face has posed:
"Don't wait too long, sweetheart. Cuz when I'm done wit' this town... Harvey's next."

Two-Face just says that last thing and takes the moment to turn his back on her. He grabs his coin again and takes to flipping it without any actual reason. He doesn't check the side it lands on. He just flips it. Over and over and over. As if that's the only thing that's stopping him from getting out of here. As if he's just waiting on something, anything to give him the opening he needs to bust out of this joint.

He's got nothing left to say. He's just hoping he got the chance to make it a little harder for her to get to sleep tonight.

Karrin Murphy has posed:
"Good night, Harvey. It was good to see you, as always." Karrin calls gently across the cell, like a mad man hadn't spent the last five minutes rambling insanity at her. After she bids that farewell to the man she came to see, she turns on the ball of her foot and moves for the door quietly. Her heart still aches over all of this, but maybe she made it a bit better for him. A little bit easier. She'll seek out the guards as she goes, muttering a few warnings that the man is talking about getting out and recommending slightly higher security. Hopefully someone listens. They never do.