My Enemy, Myself-3 by Lynceus "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, the blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere, the ceremony of innocence is drowned." -William Butler Yeats, The Second Coming

---

I woke up in my office, fully dressed. The early morning light made the once-familiar surroundings bleak, forbidding. Like a machine, I got up and went to the bathroom to splash water in my face. I looked tired, worn-out.

Janice had been considerate this time. I have no idea how she gets in and out of the courthouse, or where she stashes her clothing. And honestly, I don't want to know. I'm a man torn apart; Janice is taking over my life and I stand at a precipice.

On the one hand, she is everything I have ever wanted. She is my true self, and I'd give anything to be her. I should just let go. Then I could be happy.

And yet...I can't control her. If I do let go, will there be anything of me left? Or will it just be Janice, free to do whatever she wants? Already, she'd managed to take over most of the organized crime in the city. I can't even begin to figure out how. We share the same mind, but I only have faint memories of the things she does. Somehow, my alter ego is able to use my abilities in ways I can't even fathom.

It's a sobering thought, really. That I've not only been repressing her, but my true potential. Is there any real point to Harvey Dent? She's better than me at everything. Her methods have reduced crime in the city, removed the worst scum from the streets.

She's befriended my daughter, Duela, sharing a relationship with her that I lost a long time ago. Even Gilda accepted her! I punch the mirror, the glass breaking, and cutting my hand. The pain barely registers.

“What is the point of...me?!”

I've never run from a fight before, I'm not going to start now. If this is my destiny, then I'll face it on my terms.

-

Duela had been spending less time at home, and more time at the apartment Janice had bought. Gilda told me it was a very nice place. Some father I was; my little girl was in love, and I hadn't even met her girlfriend. Girlfriend. It didn't bother me that Duela was a lesbian; her happiness meant the world to me. By all accounts, Kimberly Schau was a very nice girl. I think it was the fact that I was, as usual, missing out on my little girl's life that hurt the most. Janice had everything important to me wrapped up in a nice little box. A present. All I had to do was open it.

Yeah. More like Pandora's Box.

I was driving around aimlessly, a crude bandage around my hand. I was supposed to be at work, but what was the point? My days as a man were numbered; Harvey Dent would soon vanish from the face of the Earth. It wasn't as if being fired would matter.

I had enough money stashed away to support my family. And the money I had inherited from Dad was all going to Duela. Somehow, I'd known this was happening. Or maybe Janice had been influencing me for a long time now. Either way, all the loose ends were tied up.

It still bothered me how damn young Janice was. Gilda might accept her now, but what about five years from now? Ten years from now? I didn't even know if Janice could age; hell, I didn't even know how she had come to exist at all.

I mean, alright, I'm a metahuman. I can accept that. But so far, I was in the dark as to what my powers really were. I could turn into Janice...somehow. And from how she'd ripped apart Thorne, I knew she was at least as strong as I was.

I was reminded of that blonde woman from Heroes. What was her name...Jessica? I couldn't recall for sure. I'd stopped watching the show during the second season; the writer's strike had killed it for me.

Well no. It was that damned Sylar. I couldn't accept that a murdering psychopath could be allowed to escape justice over and over. Anyways, there as a young mother who had another personality, and when her other self was in control, she had incredible strength.

But it made no sense that only Janice had powers. I had to have them too!

Thinking about Sylar, I realized what my problem with Janice really was. Justice. It was something I cared about a great deal. But Janice didn't care about Justice. Revenge, now that she understood!

I needed to make certain, if nothing else, my desire for Justice lived on.

-

Harvey, this is stupid. It goes against everything you stand for. And yet, telling myself didn't matter. Last week, a rare coin dealership on 48th street had been burglarized. The neighborhood wasn't what it had once been; when I was a kid, my father would often come down to visit his friends in the 'old neighborhood'. This had been where he'd grown up.

And then things changed. The city had torn down properties not far from here, creating low-rent housing. Crime spread quickly, and soon the only people who remained here from the old days were the ones who couldn't, or wouldn't move.

Mr. Rosenthal had been one of the stubborn ones. The police couldn't help him. Hell, I couldn't help him, to my shame. So now he lived in his store, I could see the lights on, when the rest of the street was dark. I'd tried to warn him that the criminals would just come back.

And next time, they'd likely kill him.

I'd dressed in dark clothing, including a long black leather duster that I'm sure Janice would approve of. I'd bought a baseball bat, and wrapped it in black electrical tape. It was hanging from my shoulder by a cord, under my coat.

My Smith & Wesson 686 with the 3” barrel was in my pocket. I hung out in the shadows, having walked the six blocks from the parking garage here. No reason to get the Mustang stolen, even if Janice had bought a second one.

I'd made a few friends on the force over the years. One of them, Detective Bullock, had given me the tip that the store might be hit again.

Us Harveys gotta stick together, right?

Bullock always seemed amused that we shared the same first name. I think that's why he trusted me; Harvey Bullock was a big man who didn't open up to many people. He was a mystery even to his partner!

I know why he called me. He couldn't be here, and that bothered him. He didn't trust anyone else; maybe he thought I'd do something.

And he was right, but I'm willing to bet I'm the last person he'd ever expect to engage in vigilante justice. A black car, a late-model Lincoln, pulled up down the street. There were three of them; Christ, they were barely out of High School!

Not that they'd likely graduated. Life was rough. Normally I'd pity them, but they'd decided to rob and hurt an old man. Frighten him so badly, he lived in his shop with a gun at his side. That would end tonight.

I smiled grimly. What would Janice think about what I was doing? Would she approve? Or would she be shocked at the monster she'd helped to create? Fine, Janice. You win. The system is broken, the law cannot provide justice. So I will.

They entered via the back door, never noticing that I was watching them. I was amazed at how easy it was to sneak up on them; at 6' 3”, I wasn't built for stealth. And yet, my steps were light and agile.

Like Janice, I realized. It stood to reason; if she could borrow my strength, then I could borrow her grace! We could have been a good team.

One of the thieves picked the lock, and they slipped inside. And a few seconds later, I followed.

-

It took all my will not to immediately bust in on them. They'd surprised Mr. Rosenthal, and I could almost feel the impact when they hit him. Bastards. They would pay!

I felt it now. That rage I kept buried deep. Good. I would need it for this.

The idiots tripped the alarm, so they started breaking open the cases, swiping what they could. Which is why they didn't notice me enter the room. I swung the bat at the punk standing over Mr. Rosenthal. He screamed as I broke his arm.

“Holy shit, who the fuck is that!?” One of the others stood, amazed. I'd taken a cue from the Dread Pirate Roberts; a black bandanna and a domino mask to disguise my identity. I know, it sounds silly, but it was simple and effective.

His friend rushed me with a knife. Idiot. My first swing likely fractured his forearm; the second definitely broke his shoulder.

Recovering from his shock, the final thief pulled a gun. Saturday Night Special.

I pulled out mine, and smiled. His face went pale. “Stay back! I'll shoot!”

“Put the gun down, jackass. Or I'll shoot.”

He did as he was told.

And then the first punk shot me. I didn't know he'd had a gun. As I slumped to the floor, I couldn't believe it had come to this. I'd thrown away everything. My life. My family. And for what?

Trying to play hero? Someone kicked me, and then I heard another shot. Mr. Rosenthal. I'd failed him too. Well I had my answer. What was the point of Harvey Dent?

There wasn't one.

They set fire to the store before they left. Molotov cocktail; the weapon of choice for C-list arsonists around the world. As I lay there, bleeding to death, I saw some coins that had spilled to the floor. Larger than a modern quarter, the face of a beautiful woman was proudly stamped on their surface. She reminded me of Lady Liberty. Or Lady Justice.

I reached for a coin, and held it in my hand.

Harvey. Please, let me out! I can save us!

I smiled. “Hey Janice. Glad you could make it. The roast of Harvey Dent, what do you think?”

You're in shock, Harvey. Please! Think about Duela and Gilda! They need us!

“It's not about what they need. It's about what they're going to get. You. I couldn't stop you before. Funny, now I can. All I have to do is lay here.”

Harvey! Please...I love you. You know that!

“You say that. But you want to destroy me.”

Her voice in my head was crying now. Damn it, Harvey! It's because you can't let yourself be happy! I did this all for you!

“Yeah...and I screwed it all up. Funny, ain't it?” I looked at the coin. “Tell you what. Call it.”

You're insane!

I laughed, and it felt good. “Makes two of us, beautiful! Call it!”

...heads.

I turned the coin in my hand. To my amazement, it had two heads! Worthless, a joke coin. A waste of good silver. I saw the fallen knife and I cut scratches in the silver. “Good head, we live. Bad head, we die.”

Harvey...I'm scared.

“I know. But it has to be this way. If I'm going to die, then I want to die on my terms. You understand that, right?”

I could see her smile in my mind's eye. That crazy, reckless smile. That's the smile of the girl I loved! Okay lover. Let's do this.

I flipped the coin and caught it.

-

I stumbled out of the burning building, the coin in my hand. I could hear the sirens; as usual, the Police were too late. I found a place to sit down and watch the blaze, out of sight. I shook my head. “Harvey, you idiot.”

I sighed. Then again, maybe this had been for the best. I held up the coin. Good head. Justice.

Bad head. Vengeance.

There was a lesson in this. I should have tried to meet myself halfway. Found a way to reconcile our differences. I'd failed, and it had almost cost us everything.

“But Harvey, you found a way, didn't you?” I lay back and let sleep claim me.

-

Oddly enough, it looked like a bridal suite. Heart-shaped bed and everything. Harvey was laying on the bed, sleeping. He looked so peaceful. I smiled as I climbed onto the bed, moving slowly on all fours, like a cat stalking it's prey. I ran my fingers along his thigh, and his manhood stiffened at my touch. He stirred. “Gilda..?”

“No baby, it's me.”

He moved to sit up, but I pushed him down. “Janice...but...how?”

“This is all in our head, lover. Even if you went about it in a boneheaded way, we're ready now. At last!”

“...I thought you'd just sort of take over. That I'd disappear.”

I shook my head. “I'd thought so too. But you were too stubborn for that.” I smiled at him. “So we get to have some fun, first.”

“What are you...?”

I licked the tip of his cock, and he shuddered. “Wait...Gilda...”

“Shut up, Harvey. We're not cheating on her; this is in our mind, remember? Besides, I'm you. You're me. Think of this as masturbation.” I took his cock in my mouth and he didn't argue.

Men were so easy. I'd learned a lot about how to please a man, and it gave me a thrill to share that knowledge with him. Even if Harvey Dent was a moron, I loved him. I felt his fingers twining in my hair. He moaned, and suddenly, I didn't want foreplay.

By this point, he was nice and hard. “Fuck me, Harvey.”

He obliged, his strong arms lifting me like I was a doll. But he didn't enter me, not yet. Instead he lay me down on the bed and he placed his hands on my breasts. My nipples were already hard as rock, and he pinched them roughly.

“Harvey...please...just do me!”

“You're too impatient, Janice. You need to work on that.” He lowered himself to nibble on my stomach, and I sucked in a breath. My body felt like it was on fire!

He didn't tease me long. His need was my need, after all. Instead, he pushed apart my legs, and began teasing my lips with his tongue. That was something we both knew very well; how to please a woman!

He was relentless, pushing his fingers inside of me, opening me up so that he could catch my clit in his teeth. I thrashed wildly as I came, my fingers twining in his hair, pushing him against me. It wasn't the best I'd ever had (Gilda had given me that pleasure!), but it was good. Really good.

I was still recovering from the first orgasm when he rose and pulled me to the edge of the bed. Then he entered me, and I gasped. I'm smaller than he is by a good deal, and I'd never taken such a huge cock inside of me! It hurt a little, but pleasure with a dash of pain is my favorite poison.

“Do me rough, please!”

And he obliged. I felt raw as I came, and he followed suit shortly after. My body felt molten, liquid. We began to flow together, our bodies joining. Merging. Everything that was Harvey Dent filling me up. New power surged through my body, like the mother of all orgasms. And when I screamed, there were two voices.

And then one.

-

I woke up, shivering a bit. I pulled Harvey's coat around me. It, like his clothes, were way too big for me. There was no way I could make it home like this, so I called Gilda.

“Harvey? Where have you been?!”

“Sorry to worry you, Gilda.”

“...Janice?”

I smiled. “And Harvey too.” I felt tears form. It felt wonderful. I was finally me!

“I'm happy for you both. I really am.”

“Oh Gilda...we...I...I don't deserve you.” I fumbled at my ring, which was now loose on my finger. “I need you to pick me up.” I told her where to go, and I could hear her grabbing her keys off the desk.

-

I got into her car, and she looked at me oddly. Her eyes were puffy from crying. I hated myself for hurting her in any way.

“You look...different somehow.”

“Do I?” I pulled down the sun visor and looked in the vanity mirror. No, my features were still the same. And yet, there was something I couldn't put my finger on.

She touched my shoulder. “It's a good thing. The part of you that was missing.”

I moved closer to her, and lay my head against her body. She put her arm around me as we drove off. “This feels so good.”

“Like I said, it's the thing you were missing, Janice. Do I still call you Janice?”

“I think so, yes. But what are you talking about?”

“Your heart, honey.”

Yes, that was it. Harvey's compassion was a part of me now. At last, I was complete. “It feels wonderful.”

“Janice...are you going to leave me now?”

I looked up at her. “No! Never! Gilda, I love you!”

She wiped away her tears. “It's just, you're young now, and, well, I don't know how to explain this to Duela...”

“I know. And I'm sorry. It's not fair to you that I'm practically a kid again. I...if anything I was worried you wouldn't want me.”

“I married you, Janice Dent. For better or for worse. I'm not going to let go.”

“Drive faster. I want to go home and do wonderful things to my wife.” I smiled at her.

“Mm...I can't wait.” She sobered. “But Janice, there's...there's something I need to tell you.”

“What?”

“I'm pregnant.”

My eyes got wide. “Oh...wait! The doctors said you couldn't have another child!”

She nodded. “Don't ask me how you knocked me up, but you did. And yes, there's no way I can carry to term.” She looked at me. “But you could.”

My jaw dropped.

“You're compatible with the baby, I mean, you are the father. So is Duela, but she's too young to be a mother. But this...it's what you always wanted, right?”

I couldn't speak. I couldn't breathe. A baby. A baby of my own. Growing inside of me!

“...yes. Yes. Yes! Oh God, yes!”

-

We got home, and I did many wonderful things for my wife. And she gave in kind.

In the end, we faked Harvey's death. Duela was devastated, and I cursed myself for hurting her, but it was the easiest way. As Janice, I comforted her as best I could. And Kim, well, she was a godsend.

It worked out for the best, really. I became part of the family. So when Gilda explained that she needed a surrogate, and that the doctors said I could carry the baby, Duela was overjoyed.

Rather than give it up, I let Duela have the apartment. And of course, her father's car. I helped her get her license. Even though she was sixteen, I knew I could trust her to have her own place. She needed that bit of independence, to move on with her life. It wasn't long before Kim was staying there almost exclusively. Which gave me a lot of freedom to enjoy my wife's company.

Her parents took some persuading, but eventually, Gilda got them to give the two girls their blessing.

I'm getting so big now. Even with my strength, it's not easy to move around. I feel like a bloated cow. Gilda says I look beautiful. People say there's a 'glow' about me. I don't really see it; every time I look in the mirror, I'm the same.

It's the one black cloud on the horizon. I know it's too early to tell, but I'm pretty sure of it. I'm going to be a teenager until I die. In a few years, Duela will be older than me! I don't know how I could explain that. Ever.

Thankfully, the baby knows how to keep me from maudlin. With a swift kick! I laughed. “Yes, you're your Daddy's girl, aren't you?”

Yes, another girl. I was ecstatic. She was going to be so beautiful!

-

My labor was mercifully brief. I'd been shot before, and I'd trade that pain for this any day! Giving birth felt like I was being ripped apart from the outside, but the girls were with me, and somehow, I endured. I always do.

And shen they handed the wrinkly, ugly little baby to me, I was convinced she was the most beautiful thing in the world. I held her to my breast, and she began to suck instinctively. I couldn't stop crying; but then again, none of us could.

-

I'm sitting in the rocking chair in the baby's room, nursing her. We decided to name her Gemina, which is a variation of Gemini. Cute, I know, but what else do you name the daughter of Janus?

I was quickly shedding the extra weight; whenever I could, I was exercising, toning up my body. I was stronger now than I'd ever been before. Just last night, I'd had Gilda put all the weights on Harvey's exercise machine. 600 pounds. And I was still getting stronger!

Instead of bulking up like some bodybuilder, I was sleek and toned. I guessed my strength wasn't entirely due to muscles, but working out seemed to help. Certainly, I had a lot more stamina now.

I found I could make myself heavier as well. Back when I was still in transition, as it were, as Janice, I could still function as if I had Harvey's mass, despite not looking any different. Now I had to concentrate on it, but I could increase my weight by a factor of four. Again, it didn't bulk me up any, but it sure came in handy, if a bit less graceful.

By dropping the mass as I jumped, I could leap really damn high, too! I also heal really fast; despite having been shot and left in a burning building, by the time Gilda picked me up, there wasn't a mark on me; even the cuts on my hand were gone! I looked up info on metahuman fan sites. According to what I'd learned, I had the following abilities:

-enhanced/assisted strength. Basically, I was a lot stronger than I had any right to be.
-density manipulation. I could make myself heavier, and increase my resistance to injury.
-regeneration/healing factor. I healed and recovered from trauma at a rate that was nothing short of miraculous. This was also, no doubt, the reason why I didn't seem to be aging. While there was no evidence for metahumans, comic book characters with this ability tended to age very slowly, if at all.

A little more research on that topic gave me a crazy idea. But I was going to have to talk to an expert, maybe a geneticist. And I'd found one, currently being held at New Alcatraz. Dr. Amy Zhan. It wouldn't be easy to get an interview, but I had some influence in my persona as Janus.

Although I'd left the criminal element in the city in a lot better shape (from my perspective), my maternity leave was making my lieutenants get funny ideas. I was just a voice on the phone, why did they need to listen to me?

Morons. As soon as Gemina was weaned, they were in for the shock of their lives. And my first order of business will be to hunt down three punks who killed an old man and burned down his store.

Gemina burped and smiled at me. “Oh yes honey, it won't be long. Mommy Janice is going to take out the trash.”

Gemina. Another reason I needed to see Dr. Zhan. Or Superia, as she called herself. For all I knew, my daughter was the first of her kind. The child of an active metahuman. “Nothing but the best for you, baby. No matter what I have to do to get it for you.”

Even if that meant busting a terrorist out of prison.

---

To be continued...

Authors Notes-

Harvey Bullock is a detective and a supporting character in various Batman media.

Kimberly Schau is the name of a minor character from the comics as well, the second Dazzler. This in no way implies that she is a metahuman, but feel free to engage in wild mass guessing!

Dr. Amy Zhan, aka Superia, is a character from Big Trouble!, as well as Free Spirit.