Chapter Text
February 1st, 1994
The house sits dark and quiet, all sound and light muffled by the snowy blanket of the cold New Jersey winter. Even the light that oozes out through a second story window onto the suburban expanse of a sleepy part of Somerset seems pale and faded. The casual passerby, wrapped up tightly under scarf and jacket, would note the slight figure of a woman cradling something through that window. But the sense of intense melancholy, of deep loss, that seemed to pour from the dark house would convince them to keep on moving, to pay the woman no mind.
Gilda Dent was used to people paying her no mind. Outside of her Apollo no one really did. Oh, Bruce had been nice enough in school and Jim occasionally remembered to see her as more than an extension of her husband, but they were outliers. The only man who had cared to talk to the cold, quiet young woman who was always on the edge of any social gathering, be it a college football game or a wealthy society party, was Apollo. Her shining sun. The bright light in her world. The man who had understood the deep rot at the heart of Gotham, at the heart of society, and hadn't shrunk back from his task. He had wooed her with the same deep compassion and intensity that he had taken to trying to make Gotham a better place.
And look where that had gotten him. Apollo would never again rise with the sun. The TV blared out the constant barrage of death and depravity that infested Gotham, bleached teeth beach blonde reporter gleefully speaking of the most recent horrible murders that had risen above the background noise of Gotham violence. A flashing image of the clown, the plant woman. And then him, the monster. The thing that had killed her husband. The world blurs for a second. She can smell blood and gunsmoke once more. She should have been faster, more thorough. She should have stepped in before. Maybe then he'd be here. Maybe then he could see his daughter.
The little bundle cooed in her arms, wriggling around and burbling with slight discomfort. She had her father's nose, Gilda thought idly as she slowly rocked Harvey's child in her arms. She had a lot of her father's features, a thousand little things that reminded Gilda of him every day. It made her heart ache. It made her head scream. She should give her up. She couldn't stand the constant reminder. She didn't deserve to grow up under Gilda's care. It would be better for the child of monsters to be away from both failures. It would be better if she never had to be mocked by dead Apollo's features again.
Tiny hands reach up and wrap themselves around a finger, bleary baby eyes open up to stare at Gilda. She had her mother's eyes, dark and big and inquisitive. Gilda decides that she should take her lithium. She felt like she needed to take it more and more these days. She couldn't turn to drink and cigarettes like Eileen. The Gold's had raised their daughter better than that. strict New England values beaten into her every day until she left for college. Harvey had put a stop to that. Harvey had almost fought her father, had fought her brother, when he learned. It was another point of connection between the two of them. One Gilda would not pass onto her child.
There is a knock at the door, breaking through the wall of quiet the snow imposed upon the Dent household. Still carrying her child, Gilda crept down the stairs, feeling out with unsteady hands for the light switch. Gilda didn't know the last time she was fully aware of going downstairs. The last few weeks had been passed in a mechanical haze, a grey and white blur that made up the space between her few lucid moments. Was it always so cold down here? Upstairs there was a numbing warmth that came from sheer habitation. Down here, where she only went to make food for herself and her child, the cold had crept in.
She opened the door to see a man she assumed would want nothing to do with her. Hat in his hands, Jim Gordon stands on her doorstep. His expression is one of concern, pity and the slight twist of a smile that's attempting to be reassuring. There is a long moment of icy silence as Gilda just stared at him with her dead eyes, boring a hole into the Commissioner until he spoke.
"Gilda, I'm glad to see you're doing well." He said in a tone of voice that implied more of a question than a statement of fact. When she didn't respond with her actual wellness level he shifted his weight from one foot to another and continued. "I haven't seen you since before the baby was born. How is she doing."
"Juno is well." Gild was surprised by the empty sharpness and the rasp of her own tone. How long had it been since she had spoken?
"Good! Good." As Jim spoke Juno moved around a bit, whining at the cold. "Ah, see there. She's a fighter, just like Harvey."
Gilda stiffened at the name. How dare he! How dare the man who failed him even mention her Apollo. Gordon seemed to realize his mistake and quickly kept on speaking. "Gilda. I wanted to ask if you and Juno would come over and have dinner with Eileen, Junior and I tomorrow. We're worried about you, the whole damn PD is. This kind of thing really bites into a person. Eats away at them. Hell, after what happened I--"
"I am doing just fine." Gilda cut him off sharply. She moves back, retreating away from the headlights of his car, back into the comforting darkness of the house.
"Wait! Goddamnit hold on a second a wait!" Jim steps forwards, putting his foot on the threshold and a shoulder against the slowly closing door. "Listen, Gilda. I'm going to be straight with you. I'm worried sick. Bab is worried sick. Hell, Bruce Wayne is apparently worried sick. Harvey," he hesitates, mouth twisting up in disgust and anguish, "becomes ill and after you have your baby you disappear for a month. Please, come to dinner with us. Get out of this damn house and live a little!" His face softens. "For Juno's sake, if nothing else. Junior is only a few years older than her. She needs to be around other people."
"Besides her failure of a mother." The bitterness drips into Gilda's voice. She opens her mouth to spite out a retort, to choke out a sob, before closing it. She missed people. She missed being more than a thing, a limp doll left behind after its owner got ill. She missed not feeling like she was rotting away, waiting for the sun to come out and end this eternal night.
"I...I'm sorry. I haven't felt myself lately." She clutches Juno close to her chest, free hand going up to rub her temples. "That sounds lovely Jim. We'd love to come." He looks unconvinced, failing to hide the frown that sat underneath his hideous mustache.
But Jim Gordon is a damn good cop, and he knows during a confrontation when to push and when to back off, especially when hes won. "Thats...great Gilda. I'll tell Bab that you'll be coming." He forced out a weak smile. "Shes making her famous Irish Stew. You won't regret it, promise."
Gilda nods. "Sure Jim, good night." She steps back into the dark house, leaving him to turn away and trudge back through the snow to his car.
October 11th, 1999
Juno hummed a church hymnal in the car, still holding the little prayer booklet the Father had given her as she left. Mommy had started going to Church on Sundays, Our Lady of Somethingsomething, more often in the past few weeks. She wanted to talk to all the nice ladies with the fancy hats who always complimented Juno on her dresses. And the stern men in suits and ties who could often be counted on for a smile and a piece of candy if Juno said nice stuff about Mr. Jesus to them. She was good at knowing the right words to say to make people smile. Mommy said she was as charming as Mr. Hill, whoever that was.
As the car drove down the carefully manicured Somerset neighborhoods Mommy looked back and smiled at Juno in that sort of sad way she did sometimes. "Did you like Father Day's sermon, sweetie?"
Juno closed her eyes and hummed under her breath as she thought. She did this often, usually when someone asked her a Big Question. She needed to find the answer that would make them happiest and be the best. James taught her that making people happy was important when you wanted to get away with stuff, but she just liked it when people smiled. "I liked the part about how those who defend the helpless all go to heaven among the green fields! All the stuff about fighting was kinda scary, but I think that God should help people who help people!"
She gave Mommy a big smile, gap toothed cause one of her front teeth had come out. Mommy seemed happy with this, smile getting a lot happier. "Thats right, Junebug. God wants us to help people. The most important thing you can do is help out those with less than us."
"Thats why Daddy's in heaven, right?" Juno asked, still smiling. It made sense to her! Daddy had worked hard to protect the people of the City. Everyone said so! Uncle Jim talked about him like he was like Batman or Robin or Superman! She missed Daddy, she wished he hadn't had to go before she was born. It hurt her tummy a lot to think about it, but knowing that he was in heaven because of all the people he helped make it hurt less bad.
Mommy's face went still and Juno knew she had said something wrong. She could tell when she said something bad, especially with Mommy. Her face would get all still and cold and her eyes would get dark and not really see her. Just like she was right now. Juno always messed this up, she was always saying the wrong thing to Mommy. She tried so so so so hard and yet it felt like she was always messing up.
"S-Sorry!" She blurted out, feeling tears start to rush to her face. She didn't want Mommy to cry, she didn't want Mommy to feel bad because she messed up.
"No! No, it's fine Junebug!" Mommy's voice was distant and hurt sounding. "You didn't do anything wrong. You're completely right. Daddy's in heaven." Mommy closed her eyes and pulled over to the side of the road. They sat in silence for a few long moments before Mommy leaned over and hugged Juno. "You're right. Your father was a good man, a very good man. He's up in Heaven with the Lord now."
Juno leaned into the hug, burying her face into Mommy's arms. She always smelled like flowers and smoke and ink. Juno loved how she smelled, it smelled like safety. "Ok. Ok." Her voice was soft. She still knew she messed up. "I'm sorry for bringing up Daddy, I know it hurts."
"Shhh, it's alright Junebug." Mommy rubbed the back of Juno's head, stroking her long, dark hair. "It's my fault for being such a we--for not remembering your Father well enough." After a while Mommy pulls back and fixes Juno with that look that Juno knows means she's planning something. "Junebug, do you want to help Mommy out with something important?"
Juno nods her head eagerly, mouth closed shut as she puts on a face of determination. She could help out Mommy! She could stop messing up!
"I'm going to talk to a bunch of grownups about your Father and how they can help carry on his legacy even after he's...gone. I want you to come with me to talk to these people. Having you around will remind them of your Father and why they should help out." Mommy smiles a bit, face softening. "It'll also be nice to have you around to remind me why I'm doing all this in the first place."
"Of course! I can do it Mommy!" Juno shouts, vibrating with excitement. Carrying on Daddy's leg-a-cee sounded super important!
"You'll have to be on your best behavior. These are very important grown ups. You'll have to wear nice dresses and speak only when asked and not throw your shoes around the room."
"Mommy I haven't done that in ages!" Juno's voice rose in a scandalized tone. She was 5 now, not a little kid! "I'll be a good girl, I promise!"
Mommy looks at her for a while longer before closing her eyes and nodding. "Good, tomorrow after you come back from school we'll go into the City and talk to some people, OK?"
"OK!" Juno said, nodding happily. She felt Daddy looking down at her from Heaven with a smile on his face. She was doing him proud, she knew it.
March 23rd, 2001
It was late at night in the Dent household, a little past 9. Juno was supposed to be in bed by 7, but tonight was different. At school she had been talking to Lonnie, her second best friend, and he had learned that Mommy didn't let Juno watch the news. News from the City was always violent and mean and dark. Scary stuff, too scary for Juno. Mommy let Juno watch shows and cartoons and stuff of course, but never the news. Juno was generally happy with this, sometimes she heard scary stuff from Uncle Jim that sounded like it would be news and she always had nightmares afterwards.
Lonnie thought differently. Lonnie thought that it was totally lame-o that she didn't watch the news cause she was told not too. Lonnie also thought that the City was super cool and neat and that wearing Batman sneakers was the height of fashion, so Juno didn't often take this opinion on most things pretty seriously. But she had told Jimmy about it during their nightly calls and he had called her a baby for being scared of the News. Jimmy often called her a baby when she didn't want to do something he wanted to do, like stomp ants or cut people's laundry with knives or stuff like that. Usually she was able to whine and pout and get him to do something less silly, but not this time.
Jimmy had said that she would be the biggest baby in the whole wide world if she didn't watch the news tonight and that he wouldn't take her to any of the cool spots he found when she was in the City to see him next. Juno had almost started crying from that, but she didn't because she was a big girl and not a baby. She'd show stupid Jimmy, she'd watch the news so good! She wouldn't be scared at all and would tell everyone in school about all the cool stuff she'd seen except for Lonnie! That'd show him!
So Juno had waited until Mommy went to bed to creep out of her room and slink downstairs. She should have been super sleepy, it was way past her bedtime, but a sort of nervous energy kept her up. She was doing something Bad. She was breaking the rules. She normally only felt like this when she was following Jimmy on one of his stupid schemes, like the time he had taunted a bunch of Big Kids into trying to fight him when he'd hidden a bunch of thumbtacks pointed out under his shirt. She could barely keep still as she hopped up onto the couch and turned the TV. The volume had to be low to keep Mommy from hearing, but that was OK. Juno was really good at listening.
The excitement quickly faded as the news started. It was, honestly, kinda boring. Lame, almost. Lots of people she didn't recognize talking about stuff she didn't care about. They kept on showing a donkey and an elephant, which was kind of exciting, but soon she realized that they were just talking about two old guys instead. After the boring not donkey and elephant stuff it went to talk about some place overseas. Ceerbeeuh. This was a bit more exciting, lots of talking about planes dropping bombs and explosions and stuff. It was a little scary too, but nothing too bad. Still, it wasn't about the City. No one really cared too much about stuff that wasn't about the City if it wasn't about Superman or the other members of the Justice League.
Some commercials started up for weird adult things like a v medicine that made old people dance with each other or something called insurance for cars, but soon the news came back on. Local news. She knew what local meant and perked up a bit. Nothing ever happened in Somerset, this must be about the City.
The TV showed the front of the big building that Uncle Jim worked at with the Police. A huge crowd of people were out in front of it, a space cleared around a podium that Uncle Jim stood at. He looked different than usual. Uncle Jim was usually all smiles and hugs, a big bristly mustache and a big coat that spoke of warmth and love. He always had a funny saying to tell Juno when she was over with him and he usually let her get away with drinking two sodas in a night or staying up a bit too late to watch cartoons.
She loved Uncle Jim, but she wouldn't say he looked cool. Here he looked cool. All traces of his usual goofy dad look were gone, replaced by a stern face and a straight back. He seemed to radiate out a sort of rock steady calm and confidence that Juno rarely saw in her life. He looked over the crowd with the practiced ease of someone who had done this a thousand times before, undeterred by the flashing cameras or the reporters yelling questions.
"People of Gotham, after a long investigation the Gotham City Police Department has finally put an end to Two-Face's latest series of attacks." His voice quieted the crowd immediately, sounding almost like Juno's strict teacher. "Just three hours ago the GCPD tracked down Two-Face to his lair. There officers, with the welcome aid of the hero Batman, detained and arrested all members of Two-Face's gang and the man himself. All 25 hostages will make a full recovery and should be released back to work at the City Mint within the week."
As he spoke a projector screen next to him lit up and Juno found herself looking at a monster. His face was split down the middle and her attention was instantly drawn to the left side. Burned and bubbled skin that was a grey-ish red. Shock white hair that looked to be falling out in places. One bloodshot, gimlet yellow eye that seemed to glare at her with an unrestrained hate. She put a hand over her mouth to stifle a shriek, so startled she had become from him. And that was the less scary side of his face.
What should have been the more normal half seemed worse to Juno. Tanned white skin, dark blonde hair and a green eye that seemed just as angry as the other one. She knew that face, but she couldn't remember why. Rather Juno could tell that her brain was refusing to remember. She grasped at any details of where she had seen that face before but the dissipated like steam from the bath in her hands. Something inside of her, something deep down, told Juno that she didn't want to remember. That realizing where she knew that face from would hurt her.
Uncle Jim had just finished thanking everyone who had helped the police catch this man Juno couldn't remember while she sat in shock at the reveal of the monster's face. Uncle Jim's previously victorious expression turned dark, his mustache twitching down as he frowned. "While it is never pleasant to deal with a member of Gotham's more eccentric criminals, Two-Face is always especially difficult for the police. We prefer to remember him as he was rather than what he is. It is never easy to deal with someone who was once a friend and has lost their way so totally. However I promise the people of Gotham City that the GCPD will continue to do their duty. It is what Harvey Dent would have wanted, even if he doesn't understand that right now."
Juno almost threw up.
Her mouth was filled with bile as some awful echoing ring started in her ears. She realized where she knew that face from. It smiled at her from every event she and Mommy went to. It grinned up at her from the photo albums she sometimes looked through. It hung on the mantle, right above the TV where its mocking twin glared at her in hate. It told her she was a good girl in her brightest dreams, that it was proud of her while looking down from Heaven.
She was barely aware of a reporter with a wide smile that framed shining white teeth talking in a gleeful, almost gossiping tone about Two-Face. About Harvey Dent, the star DA who fell. Murderer. Gangster. Monster. The words hit her like a punch to the gut again and again. 7 years. For 7 years he had been this monster. All Juno's life. Her father wasn't dead. Her father was a monster. Her father was a failure.
Someone was sobbing, she didn't know who. The room spun around her. She actually threw up. By the time Mommy came down in a panic, woken up by Juno's crying, she was a sobbing ball on the couch as the TV went to ads.
July 16th, 2004
Juno's feet kicked idly in the air, four stories above a dirty Gotham alleyway. The bleary heat of a Gotham summer beat down upon her, sticking hair to forehead and clothes to skin through sheer amount of sweat. The heat laid on the city like a blanket, quieting noise and crime and life. It was too hot to mug someone. Too hot to hide a gun. Too hot to really do anything.
From the apartment behind her came the muffled sounds of an argument just barely kept from boiling over into shouting. Juno ignored it, staring down at her Wonder Woman sneakers. The left one was untied, a slightly dirty white shoelace dangled in an open void, plastic tip of the lace pointing straight down into the deep Gotham alleyway. She was 10 and would be starting middle school once summer was over. A few hours ago the thought would have sent butterflies going up in her stomach. Now it really didn't.
"Goddamnit woman! She'll be a good influence on him, it's not like she has any--" Uncle Jim's voice momentarily became clear before getting muffled again as Jimmy opened up the window and clambered out onto the fire escape before closing it behind him. Her best friend was tall now, having shot up like a weed in the past year. His dark red hair was combed into something that almost approached a style, if a bit ruined by how his cracked glasses sat crooked on his face. "Fuck its hot outside." He whined, grimacing at the heat.
"Language." Juno said automatically. "Anyways, it's your fault. I told you you should've left that cat alone."
Jimmy's scowl deepened and he growled. "Mangy thing was getting close to me. You saw that it was rearing up and stuff. It was self defense." He huffs and turns the full force of his glare onto her. "Sides, I needed something to test my new knife on. It was either it or you."
Juno just rolled her eyes. He hadn't tried to stab her since his 11th birthday last year, where she'd kicked him in the nards and made him yak. "Maybe you should test it on that stupid overcoat of yours. You must be sweating like crazy in that thing."
He huffed angrily and grabbed the collar of his stupid coat, giving it a shake in a way she knew he thought made him look so cool. "Stupid babies like you don't get fashion. This is super cool, exactly like what the Columbine kids wore. You wouldn't get it." His frown turned petulant. "Sides, you don't complain when stupid Lonnie wears a cool coat."
"Lonnie only wears it in the winter, and it makes him look stupid too." Juno said, kicking her feet a few times. "He also isn't wearing it because someone who killed a bunch of people wore something like it." She wasn't sure why Uncle Jim let Jimmy keep the coat. They all knew why he was wearing it. Juno just hoped that this weird phase of Jimmy scratching stupid symbols into desks and telling kids at his school to not show up the next day would pass quickly.
"You wouldn't get it. You're a little lamb who thinks she's sooo cool because she's the prettiest one in the herd. You won't even see the slaughterhouse coming." He said haughtily.
"Go eat rocks Jimmy." Juno groused. He was in a shit-- bad mood today, she could tell. He didn't deign to respond, instead just sitting down next to Juno on the fire escape.
For a long time they sat there in silence, looking out over the hazy, smog filled air of Gotham City. The rumble of trains, the far off sound of a crowded street, even the distant call of a siren. In the alleyway below a few little kids, probably homeless given their ragged clothing, threw bits of rotten food and bones at a pack of lazy alley cats. Through the far end of the alleyway Juno could make out a smiling woman advertising Janus Cosmetic's newest blush. She would have to ask Momm-- Mom to get some for her. She liked Janus's stuff, especially after Ms. Sionis took over. No one really knew what happened to Mr. Roman Sionis, but Ms. Ramona was super pretty and did a bunch of her own advertising. Not this one though, which was kinda sad.
"I think mom is gonna leave dad." Jimmy said after a long while, letting that sentence just hang in the air.
"Oh." Juno said. Sorry? Dang? She was usually so good at talking to people, but right now her head was empty. Eventually she just lamely settled on "Why?"
"Me. My stupid older cousin. My stupid dead uncle. Dad never being around. That lady from Chicago dad is definitely meeting with." The usual bitterness in Jimmy's voice was much more pronounced now, almost devouring the usual confidence he projected. "Probably mostly me. I'm a weird little fuck up that can't do anything right."
Juno bit back 'language'. "I don't think that's true. You're always trying to help out Uncle Jim and Aunt Babs." Jimmy was violent and weird and didn't have many friends besides Juno, but she had seen him be nice. When those kids tried to bully her for carrying around her stuffed teddy he had beaten the C-R-A-P out of them. He had helped her come up with so many good plans to make kids at school like her even more, even if those plans were sometimes a little mean. And even if he sometimes hurt or or all the times threatened her, Jimmy had never really scared her like so many other things about the City did.
"Yeah, as if. Mom can't stand me. She doesn't like being around me. Sometimes I catch her looking at me like I'm some bomb about to go off." Juno very carefully looked away. Jimmy hated it when people saw him crying. "Dad pretends to not notice what I do, the things I say, but I know he knows. He's just waiting for me to go and do something bad so that he can lock me away in Arkham with all the other crazies."
"Thats not true Jimmy." She reached out and, very carefully, put a hand on his shoulder. She braced herself for the punch that usually came with touching Jimmy, but it never came. "I don't know what's up with Aunty and Uncle, but I know it's not cause of you." She turned, careful not to look at his red and tear streaked face, and smiled. "You're really nice Jimmy, even if I think you have problems showing it. They gotta know that. They just gotta."
Jimmy let out a shaky laugh that ended up in a snort as he sucked some snot back up into his nose. "God you're such a wussy little baby. I can't believe I fucking hang out with such a baby like you." She could hear the small smile in his voice through the facade of affront.
"Language."
"Fuck you."
"Language!"
"Oh fuck o--"
The window suddenly opened and Uncle Jimmy stuck his head out. He looked exhausted, deep lines in his face and a slight puffiness in his eyes that Juno knew to be the mark of tears. But he smiled at the two of them anyways, almost managing to hide the tiredness in his expression. "Hey kiddos, I think it's time you two came inside. It's starting to get a bit dark out."
Juno looked up to see the sun start to set, slowly moving its way towards the horizon as it cast the hazy Gotham sky in oranges and golds. Jimmy started to object before his father spoke again. "Cousin Barbara is going to arrive in about a half hour and I want some help setting up dinner for her. We don't want to give another Gordon a poor welcome, do we?"
Juno sprang up, a giddy energy suddenly racing through her. Even if it was really really sad that Jimmy's uncle had died, Juno was super excited to meet his cousin. She seemed so cool and smart and neat from what she heard. "Sure Uncle Jim!" She said as she took his hand and stepped through the window into the next chapter of her life.
November 15th, 2004
"In 1635 a group of Swedish mercenaries and colonists settled on the middle of 3 islands. The small group of cottages and village stores would one day grow to become the city that we all know and love to this very day. Can anyone tell me the name of this explorer?"
A hand shot up from the middle of the classroom, carefully painted nails catching the light. The tired eyes of an under-paid teacher scanned the crowd of otherwise stone faced students before settling on the one eager, smiling face in the room. "Yes Miss Dent?"
"His name was Jon Logerquist, Mrs. Bates. He was a mercenary in the 30 years war that received a minor noble title due to his valor at the Battle of Nördlingen. After the battle he used his money to finance an expedition to America to escape the wars of religion raging in Europe." Juno said in a chipper tone, clear voice carrying over the droning whir of the heating system.
"Very good Miss Dent." The teacher said tiredly, writing down LOGERQUIST on the chalk board. "As you just so helpfully stated Mr. Logerquist was a soldier of fortune who won great acclaim in the army of Swedish General Gustav Horn..."
As the teacher droned on and on, Juno settled back into her seat, smiling happily. She had started to get more and more into her studies, spending long hours at home pouring over her text books to make sure that she knew as much as possible. It turned out that studying could be a fun game if you treated it kind of like a treasure hunt, breaking down each page in order to find the important bits within.
"Know-it-all." An Asian boy next to her drawled under his breath, fixing her with an ugly look. "I thought you Two-Face's kid not Riddler's"
"Maybe she's both. I bet that freak Dent would totally be gay. I bet she can't wait to join both her daddy's in Arkham." A kid with an ugly mop of blonde hair sneered out.
"We're all just waiting for you to go to the nuthouse, freak. Watch your back." The first boy said, pencil pointed right at Juno.
A shudder of pain hit through Juno's core. Despite her lingering popularity from elementary school she had been getting bullied more and more by other kids as knowledge of who her dad was started to become better known. It hadn't been a problem before, why was it such a big deal now!
In the back of the class a solidly built black boy grimaced at the scene. Very carefully he flipped open his phone and shot off a quick text to one of his dad's friends. Jimmy was a bit of a freak, but his father had told him to make nice with Gordon's kid and he knew that Jimmy was friends with the Dent girl. Sides everyone knew that Dent had been one of the Good Ones back in the really bad old days, it wasn't fair to shit on his legacy like that.
- - -
Two Hours Later
Jimmy's foot slammed into the stupid prick's face once more time, combat boot sending his skull right into the locker. Bufford, the kid who had told him about these assholes, was busy helping Mark and Bailey, one a cop kid and the other one of the gang affiliated boys who helped source Jimmy drugs to sell, pummel the other fucker into the floor. They had carefully picked the locker room at a time when no one was around to teach these two a lesson.
Blood splattered across the toe of Jimmy's boot as the boy moaned on the floor, holding his now broken nose desperately with both hands. He raised his foot back to give him one more kick before a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Jimmy. Jimmy! He's had enough man, look at him."
Jimmy whirled to glare at Bryce O'Hara, one of his better friends among the cop kids. As straight-laced and dependable as his father was, the older boy, almost highschool age, held a tight grip on Jimmy's shoulder. "Fuck off O'Hara, the assholes deserve it."
Despite those words Jimmy's kick is half hearted and he turns away, though not without spitting onto the kid's head. "Alright alright boys, I think they learned their lesson. Let's get out of here." He waved his hands in the air and the three other boys moved away from their victim, though not without some passing kicks and spitting of their own.
"Jesus Jimmy, you beat the hell out of them." O'Hara said as he walked next to the lanky, red haired boy. "I agree they deserved a shitkicking but fuck man, you broke that one's nose."
"Dent is one of us, O'Hara." Jimmy growled out, hands in his pockets. "Harvey helped drag the Department out of the mess of shit it was back in the Bad Old Days. We can't just let people shit all over that. Sides, Juno's basically my kid sister." He gave Bryce an annoyed side eye. "I bet you wouldn't be bitching if these goons were bullying Annie."
Bryce sighed and shrugged his shoulders in defeat. Bailey came up on the other side of Jimmy, giving him a squint eyed look. "S'all good to beat up some assholes, boss, but I don't know why you want that squirt to start hanging out with us."
"Cause Juno's smarter than most of you. I need someone with a bit of intelligence around me or I'll go brain dead." Jimmy groused, fingering the switchblade in his pocket. "If you don't like it you can go find someone else to buy the gas station pills you steal from your pops."
As Bailey sputtered and whined, Jimmy just shook his head. Kicking those freaks had felt good as hell, but it hadn't been enough. His grip on the knife tightened.
March 4th, 2006
Juno idly tapped out texts on her phone as she stood on the curb, jaw working hard as she chewed in a piece of bubble gum. The sounds of kids being picked up by their parents filled the cold winter air around her. The snow in Gotham was never really white like in the storybooks. On good days it was a greying off white, on most days it was more grey and black than anything else and on really bad days it shined with a mixture of bright colors underneath coal black. Today was a good day, where you didn't have to worry so much about getting any of it in your mouth. Today was one of the days that Uncle Jim was supposed to pick her up, though she had just gotten a text that said he might not be able to make it.
This wasn't anything new. A lot of the time Uncle Jim got caught up in Police Business and Juno had to take a series of buses back home. It was kind of annoying but nothing she wasn't used to. Juno would just turn on her Walkman and listen to either the new KidzBop album Momm-- Mom had gotten her or that super cool Panic! At the Disco CD Jimmy had gotten her for her birthday. She was starting to listen to music more and more while she painted, she found that it helped make the ideas flow to her brush and helped the whole piece really start to breathe and take shape.
In between funny pictures and messages from her friends a new text popped up from a number that Juno didn't recognize. "About to be there. Uncle said your by the plygrnd?" Followed by a text from Uncle Jim that someone else would be picking her up today.
This was also not that unusual. Sometimes one of Uncle Jim's cop friends would come by and take Juno home. She hoped it was Mr. Bullock. He would always make all these funny jokes and tell stories about the stuff he saw in the Bowery before telling her in a very serious voice. "Now don't tell your Ma, Miss Dent. I really shouldn't be talking like this in front ofa young lady." Before giving her a smile that let Juno know that was also some kind of joke. He was better than some of the other officers who tended to act a bit stiff around her. She knew it was because of her Father. Only the ones that had known him personally were actually truly nice to her, even if they seemed to be kinda of sad while doing it.
The car that pulls up in front of her isn't Mr. Bullock's car, or the car of any officer that she knew. As Juno prepared herself for another long, awkward car ride the window rolled down and a familiar voice came out. "Damn squirt, you've really grown in the past few months."
"Babs!" Juno squealed, instant embarrassment, coloring her face as she realized how loud she had been. "I-I mean, uh, Barbara! It's been so super duper long!"
In the car was the coolest girl Juno knew. Barbara Gordon was everything Juno wanted to be when she got older. Super smart, getting a full ride scholarship to Gotham University while still in Junior year of highschool. Super pretty with her shiny red hair, long legs and high cheek bones; and super strong, a black belt in Jujitsu at the gym people said Bruce Wayne went to sometimes. She was effortlessly, painfully cool. Way cooler than Juno, queen of high school that she was. Cooler than even Jimmy, who Juno was pretty sure was one of the cooler people she had ever met.
"Yeah, sorry about that kiddo. The internship got a bit crazy for a while. Boss had me working on an important project." Barbara frowned, lips turning up a bit like she had bitten into something gross, before burying the memory with a smile. "We'll have to get our nails done this weekend, really make it up to you.
Juno practically jumped with joy as she clambered into the passenger seat, even Uncle Jim didn't let her ride up front yet! "Ohmygosh that would be so totally sweet. There's this really cool place in Burnley that does the cutest little cats and bats on your nails. I heard that they saw Batman and Catwoman like, kissing outside and that was what like, inspired it."
"Huh, yeah." Barbara's voice sounded weird, like Jimmy's did when Juno said something that his stupid dumb boy mind thought was dirty. "Who knows, people say they see all kinda crazy stuff in this town." She pauses as Juno buckles up, flicking on the radio as the car starts moving. "Anyways, how's my favorite non-related niece doing? I heard something about you winning some kind of art thing."
Juno nods eagerly, kicking her feet a little bit as she does. "Yeah! The James R. Elliot Youth Fine Arts Competition." Her voice took on a faux lofty tone as she spoke. "It was pretty easy, really. I just sent in something that I had been working on in my free time and got first place." This was, mostly, a lie. While Juno was fixated on her Project she had time to work on some other pieces as well. The two doves soaring away from the sun she painted was something she had poured hours of her life into, making variation after variation with style after style. Watercolors didn't fit it and pastels were too bright. In the end she went with her preferred choice, oil paints, and let a whole weekend get devoured by the process. After she had sent it in, Juno had been a nervous wreck for a whole week waiting for the results to come back. While it didn't need to be Perfect like the Project was, she was still holding it to a higher standard than she did for practice or for art class.
"Good for you kiddo!" Barbara said, giving Juno a fond look as they turned onto the freeway and began the drive across the city and over the strait to the mainland. "Most of my contests in middle school were speech and debate stuff. Nothing half as cool as art."
Juno flushed with sheepish pride as she looked away. "Gosh, thanks Babs." She trailed off, a warm feeling in her stomach rising up from the praise.
"No problem." Barbara said cheerily. "Good at art, doing great at school, capable of keeping my twerp of a cousin under control. You've gotta have the boys crawling all over you, huh? Much more than me when I was your age."
"C'mon! Nothing like that." Juno tried to wave away the line of questioning with a hand. "Most of the boys at school are gross and smelly! I GUESS there's a few tolerable ones but just like, ew. Gah. Gag me with a spoon."
Babara let out a laugh as she merged lanes, giving Juno a devious side eye. "Uh huh. Just wait a year or so kiddo. Then your tune will change."
Juno stuck out her tongue, mostly to keep out a giggling laugh. Barbara's teasing was infectious. "Nuh uh! I'll never ever find a stinky boy hot!"
April 12, 2007
It seemed so surreal, finally going here. Everyday Juno was driven across the highway bridge that touched onto this island, every day she looked out on the massive complex of concrete buildings surrounding the large manor house that stood in the center. She had always known, intellectually, what it was and who was locked up in there. But it had never seemed real until she took a trembling step out onto the large plaza that stood in front of Arkham Asylum's main building. Bufford's sister had driven her here. Mom didn't want her to go, neither had Uncle Gordon, but she wanted to do this. She needed to.
Entering the building and going through security felt like she was walking through a haze. As she was led along by the white suited and pleasantly disinterested staff through the x-ray machine and the security checkpoints afterwards the only thing that kept her rooted was the cloth covered canvas she clutched close to her body. She didn't even notice as she passed by the visitation rooms for regular patients and started to go down, down deeper into the dirt of Mercy Isle.
Eventually the world screamed back into focus and she was standing in front of a metal door, a smiling woman in a white coat holding a clipboard. Her smile was kind, if a little sad. Juno knew it well, it usually came up when people wanted to talk to her about Father.
"Hello Miss Dent, I hope you're doing well today. My name is Dr. Peters, your father's secondary psychiatrist. Dr. Quinzel is busy with another patient right now and couldn't be here herself."
Juno gave a little nod at her. "Hello Doctor. I'm doing alright." She fidgeted a little, her usually cheery demeanor quenched. "Is Father doing alright?"
That sad smile deepened. "Mr Dent is having one of his better days. Telling him you were coming seemed to help him a bit." She stepped forwards and put a hand on Juno's shoulder. "You read and understood our requirements, right Miss Dent? We want this visit to help your father, and that means avoiding anything that might trigger him.."
Juno took in a deep breath as she remembered the list of rules the Asylum had mailed her. "Talk about what's happening in the city as little as possible. Nothing about twos. Nothing about Uncle Gordon. Don't show him any coins."
Dr. Peters smiled and gave Juno's shoulder a little squeeze. "I'm sure you'll follow them, you seem like a good girl. Did you paint something for your father?" Juno nodded silently. "May I see it?"
Juno pulled away the cloth and let the Doctor look over her Project. The older woman gaze it a scrutinizing gaze for a few painfully long seconds before nodding, her smile widening into something less sad. "Thats very sweet of you Juno, I'm sure he'll love it. Are you ready to go in now?"
"Yeah." Juno said, voice quieter than she thought it would be. Dr. Peters stepped back and opened up the door and Juno, slowly but with her back held high, walked in and towards her Father.
The room was evenly lit so she saw both sides of Harvey Dent immediately. He looked older than he had when she first saw him on TV, all those years ago. Grey was starting to creep into his hair on the unmarred half, creating streaks that ran into the scraggly mass of the other side like rivers. His wounds had clearly been taken care of more than they were when he was free and the acid burned skin looked a bit healthier than it had, scabs and pus carefully cleaned up and washed away. His face was lined, the wear of ages visible even on the ruined half, and his eyes had a tired look into them as they flicked up from the table to look directly into Juno's
Recognition filled them and Juno could see him catch his breath. Silence reigned in the room as she slowly pulled the chair out and took a seat in front of the table, hands trembling as she looked at her Father through the Bane-proof glass. For a long while the two Dents just stared at each other, unable to speak a word.
Finally he broke the silence. "You're...You're Juno, right?" His voice was deep and gravelly, sounding like that of a man who hadn't drank any water in days. There was no warmth in it, like the recordings she listened too late at night, when the loneliness got too much. She just nodded in response, chest too tight for anything to come out of her mouth. Gingerly Harvey reached out and touched the glass between them with his hand. "God, you look just like your mother. Your eyes, your face."
"I have your cheek bones. Your nose." She could see them, even with half of his face destroyed. She could see the bits of him in her, in this stranger she called her father. "Mom says I have your laugh too." She let out a weak chuckle, throat tightening up again.
"Yeah, yeah I bet you do." He let out his own small laugh, pulling his hand back. "I, christ, I don't know what to say. I don't even know where to begin." He covered his eyes with a hand before sighing and looking at her. She noticed that he cocked his head towards the side, as if listening to something from his ruined half. "Nah, not that. Simpler. Tell me about yourself." She noticed him twitch a little, left eye bug out. "Tell me what I fucking missed." His voice dropped into a growl.
She had been warned about this, warned about how his other side could take over at points even on a good day. It was only this knowledge and a week of mental practice, of watching interviews Two-Face had given to the press, that made sure that she didn't flinch back. "I'm doing well in school. I have a bunch of friends. I have a boyfriend named Bufford Jackson, he's really nice." She paused to think, fingers tapping the painting. "I really like Pink and Justin Timberlake and the Backstreet Boys. My favorite books are a Series of Unfortunate Events. I like to paint. I painted something for you." She was starting to babble now, tears rolling down her face. "I'm 13 right now, gonna be 14 on January first. Did you know that? Did you know that I miss you? I don't know you but I miss you! Why! Why did--!" She clamped a hand over her mouth and bit down on her palm, trying to ignore the feeling of hot tears starting to roll down her face.
Father looked to be in physical pain on his side of the glass, elbows up on the table as he held his head in his hands. "We shoulda been out there with her. We shoulda gone to check sooner!" "No. No! It doesn't matter what we shoulda done, we gotta get out of here now. Else we're a lazy bum piece of shit like our old man!" "God what have we done, she's 13! We missed 13 fucking years!" "We can't miss anymore. We fucking can't. We have to get out of here. Back to her! Back to Gilda!" "No. Nononono. We gotta keep our cool. They won't let us out if we don't keep our cool." Her father argued with himself, switching from his normal tone to that gravelly growl as he twitched this way and that.
Juno closed her eyes until it was over, breath coming out hard and fast as she sought to smother her fear and discomfort. She knew this would happen. She knew that she'd say something stupid and silly and she'd make Father have an episode and they'd take him away and she'd never be allowed to come back and see him again and--
"Hey, hey Kiddo. Juno." She could tell that the named sounded foreign in his mouth. "Its gonna be alright, I promise." She looked up at him, blinking away tears. While he didn't look so good himself, the skin around his bug eye especially red and puffy, he was trying to put on a smile for her. "I'm fine, it's all fine. Your dad is gonna be OK." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Hows your mom. Is Gilda OK? Has...Has she found...."
"No!" Juno shouted, cutting Father off. "I mean, no, not at all." She swallowed the last bit of her tears. "Mom's alright. She's running a charitable foundation, helping get kids away from gangs and stuff. I sometimes go to fancy parties and things with her to fundraise." Her fingers drum on the table, a nervous tic she'd started to pick up. "We named it after you."
Harvey Dent smiled fondly. "Yeah that sounds like your mom. Gilda..." His tone was a mix of pride and forlorn longing. "It's OK that she didn't come to visit me. I know she wants to remember me as I was before."
The conversation dropped for a moment and Juno realized that she had her moment. "I...I made something for you!" She blurted out as she pulled the cloth covered painting up onto the table. "Like I said I paint and I knew that I was going to be coming here and I just had this idea stuck in my head so hereImadethis for you."
As her words stumbled out of her mouth Juno pulled off the cloth, showing off the painting to her father. It was a painting of a bright, warm sun beaming its light down onto a tall apple tree. Underneath the tree a family of three, indistinct but clearly a mother, a father and their child, sat underneath it. Each ray of the sun was mirrored, as were the apples in the tree and the two birds in its branches, looking out in different directions. She had spent months on this, making sure it was perfect. That it was just right.
"Juno..." Father's voice dropped low as he looked at the painting. For a second Juno felt her heart leap into her throat. Did he not like it? Was it going to set something off in him?
"I love it kiddo. God, look at that." He put his hand up to the glass again, tracing the rays of the sun as they went down into the tree. "You're such a little artist, huh? How long did this take you?" There was a note of awe in his voice that Juno couldn't quite place.
"Not that long, I guess." She shuffled in her seat. "The doctor's said that it was OK to keep in your...room. They thought it might help you get better."
He looked away from the painting and at her for a long second before his face broke out into a genuine smile. "I'll treasure it baby, I promise. I bet no other freak locked up in here has something quite as nice as this in their cell."
As Juno went to laugh, the intercom, forgotten by both of them, crackled to life. "You have 5 minutes left on this visitation, Miss Dent. Please make your goodbyes and come out into the hall."
Father stood up, both hands pressed up against the glass. "I thought they said it was supposed to be a fucking hour." He growled out, Two-Face flooding back in. His fingers clenched and he fought down whatever was rising up in him. "Right, right. Fine. Fine!"
Juno stood up, feeling the tears start to rush back up again. "I'll-I'll try to visit when I can, I promise! It's not gonna be another 13 years before we see each other again!"
Father put his forehead up against the glass and Juno didn't even care how gross it made his ruined skin look. "I know kiddo. I know. Quick, before you go, did Wayne ever reach out to you?" When she didn't immediately respond he continued. "Ask your mom about him. Bruce Wayne is the only man who never gave up on me. Not once. If he hasn't been helping the two of you out then you need to march up to his fucking tower and tell him who you are!" He was half shouting now, fists balled. "I love you kiddo, there's gonna be times when it's not gonna seem like it, but I do!"
"I...I love you daddy!" She said, voice turning into a wail. "I'll be back, I promise!"
With wobbling legs she walked out of that room, away from the scarred ruin of a man failing to hide his sobs.