'In Darkest Night'

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Summary: Post-TDK. The dawn has arrived. But what will this new day bring? When new monsters and old demons rise to threaten the very existence of Gotham...so will its fallen.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but this story. Everything else belongs to the Demi-God Nolan, praises!

A/N: Slightest changing of minor events and dates. Read on! (And review!)


They'd all fallen.

Harvey Dent fell.

He lost his ideals and honor and brought down everything he'd ever stood for. He destroyed many lives, and not all of them were those he killed. He became the villain.

Rachel Dawes fell.

She made the wrong decisions. She was weak, swayed by her own inability to accept the truth and selfish, for she could never see past her own sacrifices.

James Gordon fell.

He allowed people to die on his watch and couldn't protect his family from his enemies. He let an innocent man, a savior take the blame of a corrupt man and lied to the world.

Even the Joker fell. But that was just gravity.

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The Batman didn't fall. But he lost everything else.


Prologue~ The End

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Laughter.

Crazed, taunting, maniacal laughter rang out through her fogged senses, sending shivers up her spine, along with a new bout of terror.

Could there be something worse than what she'd just endured?

The unyielding darkness parted to reveal a single point of light, sliding across the serrated surface of a bloodied knife as it came closer and closer to her, blocking her entire vision, until she could see nothing else but her own terror reflected in the deadly metal.

His breath felt warm on her neck as he moved closer, panting, one hand just barely caressing a collar bone. A clock started ticking somewhere. Was it all happening in her head?

Then the deadly voice began hissing poisonous words.

I am going to…

They said that they were going to…

let your friends choose…

Let our friends choose…

And only he…

…I know, Harvey…

can decide which of you gets to live…

…but I don't…

and which of you is going to…

…want them to…

die…

Hahaha Hahaha! Hehehe Hehehe! Hoo-ha! Hoo-ha!

Crazed, taunting, maniacal laughter rang out through the warehouse, as the clock ticked on.

The explosion was so vast that Anna Ramirez, across the street, was thrown momentarily off balance as four floor worth of concrete, bricks and mortar came crashing down in a single instant and the sky was lit up by brilliant fireworks. Some three miles to the north, a similar display could be seen almost at the same time.

How could something so glorious be part of something as horrifying as a murder? She thought hopelessly as her eyes guiltily reflected the flames licking up into the night.

Death at the hands of a laughing demon.

Fireworks to celebrate a tragedy.

Irony sure had a way.

And I am responsible for this.

Uncovering her ears, Ramirez squinted at the dust swirling all around her, hiding the charred remains of the building, her brows furrowing in confusion.

'Where the hell did he go?'She shouted in growing panic.


The harsh sound of the sirens was getting louder now, as she felt herself be carried gently from the heat that scorched her skin.

What was happening?

Hadn't she died yet?

She definitely remembered the explosion.

Where was she going?

Rachel Dawes had been an independent and inquisitive woman in her life. Now even in death, she could feel a little of her inner strength return as she desperately tried to understand what was happening around her. The blazing inferno raged on in front of her, but she was no longer part of it, as she watched it silently, all the while being carried further and further away from her grave. Turning her head to look behind her, she could see a host of cop cars and an ambulance pull up recklessly and people running towards them, but all of it appeared oddly unreal and perplexingly blurry to her, as if seen through the wrong end of a telescope.

Complete silence enveloped her, shielding her from the madness abound and a strange calm filled her mind, numbing all her senses so that all her pain receded until it was a single throbbing pulse somewhere deep in her head. If only she could sleep…

'Get the medics!'

The words, shouted by the man carrying her, seemed almost irrelevant to her, funny in fact, as she watched it all contently. She knew she was going to pass out soon…now that would be nice…

I don't need medics. She tried to tell her savior.I am fine. I just need to see –

A swell of emotion rose up inside her, bringing her back to searing reality. The press conference. The lie. The chase. The Joker, the Joker, the Joker and…

Harvey!

'Harvey…' She gasped, the sensation of hearing returning to her as she heard her feeble voice over the now blaring sirens and harried commands being barked about. Clutching at the man carrying her, she whispered again, 'Where's…Harvey?'

She felt the man stiffen beneath her hold, and a thousand answers sprang to her lips, all worse than the other. Why wouldn't he answer her? What could be so bad that he kept quiet?

Please, let him be alright. Oh God, please–

'Harvey's…alive.' The man replied soothingly as he set her down on a stretcher. Hearing his voice Rachel lifted herself up an inch. Looking back at his face, pale with trepidation, she felt tears forming at the corner of her eyes as she let go of him, seeking his exhausted hazel eyes. Tell me the truth.

A sad smile tugged at his lips as he momentarily grabbed her hand and said earnestly, 'Harvey's alive. And so are you, Rachel.'

Rachel didn't know when she had started crying. Tears rolled down her face, leaving murky trials in the soot and blood. Closing her eyes, she settled back on the stretcher as the last of her strength ebbed away.

'Thank you, Jim.' She managed to rasp out before darkness closed in. There was no need to worry. Everything was going to be all right now.

It was all going to be all right.

And now she could die peacefully.