A is for Anticipation - Rachel stands on the precipice and while she looks before she leaps she is already at the bottom in her mind. See the goal, see the brass ring and then reach for it. The smile on her face is in anticipation of some new delight, some reward, the accomplishment of a goal. She walks with a purpose towards a destination, stands, half the time, on one foot and the heel of the other cocked up, ready to begin walking again. One of the marvels of life, for her, is how it keeps going. There's always another chance, another opportunity, and she anticipates each moment with a readiness to make the most of it, good or bad.

B is for Beloved - The qualities that make Rachel who she is also make her endearing to those who recognize her best qualities. Bruce loves her because she is brave enough to take her more mundane, more arduous way to save the world, all the risk and so little direct reward. Alfred loves her because while she is around for that one brief moment there is hope in the house again, and smiles that aren't merely masks. Harvey loves her because he pins all his hopes for salvation on her forward momentum, her pushing herself and everyone around her to be better than they are, to be the person they would always love to be. They love her because they love the idea of being that person she sees within them, in love with their idealized reflections.

C is for Courage - Rachel is the kind of woman who will stand in the face of the man who owns the second biggest piece of Gotham and tell him he's a lying, murderous scumbag. She'll even stand in the face of the man who owns the biggest piece of Gotham and tell him that as much as she loves him, he's an idiot, and she's marrying someone else. She'll do what needs to be done even when it hurts, because that's the kind of woman she is. Brave little toaster.

D is for Dichotomy - Even when she's a woman, Rachel is still that idealistic little girl. Even when she's pinning those she faces to the wall with their own sins and predilections and little bad habits there's still a part of her that is the girl in her tower, the princess on her horse, Janet at Carter Hall fighting for her knight Tam Lyn. The little girl playing pretend to convince herself that she's a hero, because if she can convince herself she can convince those around her. She balances on the cusp of womanhood, of that mature and knowledgeable power, and the last remnants of her idealistic childhood when she could do anything she put her mind to, anything at all.

E is for Erotic - There is, of course, a side to Rachel that the public does not see. She reserved that side for Bruce, once upon a time, but he had things to do and she quietly removed herself from the running. And then there was Harvey, and she found herself blossoming in ways she had been aware were possible but still hadn't quite expected. It was one thing to be knowledgeable about the ways of a man with a woman. It was another thing entirely to find someone she trusted enough to explore all those things with. It is a side that no one but Harvey (and possibly Bruce, but in an entirely different way) will see, and yet it is a side to her that she cultivates with as much enthusiasm as she does every other aspect of her life.

F is for Fierce - If there's one thing Rachel doesn't lack for, has never lacked for, it's ferocity. She can snap heads off with the best and most experienced of city lawyers, she can go head to head with crime bosses and those who run them without flinching. She can even face down her oldest friend and tell him he's wrong when he goes against what she believes in, what she thinks he believes in.

G is for Gaiety - Even with all she's seen and done, Rachel can still laugh, and she's grateful for that. She can still find joy in the small things, in the sun coming out after a rainstorm or the benefit of the rainstorm itself, water dripping down from renewed leaves. Laughter and smiles in little things, in the company of an old friend and holding hands as they walk down the steps, as they stand in the warmth of sunshine before they have to go back inside. She keeps the memories with her to keep that smile on her face real as she confronts things that paint the world with a coat of gray dust and leech all the energy away. Even if the theatre of Gotham politics burns around her, she's determined to dance in the aisles.

H is for Heart - Rachel has a moment for everyone, even if it's hurrying down the hall on the way to her next court case. If she can spare a moment she wil give it to you. She has attention to spare, she has room in her heart for all problems that come her way. She may not be able to spare them more than an idea or two, or encouragement, or her focus for five minutes, but she will give what she can. She has an endless supply of hope and heart, which she spends freely because she has never learned that you must guard your heart as your most precious treasure, a lesson no one thinks to teach her because to do so is to deprive the the city of one of its greatest assets, and the city by its own nature will do that anyway, given time.

I is for Intuition - Rachel believes in her intuition. It's served her well in the past, she sees no reason to stop listening to it, even if perhaps the actions or decisions she intuits are not logical or safe or sane, on the face of them. She has a kind soul and a spirit older and wiser than her years that guides her well enough. She has a way of seeing to the heart of people that helps. Even the knowledge, the act of seeing even if it's not actually seeing, helps. To be known and heard is rare for most of the people she deals with, all of them too used to being ignored and pushed aside, and it makes them respond to her, justifying her use of intuition as a guiding force in her life.

J is for Jump - She took a leap when she moved to the district attorney's office to work amongst people old enough to be her father, or her grandfather in two cases. She took a further leap when she jumped onto the crusading bandwagong charging after Falcone and the rest of his crew. She has a sense of timing almost unmatched in the way she seizes the opportunities that are given to her and carries them through to a finish no one, not even her, expected.

K is for Karma - Rachel believes in give and take, send out and return. She wouldn't call it any one thing but what she does call it is being kind. The world has enough cruelty in it, she says, no need to add more. She believes in reaching out because if you don't reach out no one will take your hand when you need it. A little kindness goes a long way, especially in a city where it is so hard to find. The fact that she receives the reward of people's goodwill and trust isn't something she asks for, it's an effect of the actions she takes. A consequences of the choices she makes. She knows of the association of cause and effect, act and reward, the idea that what goes around comes around but she doesn't subscribe to it except on a very basic level. She believes that if she puts out more kindness that there is more of it in the world, and that can never be a bad thing.

L is for Loyal - It's a rare trait in Gotham, these days. Everything can be bought or sold if you know the asking price, some run as low as a hot meal or a warm coat. Others will run you higher, a vacation home outside of the city, a new car, something as needful as a college education and others as frivolous as a yacht. Few enough people come without a price tag attached, so much so that people have stopped assuming loyalty in anyone. So Rachel gives it freely to those she feels are worthy of it, those she wants to give it to, because in a city where everything is for sale, a person who can't be bought is a prize greater than anything cold hard cash could acquire.

M is for Mother and Maiden - Young Ms. Dawes hovers in the media eye between being a young woman about town and the matriarch to the boys club of lawyers downtown. At one moment she laughs with all the unspoiled delight of a young woman who has yet to find a scarring disappointment; at the next she orders her boss, the District Attorney, to hand over his car keys and pours him into the cab she's called. She takes care of those around her, taking the role of den mother one action at a time until they assume her oversight and comfort. And yet when she is in distress, when the evils of the world press in on her too closely she is everyone's little girl to be taken up and held and comforted, herself, until she is well again.

N is for Need - Rachel's drive to do what she does borders on need, obsession. She needs to make things better, she can't explain why. Something is wrong in Gotham, and it isn't just the nostalgia of childhood casting Gotham of twenty years ago in a golden light. She needs to make things better than they can be because she can see the potential buried underneath all the lies and the cynicism and the panic. She needs to push that boulder one more inch, to lean against that wall until it's shored up, to hold that line until the last person has crossed and she could never in a thousand questions from a thousand reports come up with one good and simple reason why.

O is for Order - If nothing is neat and tidy in the world it is even less so in Gotham. Rachel puts things to order as best she can, trying to bring peace and serenity to chaos even if it is a losing battle. If it weren't Gotham, if it were some other place, almost any other place she might leave it alone. Might not struggle so hard. But everything is so broken and in pieces, even the men she cares about, that she has to impose some kind of order on the place so that it can be made whole again. If she has all the pieces laid out in front of her she can see how they fit together. Like a matriarch, like a little girl playing at matriarch of the house, she ensures that everything and everyone is in their proper place to do the job best suited towards keeping the household running as long as possible.

P is for Patience - It took Rachel time to develop the patience with which she works with her fellows, prepares witnesses, mostly with which she does her paperwork, no fuss and no complaining. She's learned how to take a breath, organize her thoughts, and go in steady until it's done. More importantly she's learned how to keep going when she doesn't find the instant results she might wish for, when things seem like they're taking forever to come to fruition. She's learned how not to give up until every last avenue is exhausted, and how to appreciate that everything comes in its own due time and not according to your immediate wishes. The world keeps its own schedule, the product of a thousand different decisions by tens of thousands of people every day. She's learned to accept that.

Q is for Queenly - Rachel reigns over a tiny court of two clerks, one well-meaning but easily stirred district attorney, and a passel of ever-changing assistant district attorneys almost all of whom require some degree of directing. It's unclear even to her how she's figured that out, but she quickly learned how to nudge and when to push and when to gently remind with a smile and a manila envelope. They all listen to her. Even her supposed boss, because she's right, half the time. Because she dares to say the things that they're too jaded to say. Because she has the brilliance inside of her that they recognize could lead them all to do great things, things they could never imagine accomplishing on their own.

R is for Reach - One day Rachel's reach will exceed her grasp. One day she'll aim too high and fall short, fall flat, fall that long distance between her aspirations and the sub-basement level of Gotham reality. Until then, though, she's going to operate with the assumption that no target is beyond her grasp. No goal is too lofty, not if she can break it down into pieces big enough to make steps out of, climb her way to wherever she's decided the top is. It's not the DA position. It's not mayor, it's not any kind of political office. It's an ivory tower where there's fair work for everyone who wants it, a fair trial for everyone regardless of gender or race or any other innate quality. Where people are judged by their actions and the strength of their word.

S is for Stoic - Rachel bears up under pressure and scrutiny with a tremendous force of will and very little else. She supports her fellows at work, Harvey, even Bruce when she needs to because they need her, because she refuses to allow herself to let them down. She has her needs, of course, and her mind understands this. Her mind instructs her to allow for her reactions to life's little events, but the gremlins in her thoughts, the little voice in the back of her brain tells her that she cannot afford the luxury of being emotional. There are cases to try, bad guys to put away. She has to take care of Bruce, of Harvey, who could be so much to this city. She has work to do, and she means to do it, whatever the cost.

T is for Trust - It's a fragile thing, and within the framework of the corrupt and the small pockets of honesty and hope there's little room for trust. Rachel knows better than to give it completely at first, but she will give it, more so than most in the city. She trusts that they will tell her the truth when she asks for it. She trusts that they will appear in court when they are sworn to testify. She trusts, even more strongly though she has even less reason to, in the law. She trusts in the system that men have made, that the system will hold, that the system is not broken but merely weighed down by the small imperfections of people who have lost their hope, that Gotham can one day find its way out again.

U is for Underneath - Rachel refuses to let anyone see it if she can help it, though she has the feeling Bruce suspects just how little there is to her underneath. Oh, not lacking in substance, she could not do what she does without some substance underneath the style and the glamour. But she is not as strong as she pretends she is. She has strength for others because she has will, drive, persistance. Because she has a need to do for others, to make her dream for Gotham become a reality but she has no dream of her own. There is very little underneath that is hers alone, and it makes for a hollow space inside of her that she does not look too closely at and never manages to fill.

V is for Virtue - Whether or not she feels that way the people of Gotham, both her enemies and her allies, see her as something purer than themselves. They hold her up as their Jeanne d'Arc, the woman with the words of God from her lips, la Pucelle, the unspoken symbol of their crusade. It paints her as a target for people who believe that the world can never be what idealism would make it. It also makes her a larger than life figure of inspiration to people who are surrounded by the energy-sucking vampires, loan sharks and drug dealers and thieves and fences and pimps. She isn't a part of that. She lives on a higher frequency, a more virtuous path. This may be why she is chosen to die; she is too good to live in Gotham City.

W is for Wish - There are times when she feels out of her depth; when she wishes for something more. Something better. More strength, perhaps, a better city to work in (though she would never live anywhere but her hometown, no, but sometimes she wishes her city was better), more resources, more staff. Better hours, some days. Wishing isn't getting, though, she knows that, but wishing is the expression of a desire driven perhaps by need, and if she knows what she's wishing for then she knows what she's striving for, and that's a sense of direction that by now she suspects some people don't have.

X is the cross on which she hangs herself. She gives up parts of herself, her time, her energy, whatever is necessary for the cause and her people. Without hesitation she will give what is necessary because it is necessary, and she thinks no more on it. Her martyrdom is inevitable.

Y is for Youth - Rachel's enthusiasm is described as youthful by her peers, who have all survived the decades of corruption and the heart of the city slowly sinking into depression and depravity. But while she may agree with them she also sees her youth as an asset, her freshness, her lack of prejudices and the strength that comes from not being ground down to an emotional nubbin by an onslaught of people, day after day, who are neither terribly good or terribly evil but simply are too worn to be focused on anything but their own survival.

Z is for Zest - The question everybody asked her in the first few weeks in the district attorney's office was, where do you get your energy? Depending on who's asking and how long she wants to spend talking to them, she may lie or she may tell a part of the truth. She may say that she hasn't been in the city long enough for the dirt to consume her, she may say that she drinks after hours if she knows the other person well enough to anticipate a laugh of understanding the joke. She does go to sleep at the end of every day, exhausted, and has to push herself out of bed in the morning. The truth is that she doesn't know the truth, she's always had this energy burning her up inside and driving her mad if she doesn't do something with it.

Go to the top! For you have reached the bottom.