Title: When it alteration finds Fandom: DCU (Batman: The Animated Series) Pairing: Bruce/Harvey Rating: Implied sex Notes: Rubynye wanted titles for a drabble challenge. I nearly gave her this title and pairing, but before I could, the bunny latched onto my throat. This is the first slash pairing I can remember seeing -- unless that was Harley and Ivy, from the same series. For Nanni. What this is, and what this isn't -- it's not a kiss, it's a punch. It's not a killing shot to the head, it's a bruising shot to the armor. That's not his lover, it's his arch enemy. They are arch enemies together, and apart they would be less than that. Villain and hero go together. Two sides of the same coin. The Bat is the hero who hasn't entirely lost, yet. Not forever. The Bat is better than Harvey can be, these days. He doesn't drown on his own breath, doesn't scream and taunt and threaten in another man's voice. Sometimes Harvey sees more in the Bat than could possibly be there, hears in the Bat's sounds of pain something familiar, but Two Face doesn't listen to Harvey. Harvey's crazy. "Jesus, yes, Bruce, like that." And Bruce laughs, breathlessly, and kisses him, and Harvey couldn't be more open, couldn't be more lost in his blue, blue eyes. Bruce doesn't say "I love you," but the way he sighs when he comes means it, and the softness of his smile afterward is a promise -- this can, will, must happen again. They stay up until all hours of the night, kissing and talking about politics, philosophy, the way the world works. There's more than they'll ever be able to talk about, but that's no reason to talk all the time, when they could be making love. The Bat doesn't kill. He's crazy, too, or stupid; he can figure out what Two Face wants him to know, but he can't stop it soon enough, all the time. People who are in the way get hurt. It makes Harvey mad at himself when the Bat doesn't get there in time, and mad at the Bat for not being competent enough. It just makes Two Face laugh and pull the trigger, but even he allows the Bat the possibility of survival. "You should marry her," Bruce says. He's always been practical, under that light façade. Sometimes there's something in his eyes too incisive for Harvey to quite believe it of him; Bruce is capable of more than he'll ever admit. "Probably." Harvey shrugs and reaches for his hand, under the table. There are enough men at the club who come here for their own reasons -- enough unspoken rules about when to avert one's eyes. And Bruce's shallowness is back. It's been more present, lately. It makes Harvey angry with him. "You love her, don't you?" "Yes." He glances side to side, checks. "But not like I love you." Bruce shrugs. "That's all right." "You wouldn't be angry?" "It'd be good for you." Bruce pulls his hand free. "Both of you." He thumps Harvey's shoulder. The only way they can really touch, in public, as millionaire and D.A. It makes Harvey's skin itch with how completely not-enough that is. He wants Bruce naked, now, willing and vulnerable, not locked away behind that mask. "I guess I should propose, then." "I'll be looking forward to the wedding." Harvey isn't as good at calculating chances as Two Face is. He doesn't have to be. He knows when he goes up against the Bat, it's never an even chance. The more he stacks the deck, the more bullets he has, the more men he hires, the more he'll have to trip himself up. The Bat talks to him, sometimes, instead of to Two Face. Harvey can't answer in words, not in a fight, not anymore. But he can change the odds and change the game until it really is fair. The real truth is he doesn't want to win. But neither does the Bat. If they did, they'd both be dead by now.
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