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DVD Commentary: The Wolf, the Ram, the Hart and the Coin
I wrote this after watching Batman: the Dark Knight. There was understandably a lot of Joker fics but I wanted to read more about Two-Face. My love of crazy people & my love of crossovers came together to make this fic. After all, Harvey's a lawyer, Angel: the Series has lawyers in it. Demons would probably love working with someone with half a face.
I think this turn out pretty good.
The first thing he registered was the pain.
It was the first time since Rachel died that he didn’t feel searing agony from the left side of his face. (I imagine getting you face burnt off mush have hurt a lot. That kind of thing couldn't have been helping his mental state.) It wasn’t numb, only distant. Like the pain was happening far away. (A little magical fix by Wolfram & Hart. a wordless gift to say 'look how much we can help' but not actually fixing anything until they can get him into their power.)
The next thing he noticed were walls. There were not the ruined walls of the warehouse where he had taken Gordon’s family hostage. Neither were they hospital white, nor prison grey. Where was he?
He remembered Gordon begging, he remembered tossing the coin, he remembered being tackled by the Bat (he was shot, he should have been dead!),(A fancy lawyer degree doesn't mean you wont forget Kevlar exists.) he remembered falling, he thought he remembered Batman catching the boy. Then nothing. (Lets just hand wave how he survived, it was probably magic anyway.)
He got up and looked around. He was still in the half ruined suite he had recovered from the hospital but it no longer smelled of smoke. (Not magic, just really good dry-cleaning)The room he was in was dimly lit and looked like an office despite the bed in the corner.
The door opened.
“Ah, Mr. Dent. I see your up.” The man that walked in was not familiar. He was an average looking man in an impeccable suit carrying an expensive briefcase. “I expect you wondering were you are.”
Harvey said nothing. He didn’t really care were he was. What was the point? He had nothing. He was nothing. Rachel was gone, he had failed to clean up Gotham both legally and otherwise. What was left? He silently watched as the man sat down and opened his briefcase and continued to speak.
“My name is Mr. Smyth, I work for Wolfram and Hart. You might have heard of us?” Harvey nodded but decided not to mention exactly what he’d heard.
“We would like to offer you a job.” The man sat back as if waiting for a response.
Silence. Smyth continued undaunted. “When we at Wolfram and Hart heard about your recent, unfortunate, circumstances, it was decided that it would be mutually beneficial for us to offer you a position at our firm.” Others might have been unnerved by a man with a ruined face continuing to glare silently at him but Smyth had been with Wolfram and Hart for some time now. He was a professional. (He also had no soul & possibly may be a demon.)
“We noticed that you have a lot of potential and it was decided that it would be a waste to let you die in some ruined building or languish in prison so we brought you here. As far as the public are aware Harvey Dent died heroically with no blemish to his name leaving you free to accept our offer.” (He's totally making it sound like Wolfram & hart did this instead of it being something Bats & Gordon set up to make it seem like Harvey owes them. But, in true lawyer fashion, he's not actually saying that outright. I like this bit though I do wonder if I made it too subtle. It's hard to tell if something is clear when it's written down because I know what I meant but I'm not sure if I explained it right.)
A hoarse voice spoke for the first time, “And why should I do that?”
Smyth merely smiled, “Because we could give you everything back.”
“What?”
“Everything. Your face, you career,” a pause, “Rachel”
Harvey sat down across from Smyth. “Explain.”
“Oh, I think it would be better if I showed you.”
Smyth muttered in a strange language and a feeling of static seemed to fill the air. Something like a heat shimmer appeared in front of them but before Harvey could demand an explanation a figure appeared.
“Rachel?”
“Harvey, I missed you so much.” She touched his face, the left side. He flinched away. “It’s alright.” She smiled lifting a mirror. Harvey saw his reflection and gasped. He was whole. He looked at Rachel and reached for her- only to have her disappear before he could touch her. (You've got to admit, the magical props make this a bit of a better 'join the dark side' speech then the Joker gave.)
“What do you think?” Smyth’s voice cut though the shock of getting Rachel back only to lose her again. He glared. “How-”
“There’s more to the world then you can imagine.” The annoying smile was still on his face. “There’s a quick information pack here for after you sign up with us, what do you say.” (I wanted Harvey to have some info after he dealt with Smyth even though I'm never going to right a sequel to this.)
“Where’s the contract?”
Smyth handed him a bundle of pages along with an expensive looking fountain pen.
“And in the interests of good relations,” he held something out to Harvey, “Here.”
His coin!
He took it, pen forgotten in his other hand, then he looked at Smyth. “How about being fair about this?” he said quietly. He flipped the coin. There was a feeling of static when he caught it and he looked at Smyth. (Well of course Smyth's going to use magic to cheat, he's evil.)“Well?” Harvey ignored the smug smile and looked at the coin. Unscarred side.
“No.” (Two-Face doesn't use his coin to decide yes or no, he uses it to decide between good & bad. Looks like Smyth didn't get the memo)
“What?”
“No.” Harvey’s voice was strong and steady for the first time since he woke up and Smyth expression faltered. “But- We can give you Rachel back.”
“Do you really think I what her to see what I’ve become.” He snarled.
“We can fix you face-“
“You think I’m taking about my face!” (He just killed a ton of people, you idiot. That's not something she's likely to be happy about. And if she is then she's not Rachel. Harvey is not dumb.)
“The coin-” Smyth began.
“You cheated.” Harvey stood, “I don’t know how but you managed it but you did. Still fair is fair; I go by what chance has dictated. To bad it was the wrong choice for you. Lets see if you have better luck this time.”
He tossed the coin and immediately had to duck as a force of – something - blasted where he had just been standing. (I'm using a lot of magic in this, but why not.) Both men looked at the coin as it landed on the floor. Scared side.
“Too bad” said Two-Face as he leapt toward Smyth, fountain pen held like a knife, headed straight for his neck. (It was a fancy pen so it was probably real sharp)
(You know, it's pretty much universally acknowledged in the comics that Harv can never catch a break. He's been cure & almost cured so many time but narrative casualty demands he always end up back as Two-Face. The tragedy of the fact that half of him is always looking to be better while the other half will never go away is as much a part of his character as the scared face & the coin. I had to give one win)
I think this turn out pretty good.
The first thing he registered was the pain.
It was the first time since Rachel died that he didn’t feel searing agony from the left side of his face. (I imagine getting you face burnt off mush have hurt a lot. That kind of thing couldn't have been helping his mental state.) It wasn’t numb, only distant. Like the pain was happening far away. (A little magical fix by Wolfram & Hart. a wordless gift to say 'look how much we can help' but not actually fixing anything until they can get him into their power.)
The next thing he noticed were walls. There were not the ruined walls of the warehouse where he had taken Gordon’s family hostage. Neither were they hospital white, nor prison grey. Where was he?
He remembered Gordon begging, he remembered tossing the coin, he remembered being tackled by the Bat (he was shot, he should have been dead!),(A fancy lawyer degree doesn't mean you wont forget Kevlar exists.) he remembered falling, he thought he remembered Batman catching the boy. Then nothing. (Lets just hand wave how he survived, it was probably magic anyway.)
He got up and looked around. He was still in the half ruined suite he had recovered from the hospital but it no longer smelled of smoke. (Not magic, just really good dry-cleaning)The room he was in was dimly lit and looked like an office despite the bed in the corner.
The door opened.
“Ah, Mr. Dent. I see your up.” The man that walked in was not familiar. He was an average looking man in an impeccable suit carrying an expensive briefcase. “I expect you wondering were you are.”
Harvey said nothing. He didn’t really care were he was. What was the point? He had nothing. He was nothing. Rachel was gone, he had failed to clean up Gotham both legally and otherwise. What was left? He silently watched as the man sat down and opened his briefcase and continued to speak.
“My name is Mr. Smyth, I work for Wolfram and Hart. You might have heard of us?” Harvey nodded but decided not to mention exactly what he’d heard.
“We would like to offer you a job.” The man sat back as if waiting for a response.
Silence. Smyth continued undaunted. “When we at Wolfram and Hart heard about your recent, unfortunate, circumstances, it was decided that it would be mutually beneficial for us to offer you a position at our firm.” Others might have been unnerved by a man with a ruined face continuing to glare silently at him but Smyth had been with Wolfram and Hart for some time now. He was a professional. (He also had no soul & possibly may be a demon.)
“We noticed that you have a lot of potential and it was decided that it would be a waste to let you die in some ruined building or languish in prison so we brought you here. As far as the public are aware Harvey Dent died heroically with no blemish to his name leaving you free to accept our offer.” (He's totally making it sound like Wolfram & hart did this instead of it being something Bats & Gordon set up to make it seem like Harvey owes them. But, in true lawyer fashion, he's not actually saying that outright. I like this bit though I do wonder if I made it too subtle. It's hard to tell if something is clear when it's written down because I know what I meant but I'm not sure if I explained it right.)
A hoarse voice spoke for the first time, “And why should I do that?”
Smyth merely smiled, “Because we could give you everything back.”
“What?”
“Everything. Your face, you career,” a pause, “Rachel”
Harvey sat down across from Smyth. “Explain.”
“Oh, I think it would be better if I showed you.”
Smyth muttered in a strange language and a feeling of static seemed to fill the air. Something like a heat shimmer appeared in front of them but before Harvey could demand an explanation a figure appeared.
“Rachel?”
“Harvey, I missed you so much.” She touched his face, the left side. He flinched away. “It’s alright.” She smiled lifting a mirror. Harvey saw his reflection and gasped. He was whole. He looked at Rachel and reached for her- only to have her disappear before he could touch her. (You've got to admit, the magical props make this a bit of a better 'join the dark side' speech then the Joker gave.)
“What do you think?” Smyth’s voice cut though the shock of getting Rachel back only to lose her again. He glared. “How-”
“There’s more to the world then you can imagine.” The annoying smile was still on his face. “There’s a quick information pack here for after you sign up with us, what do you say.” (I wanted Harvey to have some info after he dealt with Smyth even though I'm never going to right a sequel to this.)
“Where’s the contract?”
Smyth handed him a bundle of pages along with an expensive looking fountain pen.
“And in the interests of good relations,” he held something out to Harvey, “Here.”
His coin!
He took it, pen forgotten in his other hand, then he looked at Smyth. “How about being fair about this?” he said quietly. He flipped the coin. There was a feeling of static when he caught it and he looked at Smyth. (Well of course Smyth's going to use magic to cheat, he's evil.)“Well?” Harvey ignored the smug smile and looked at the coin. Unscarred side.
“No.” (Two-Face doesn't use his coin to decide yes or no, he uses it to decide between good & bad. Looks like Smyth didn't get the memo)
“What?”
“No.” Harvey’s voice was strong and steady for the first time since he woke up and Smyth expression faltered. “But- We can give you Rachel back.”
“Do you really think I what her to see what I’ve become.” He snarled.
“We can fix you face-“
“You think I’m taking about my face!” (He just killed a ton of people, you idiot. That's not something she's likely to be happy about. And if she is then she's not Rachel. Harvey is not dumb.)
“The coin-” Smyth began.
“You cheated.” Harvey stood, “I don’t know how but you managed it but you did. Still fair is fair; I go by what chance has dictated. To bad it was the wrong choice for you. Lets see if you have better luck this time.”
He tossed the coin and immediately had to duck as a force of – something - blasted where he had just been standing. (I'm using a lot of magic in this, but why not.) Both men looked at the coin as it landed on the floor. Scared side.
“Too bad” said Two-Face as he leapt toward Smyth, fountain pen held like a knife, headed straight for his neck. (It was a fancy pen so it was probably real sharp)
(You know, it's pretty much universally acknowledged in the comics that Harv can never catch a break. He's been cure & almost cured so many time but narrative casualty demands he always end up back as Two-Face. The tragedy of the fact that half of him is always looking to be better while the other half will never go away is as much a part of his character as the scared face & the coin. I had to give one win)