A/N

GET READY FOR A MEGA CUTE HARVEY AND JO CHAPTER.

This chapter is literally 75% date so I hope you're all fine with that. I do miss Oswald though so he'll probably become important again soon enough.

Oh and I have some (potentially) cool news! I'm moving a lot of my writing to tumblr where I'll be doing oneshots, preferences, imagines and ship requests. The account is called luciebell-writes if you want to check it out...I'm just setting it up right now.

I'll continue my ramblings later on, please enjoy! x

Since Jo had agreed to a date, Harvey hadn't stopped grinning. She had been one difficult girl to charm but perhaps he'd finally found a way to do so. It was almost an accomplishment.

"Jim, where would you normally take Barbara out for dinner?" Harvey asked as they sat at their desks, attempting to make sense of a new case that had almost sprung up out of nowhere.

Jim looked up from his desk, his face bemused. "What's this about…you got a date Harvey?"

"Yeah, I might have." Harvey grinned, eager to tell his friend that he'd finally succeeded in winning the dancer's affection. "Jo Carnell."

"You're kidding…" He wanted to be supportive but there were many issues with his partner dating one of Fish Mooney's girls – one being that he still believed her to be with Oswald.

"No, seriously. She asked me." Harvey told Jim, a smug smile spreading from ear to ear. "We got talking at Mooney's and she explained everything to me. Jo turned me down before because of some other guy she was dating."

"Did she say who he was?" Jim asked, curious as to how truthful Jo had suddenly become.

"I asked but she wouldn't tell me." Harvey shrugged. "I think she was scared that I'd throw that guy's sorry ass in jail – or worse. Believe me, if I found out who he was he wouldn't even make it here."

Jim frowned. "Wait, what happened between Ms Carnell and the man she was seeing?" When he went to visit her, Jo had insisted that she was bound to Oswald even though he was evidently dangerous, so what had he done that was bad enough for the seemingly tolerant performer to throw him out?

"I don't know for sure Jim but…you shoulda seen her face. She mirrored those women from domestic abuse cases. Whatever he did really hurt her."

"Are you talking about Jo Carnell?" As if out of nowhere, Ed was stood over the desk, a curious smile on his face.

Harvey jumped, "Ed, I've already told you…don't, don't sneak up on me like that."

"Am I correct in hearing that you and Jo are going on a date?" Ed asked, still smiling. "I have to commend that decision, detective. She's a very nice girl."

"What did you and Jo talk about when she came by here the other night?" Harvey decided that, as Ed had been the only person she'd spoken to that night when she had come looking for help, he may have been made aware of her situation.

"I offered her a place to stay, of course. She declined, but I do believe that we became well-acquainted. She…was very kind to me." Ed didn't want to think about how Jo had been forced to stand up to those cruel detectives on his behalf, it was emasculating, but at least he'd perhaps found a friend in her. "I have heard that a restaurant by the name of Chez Vous is of good quality. Perhaps you could take her there?"

Harvey watched Ed for a moment: how long had he been standing there exactly? It didn't matter, for once the detective was going to trust in his word.

Having left her nicest dresses in her apartment, Jo snuck back there before Harvey was due to pick her up in search of suitable evening attire beyond the uniform of Mooney's nightclub. To her relief, Oswald wasn't waiting for her, so Jo took a quick shower before standing in front of her wardrobe as she searched for the ideal dress to wear. She didn't want to choose the wrong outfit; especially since this date was really important to her. The colour and the length were equally significant. Red was certainly too alluring for a first date and black was too elegant, too intimidating. Jo smiled as she came across a dark blue dress; recalling how she'd worn it to her 21st birthday party before stowing it away for another special occasion. Well, she deemed her first date with Harvey Bullock to be an event of some significance. Besides, blue was said to be an honest colour. Jo wanted nothing more than to be honest with Harvey, and for him to return this trust.

Slipping into it, Jo stared into the mirror, smiling at the way it hugged her body and trailed down to her knees. Then she did her makeup and allowed her hair to fall down in long waves around her shoulders, before finding a pair of heels to match and heading out the door. However, she stopped at the stairwell for just a second, contemplating whether or not to tell Kitty the good news. They hadn't spoken for about a week and the silence, as much as Jo hated to admit it, was killing her. But then again the chances of Kitty being in her apartment at 6pm were highly unlikely; she'd be out drinking in town by now, so Jo decided to pay her a quick visit after her date instead.

As soon as Harvey saw Jo leave her apartment, he was in awe with how beautiful she looked. Sure, he loved seeing her in lingerie at Mooney's and in her short dresses around the streets of Gotham since they certainly defined her most striking features, but this change in appearance suited her even more so. For the first time, Harvey was going to meet Jo for real.

He must have been staring at his date for too long as Jo started to look concerned. "Is everything okay? I can change if this dress is…"

Harvey looked up and shook his head. "No, you look…great."

Taking that as the detective's way of complimenting her, Jo smiled graciously and headed over to the car. She noted how Harvey was dressed in his usually trenchcoat and fedora, deducing that he couldn't have had the time to change – either that or this was all his wardrobe consisted of. It wasn't a bad thing in her mind though; Jo couldn't imagine any other look on him that suited him as well.

Grinning even more as Jo came closer, Harvey decided that opening the car door for her would be the proper thing to do. While he had been on plenty of dates before, Harvey had rarely had the intention of seeing these girls again after their night together. However, he'd worked hard to earn Jo and he thought it would be an honour if she agreed to a second – that was, if their first official date went well. It had been evident from the start that Jo, while having a strongminded character, had been through a lot beneath the surface so making her feel at ease with him was definitely one of Harvey's main priorities.

As soon as they arrived at the restaurant, Jo linked her arm through Harvey's, causing him to grin. He couldn't remember the last time he'd visited such a grand setting – how much was this going to cost? Jo was actually thinking the same thing as she gazed around them at the magnificent paintings on the wall and the mosaic on the ceiling.

At the same time, Harvey was busy glancing over the other couples in the room; the men were all dressed in their best $500 suits and had showered their dates with roses and chocolates and diamonds, while he'd showed up in his work clothes empty-handed.

"Have you ever been to this place?" Jo asked curiously as they sat down at their table.

Harvey decided to lie in order to impress Jo; he was already about to pay hundreds of dollars for a nice evening so he may as well take it further. "Yeah, a few times. I usually sit on this table actually…" He nodded towards the piano. "It's got a good view of the entire restaurant."

Jo smiled, "it is very nice." She opened the menu. "What would you recommend?"

Harvey decided that the best way to approach the situation was to list items off the menu and hope that they were actually decent dishes. "Ah, well…the piperade is good. And the…" He squinted at the menu, trying to read the meal that probably was the most difficult to pronounce. "Bou…bouillabaisse."

That earned Harvey a small giggle. "You don't have to lie to me. You're not really in your element here, are you?"

"No, I love ratatouille…" Harvey attempted to brush off Jo's suspicions but she was still smiling. "French food is the best, isn't it?"

"You'd rather have a burger though, right?" Jo took his hand from across the table. "Let's ditch this place."

"What? Are you sure?" He blinked in surprise, not just at Jo's words, but the feeling of her soft hand in his.

She nodded and stood up, not letting go of his hand once, even after they had left the restaurant.

In the end, Harvey and Jo found themselves sitting in the park with a burger each.

"This is so good…" Jo insisted after her first bite. "Wow…this sure beats ratatouille."

Harvey grinned as he ate his own burger, watching how delicately his date was treating her food, whereas he hardly gave it a second thought. When they'd finished, the pair of them simply sat on the bench in deep conversation, with Jo's head resting on his shoulder. Unsure of what to do, Harvey used his arm to pull Jo close and she responded by giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I don't know why you put on that hard-ass act. You're a nice guy, Harvey."

"I thought you hated detectives."

"Maybe I don't hate them as much as I thought I did." Jo smiled briefly before the moment passed. She knew that Harvey deserved to know about her past – or at least, some of it. "I was actually engaged to one once."

"You were?" Harvey didn't want to admit it, but he was already jealous.

"I don't know if you remember him, Charlie Faraway. He was killed last year by Falcone's order." Jo didn't know how else to say it: she hadn't talked to anyone about her late fiancé before. While it felt so good to say his name, it hurt to place it beside Don Falcone's.

"Yeah, I remember him." Harvey replied with a nod of his head. Charlie's desk had been two away from his, so they had often engaged in light-hearted conversation across the GCPD; sometimes about sports and sometimes about women. But Harvey would've never imagined that Detective Faraway's fiancée would end up eating burgers on a park bench beside him. Actually, he almost felt like an idiot for not realising it before – it was likely that their paths had crossed when Charlie was alive. "I can't believe I didn't realise it before. How'd you guys meet? Did he catch you in the middle of a jewel heist?" Harvey chuckled until Jo looked shocked; it was as if he'd stumbled upon a huge secret life of hers. "You got arrested? I thought you were a mommy's girl." He grinned.

"I used to shoplift a lot; my dad had just died and we were short on cash. But then it became something more…I loved the rush I got from breaking the law and I got involved with some pretty colourful people. We robbed a jeweller's but I got caught out and Charlie brought me in."

"…And you went out on a fantastic date right? I bet you didn't eat burgers in the park." Harvey tried to make light of the situation but he couldn't help but feel subconsciously jealous.

"No, we went to a shooting range. With his dad." Jo found herself grimacing at the memory. "I wish he'd have bought me a burger in the park instead."

"So you've had an okay time with me?"

"I've had a lovely time. Thank you."

"Does that mean you'd come out with me again?"

"Only if we can go back to that burger joint." Jo laughed and nodded. "I'd like that."

When Harvey dropped Jo off at her apartment, they were surprised to see the glaring lights of police cars surrounding the block. The two of them got out of the car and Harvey went over to an officer to enquire the details of what had happened.

"The landlady found her dead on the floor. Could've been there for days." Was his brief reply, still filling out the initial report.

"What's her name?" Jo asked quickly, grabbing Harvey's arm tightly due to her nerves. He felt Jo's grasp tightening with every second and wrapped an arm around her as if to calm her; however, there was no need. Harvey nodded, urging the officer to talk.

"Katherine Forster."

Jo had dreaded hers would be the name to escape the officer's lips. She felt as if she couldn't breathe and if it wasn't for Harvey's arm around her, Jo would've likely collapsed on the floor.

"It appears to be an accident. There's no sign of forced entry and we've recovered no prints in the apartment." The officer continued, attempting to offer some consolidation.

Jo fell quiet for a moment; almost sighing in relief at the word 'accident.' If they'd have found even a slight trace of an intruder, Jo would've immediately pointed the finger at Oswald and, ultimately, herself. If Kitty had died by Oswald's hand, Jo knew she was to blame. But how would the authorities know for sure? Jo had been living with Oswald for weeks and had no idea of the people he'd killed – the crime he'd organised right under her nose – so who was to say that this couldn't have been Oswald's doing either. No, even Oswald wasn't capable of murdering a (relatively) innocent woman. What would he possibly gain from doing that?

A body under a white sheet was taken out of the apartment shortly after and Jo desperately tried to get to it, despite Harvey's restraining of her. She screamed tearfully, finally understanding the reality of the situation before falling apart in Harvey's arms. Kitty was under there, her face pale and still. Jo could just picture her friend with her blue eyes wide open and her smile nothing more than a thin line. Still, Jo wanted to see for herself that Kitty was gone. That Kitty was really the young woman lying under a blanket of white. "Harvey, let go of me..!" She shouted, struggling against Harvey.

"It's okay, Jo. It's gonna be okay." Harvey insisted, refusing to release her from his arms.

Oswald had witnessed it all.

He saw the police cars arrive, the way Jo's landlady ran out of the building shouting and waving her arms about like a madwoman. Then he saw Jo get out of the car with another man, and fall into his arms as guilt and grief plagued her. While Oswald didn't get a good look at the man's face, it did confirm one thing: Kitty had been right. Jo really had moved on.

It really hurt him, to see her clinging onto another man. Moreover, it hurt to see Jo in such a state. Oswald did feel terrible about inflicting such pain on the woman he loved but it was for the greater good…wasn't it?

All along, Oswald had hoped that Kitty's sudden passing would force Jo to find comfort in his arms but this notion had completely backfired – instead causing the performer to run to her new beau for a sense of security. Just watching Jo fall to her knees in screams of grief was enough to break his heart. Never mind the fact that she was courting another man.

Even though Oswald knew that Jo deserved better than him, she had always been the reason for him to become a better person – to become someone in Gotham. Protecting Jo had been his sworn purpose since he'd appeared in her apartment and it was a promise he still intended to fulfil. Now Oswald just needed to win back Jo's affection before he lost her for good.

A/N

Was that an okay chapter? I just love Bullock, he's definitely one of my favourite characters on the show (alongwith Oswald and Jerome.) My mum actually bought me the Harvey pop vinyl figure the other day and it made me so happy omg.

Okay so the Guest review calling me a nice person actually left me in tears, you're all so sweet, thank you! But don't ever be shy to talk to me okay?

Another Guest mentioned Jo's mum Nora just being a bit overbearing, which I agree with completely. There may or may not be a Carnell family secret that could come to light soon though; Nora will still be the sweet ol' coffee shop owner that she is but your perception of her may change slightly. I'm just don't have a clue how I'm going to write it yet.

Thanks for reading and to all followers/favourite-rs(?) old and new, I am glad to know you like the fic!