It was an overcast Thursday afternoon when Harvey Bullock's life got turned upside down. All things considered, it had been a pretty normal day. He'd spent the day chasing after Jim Gordon (his latest dumbass partner, last in a long line of them), who had been chasing after some guy regarding…Well, Harvey didn't actually know why they were chasing after the sap, all he knew was that once again, he'd been forced to abandon his lunch so Jim Gordon could run around like a loon on his crazed quest for 'Justice'.
They lost track of the guy on the East Side and Gordon was in foul mood because of it. Harvey wasn't too bothered. He'd grabbed a chili dog from a street vendor, so he'd pretty much made his peace with the loss. Jim, however…
"I can't believe he got away!" The younger cop snarled, smacking his hand against the wheel of the car. Beside him, Harvey rolled his eyes and took another bite of his hotdog. Jim carried on. "He was our only lead on the Shelby murders, and now he knows we're on his tail!" Jim was grinding his teeth so hard Harvey could hear them being worn away. "He'll be out of the city by tonight."
"I think you're giving the criminals here a little too much credit. They're not that smart." The vein in Jim's forehead throbbed dangerously. Harvey waved the hand that wasn't holding his hotdog dismissively. "He'll be picked up by the end of the week, just you wait and see." Probably on some stupid charge, like littering or jaywalking, just like Bundy was.
"You can't guarantee that." Jim said through gritted teeth. Harvey took a final bite of his belated lunch and shrugged.
"Maybe not, but it seems like a fairly safe bet. No one ever seems to leave Gotham, even when it would be the smart thing to do. Hell, look at your little Penguin."
"He's not my anything." Harvey snorted and Jim looked like he wanted to break his partner's nose.
"Sure he ain't. That's why you've got his personal cell phone number."
"Harvey-" The vein in Jim's forehead looked ready to blow.
"Alright, alright, I'm dropping the subject. Just, don't worry about Alvers, he'll turn up, one way or another." Despite his reassurances, Harvey could still see the cogs in Jim's mind turning. He got the feeling that Alvers would be showing up at the station sooner rather than later, probably aided by Penguin's thugs. Harvey chose not to think about it too hard. If Jim was choosing to fall in to Bird Boy's pocket, then that was his concern, not Harvey's. Jim sighed and shook his head. Harvey let his head flop back against the headrest.
They drove in silence back to the station.
When they walked in to the bullpen, a whole host of eyes turned to stare at them. Harvey and Jim stared back wide-eyed for a moment before Harvey turned to Jim.
"Alright, I'll ask you this once. What did you say and who did you say it to?" Jim had the nerve to look offended.
"Why do you always assume it's me that's done something? Maybe the Captain found that flask in your desk drawer. Or the one in your locker. Or the one-"
"Is that Bullock?" Captain Essen walked out of her office, face pinched. Jim shot him a look that said 'told you so'.
"Captain." Harvey nodded up at her and she cleared her throat.
"You'd better come in here. I need a word." Harvey's brows furrowed, and he glanced at Jim, who eyed him warily, visibly concerned.
"Is everything OK Captain?" He asked, worry bunching in his chest. Captain Essen sighed, rubbing at the bridge of nose.
"Just, come here, please." Harvey made his way up to where the Captain was stood, Jim striding right beside him.
Captain Essen looked at the younger cop like she expected him to get the hint and go back to his desk. When Jim made no move to leave, she turned to Harvey.
"This appears to be a personal matter Harvey, are you sure you want him here?" Harvey glanced at Jim before making a snap decision.
"Yeah, I'd rather have him here. He's a friend." Beside him, Jim had only focused in on one thing that had been said. And it wasn't the sentimental crap that Harvey had just spewed.
"What do you mean 'appears to be personal'?" He asked, brows furrowed in his little 'Jim Gordon's on the case' expression. Captain Essen looked between them before opening the door to her office just a little. Peering in, Harvey cocked his head in confusion. Sat before the Captain's desk was a woman with short dark hair, her back to the door. She was looking down at her lap, talking to herself softly.
"She's been stood outside of the station most of the day. She was asking officers if you worked here, when you'd be back, that kind of thing." Essen told them quietly, closing the door. The rest of the room was silent and she turned to glare at the other officers (and administrators and crime scene techs).
"Haven't you all got work to be doing?" Immediately, everyone scattered, disappearing back to their desks or their labs or wherever, a low-level buzz of chatter starting as everyone began to gossip. Essen turned back to Jim and Harvey, rolling her eyes.
"Ed was the one that told me, and obviously I was concerned, and when I went out to speak with her myself…" She paused, shaking her head a little sadly. "I couldn't leave her out there like that. She didn't even have a coat, for God's sake. So I brought her in, and she…" She paused again, clearly choosing her next words carefully. "Uh, she told me something and, well…Perhaps it's best you hear it from her." She licked her lips and nodded smartly. Harvey eyed Essen warily, glancing at Jim, who shrugged, although he looked intrigued. He nodded slowly.
"OK then, let's meet her."
Essen opened the door and walked through first, smiling pleasantly. Harvey and Jim followed her silently, exchanging worried glances.
"Miss Marks." Captain Essen said, making the woman in the chair jump in surprise. She turned around and Harvey realised he'd been wrong to call her a woman. She was a girl, 23 at most, with wide, dark eyes that had heavy blue bags beneath them. Her hair was deep black, almost certainly dyed, cut into a sharp bob that ended just past her jaw. Her nose was straight and maybe a little large for her face, but otherwise she was quite pretty. Well, except for the big jagged cut on her lower lip, relatively fresh from the look of it, the scabbing there a deep blood red, the skin around it swollen and pink. She swallowed when she saw him, staring unabashedly. He stared back, feeling a little like he ought to say something.
Eventually, after what seemed like a half hour of silence, he did.
"I hear you've been lookin' for me?" The girl stumbled upwards, out of her chair. Captain Essen lurched forward as if to help her, but the girl waved her away with one hand. When she turned to face him completely, he saw why. There was a chubby baby slung on her hip, clinging there like a little monkey, blinking over at Harvey with its mother's big brown eyes.
"Y-yeah." The girl stuttered, adjusting the baby on her hip slightly. "I, uh, sorry to bother you. I didn't mean to, y'know, cause all the drama or anything, but I just" She stopped suddenly, to let out a little shuddering breath, glancing down at the child on her hip. She didn't have a Gotham accent, Harvey noticed, though she did have an accent, but he couldn't place it. It wasn't New Jersey, that was for damn sure. She ran her tongue over the cut on her lower lip and seemed to steady herself.
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't really need to be." Jim cut in before Harvey could even open his mouth.
"And why are you here, Miss Marks?" She spared Jim a cursory once-over, wrinkling her nose in distaste. The 'who the fuck are you' was written all over her face. She turned back to Harvey, fixing him with a steady, nervous gaze.
"I think you're my father."
A/N: So, I know people liked this fic, but I got stuck on about chapter 8, started re-reading and found that it was just out of character for Harvey. So I'm rebooting my unfinished fic. There will be similar themes, but I think this is gonna focus more on Harvey and his relationship with Amelia. This is still mainly based on Gotham, but I'm probably gonna use more influence from the comics because I don't really watch the show anymore. Feedback would be appreciated.