marriedtogotham | A chat with Harvey Dent about Garcetti (Reply)

Jim Gordonposted toHarvey Dent

‎[text] Keep your cool. It's just slander. He looks worse for bringing it up at all, especially this close to the end. Just sit on it and let it die. Don't feed into it.

- Harvey Dent ‎[text] I'm bringing charges against him, if I wait for the election to be over, it might be too late. He knows what I have, anyway, and frankly, it's better that I start this now, just in case.
  
  Jim Gordon ‎[text] No. It won't be better. You're going to look a lot more guilty if you bring it up now. Should have done before he had the chance to pull this shit. You wait. If you keep calm, he'll get frustrated. He knows he's not won. If you pull charges now? You're going to lose this election. Please think this over, Harvey.
  
  Harvey Dent ‎[text] I'm coming by to see you in twenty. If you're busy, I'll wait.
  
  Jim Gordon ‎[text] I'll be in my office at MCU.
  
  Harvey Dent Twenty minutes later, there was a short knock on Jim's door before the young blond let himself in, files in hand. He wasn't smiling today, the usually witty attorney was grim, angry and tired of Garcetti's games.
  
  A visit with level headed Jim might help.
  
  "Afternoon," he nodded, before sitting in his favorite chair and tossing the files onto Jim's desk. ""How's your day been?"
  
  Jim Gordon
  ‎"Cut the small talk, Dent. Sit down," he offered, hands clasped together on his desk, head canted just slightly as he watched the young lawyer. He'd seen a few of his trials, seen him get fired up, but never /this/ bad.
  
  Garcetti was playing a tough little game and he had Dent right where he wanted him: angry and willing to do /anything/ to get back at the other candidate. In turn, it would only backfire in Dent's face. Jim had seen it one too many times in his years.
  
  Harvey Dent
  ‎"Fine," Harvey fumed, his eyes dark and fixed on the files on Jim's desk.
  
  "That jackass is the best chance I have of bringing Maroni and by association, Gamble and the Chechen down. He's been dirty since the second he bought his way into law school and /I'm/ the one having charges brought against me!?" He opened the file, showing Jim the carefully compiled evidence.
  
  "If I don't act now, he could take off tonight, election or not, and with the money he's making? Good luck getting him back."
  
  Jim Gordon
  Jim sighed, adjusting his glasses, and took a look at the files, the evidence. Dent had a lot, and how he got it, Jim didn't really want to know. Fact was, it was enough to put Garcetti away from a long, long time, and a chance to get Maroni into court. Finally.
  
  What was it worth though? It was tricky.
  
  "You do this now and he somehow manages to weasel his way out of these convictions? You're the one going down, Dent. Not him. If you do do it, and you get him, you'd win the election by default. But," he held up a hand, closing the file, "please consider it rationally before you decide. I'd much rather see you make a bigger impact overall with the city when you're elected, than not at all."
  
  Harvey Dent ‎"I'm not interested in winning by /default/," Harv said, shifting in the chair, elbows on Jim's desk. "I'm going to win by majority vote, no other way. It's the only reason I've held off for so goddamned long."
  
  He raked a hand through his hair, jaw locked as he took a moment, thinking it over.
  
  "You think he's trying to force my hand?"
  
  Jim Gordon
  ‎"If you don't want to win by default, back off now. When he sees you've got more balls than him, he'll get the point. He won't stop, but the more you deny and ignore him, the better man you look to be. And Candidate for that matter."
  
  Jim clapped his hands together once, and leaned back in his chair. "He wants to get you riled up enough to fight back. That'll be the end the of it if you do. I'm only warning you, ultimately you do as you see fit, Harvey."
  
  Harvey Dent
  Harvey's temper had always been his achillies heel, when struck at, both sides of the blond were all too ready to strike back, twice as hard. It felt alien not to defend himself the way he wanted to.
  
  But the more Harv thought about it, the more he realized Jim was right, if he charged Garcetti now, he could win the battle but lose the war. He calmed down with a long sigh, feeling his heart slow and the high color ease from his face as he watched Jim's trio of fish in their bowl.
  
  "Okay, but I need you to do a favor for me."
  
  Jim Gordon Jim gave the young man as long as he needed; a victim of Gotham and hero to the people he might have been, but Harvey was still a kid, he still had to /learn/. All Jim could do was guide and hope took a little well worn information from the older man.
  
  It seemed to work, for now.
  
  "Favor?" he asked, brows knitting together curiously.
  
  Harvey Dent The kid fixed Jim with a much calmer, older gaze. He knew he could trust Jim now, he was the best cop he knew, did things his way and despite the weak links in the unit, held it all together the way no one else could have.
  
  "I'm not saying it will," he said, "but if something happens and I'm not around for election night, I want you to keep this-" he rested his hand on the file, "going."
  
  Jim Gordon Now, /that/ earned Harvey a very fixed, and leveled, parental gaze. It was bad out there, especially right now, but Jim was positive that Batman wouldn't allow anything to happen to the White Knight, not while he was ahead.
  
  However, to keep it simply between them, to show Dent that he /could/ count on Jim despite the few in his unit that were more than questionable, he nodded.
  
  "Wouldn't dream of letting it die."
  
  Harvey Dent
  The look over Jim's glasses was enough to reveal that Jim thought the risk Harvey faced was real. Even bought and paid for DA's met violent ends in this city, just for looking like they might turn. The young man taking a defiant stand against the entire mob all but had a target on him twenty four hours a day. Harvey knew it would get worse the closer election day came, but trusted Bruce to do his best to keep him safe.
  
  If it turned out not being enough, Harv would never blame him ... But he knew Bruce would blame himself.
  
  "Thanks," the intense blond seemed to relax a little, considering Jim over the desk. They'd worked together, many times, but for the first time Jim really felt like a partner to the future DA.
  
  "Maybe don't tell /him/ I said that."
  
  Jim Gordon Jim raised a surprised brow; he knew that Batman and Harvey had worked close together before, but just /how/ close was never certain. And that little remark made him think it was a little more than that. Tricky.
  
  "He's, from what I know, a big boy. I'm /sure/ he could handle it."
  
  Harvey Dent ‎"He'd just assume I was planning on giving up or something like that," Harv said, walking to the coffee maker and pouring two cups.
  
  "You know how he is." He knew in hindsight that he said a little too much, but he really didn't need Bruce upset because Harvey made contingency plans ... Well, especially Charles.
  
  He walked the cups to Jim's desk and took a seat again.
  
  Jim Gordon Gratefully, Jim took the cup; it was going to be a long day. Keeping something from Batman was like keeping keeping secrets from God. It just didn't happen. Or not often anyway. Jim was sure his office was already bugged by the vigilante, but he didn't say anything about that, he had no /proof/.
  
  "No, I.... understand. Better have a backups plan than nothing. The way this city eats people alive, I couldn't blame you."
  
  Harvey Dent
  ‎"I'll get by," Harv said, taking a swallow of the coffee, the first he'd had that day. He wasn't sure if he could trust the coffee at the office anymore, and he was too angry to go anywhere public to get another one all morning.
  
  "It's just a precaution, that's all. I'll get the case as ready to go as I possibly can so that the day after the election, I can file it. It'll be the first thing I do as DA." He smiled a little, his mood noticably lighter now.
  
  "How've things been around here?"
  
  Jim Gordon ‎"They've been. Undoubtedly better, but what can you do when the soon to be DA of Gotham is constantly a target?" he smirked, trying to poke fun at the situation, make light of it while they could.
  
  Honestly? He almost felt bad for the son of bitch responsible for all of this, because if he knew Batman at all, he was well on his way to making them regret it.
  
  Harvey Dent
  Harv managed a good natured laugh at his own expense, "Well, paying off my credit cards isn't such a priority anymore. If the mob has their way, Mastercard is out of luck."
  
  He took another swallow of coffee, not assuming Bruce would do anything for his sake. Gotham was an entire city that needed Bruce, and Harvey was just one man. He would /never/ ask Bruce or Charles for protection above what an ordinary citizen might, because he didn't feel he deserved it any more than they did ...
  
  And because he knew, deep down, that they'd go further than Harvey might like them to if they knew he was stressed, and a little scared.