Blame this on the amount of "died tragically but gets a second chance" manhwa I've been reading. The dialogue of Harvey and Rachel's first date is taken from the Dark Knight novelization written by Dennis O'Neil
Recommended listening: The Night We Met cover by Jay Bovino and Amy Sheppard
She catches up with Harvey in the hall outside the courtroom. Tells him she was an observer from the DA, and if her office could help in any way.
It takes all of her willpower not to say 'I love you'.
"Actually, there are a couple of items we should discuss," he says. "Buy you a cup of coffee?"
"Okay," she says. "But we go Dutch."
"We'll see."
They stroll through rush-hours crowds to a diner favored by the courthouse set. They go inside, order, and wait in a booth for their food. Harvey takes out his wallet.
Of course.
"I said we'd go Dutch," Rachel reminds him.
"Okay," he smiles. "Let's let fate decide."
He takes a coin from his pocket. The coin his father would flip, a game of dangling false hope, as if the abuse Harvey and his mother went through were just bad luck. The coin that was in his father's personal effects the night his parents died. But of course, she's not supposed to know any of that yet. It'll be weeks before she starts poking into his background. Months before he tells her anything about it. Harvey flips the coin into the air and as it was falling says, "Heads, I pick the bill. Tails, it's yours."
He catches the coin and shows it to her: heads.
Rachel can't help but smile. Their last kiss flashes through her mind, and she tries not to think of the way he'll scream for her as Batman pulls him away.
After several more cups and sharing a piece of pie, Rachel tells him, "I'm not impressed by your looks. Just so you know."
He offers a half smile. "We have something in common then. I'm not impressed by them, either."
They spend an hour discussing his case. Just like before, Rachel gets to see another aspect of him: earnest, determined, sharing her own rage.
"There's nothing worse than a dirty cop," he tells her. "My job— prosecuting them—doesn't win me any popularity contests, but it's necessary, and I love it."
"Love it?" Rachel asks, raising her eyebrows.
"Funny way to put it, huh? But yeah, 'love' is the word. Guess that makes me pretty weird."
"Nah," she thinks of Wuertz and Ramirez. "I don't think it's weird."
In three days, they'll go out on their first actual date. He'll be a perfect gentleman, but she'll notice his nerves underneath the charm. At the end of the night he'll walk her up to her door and she'll kiss him.
In two weeks, she'll invite him over to her apartment to watch the Guardians Game and find out he's unfairly good at oral.
Six months from now, he'll propose. Rachel will spend the last few minutes of her life wishing she said yes sooner. Except…maybe she doesn't have to.
As Rachel considers this, the pair sit and sip their coffee in silence, watching pedestrians scurry past the window. After Harvey's declaration, there seemed to be nothing more to say, but Rachel doesn't want the conversation to end.
"I lied, you know."
"How so?"
"I am impressed by your looks."
When Rachel gets home that night, she makes a list. Her memories of the last few days are already starting to fade. She can't remember the name of the judge, or how Loeb dies or who the hell pulls the gun on Harvey. There are things, important things she needs to hold onto.
Gun on the witness stand during Maroni trial
Don't mention the ballet at Ocelot
Joker crashes the fundraiser
Loeb dies. Judge dies.
Don't go on the balcony
Press conference - stop him
Don't go with Ramirez
Find the other traitor in Gordon's unit
Say yes
Save Harvey
Hope you enjoyed!