Bruce sat at his desk, it was more for show than anything thing now, and pondered what exactly he'd accomplished. Sure as Batman he'd accomplished a lot, putting an end to crime, giving the people hope, and most importantly something to believe in.
He had accomplished everything he'd set out to do so why did he feel so empty still? Closing his eyes the 80 year old Bruce thought back to when the Joker had made made his first appearance in Gotham City, he thought of these days often now since he'd passed the mantle of Batman to his new protegee.
She still haunted his thoughts, his dreams, his every waking moment now a days seemed to be focused on her. Rachel Dawes had been his lifelong friend and the love of his life, she had showed him that Gotham was suffering as well as he was when he'd wanted went to confront Falcone about his parent's death. She had really opened his eyes to the good he could do in this city if he just focused, so he became Batman.
It had taken him awhile to get the costume right, plus perfecting the skills he'd acquired, plus getting Allies. Luckily he'd found one in Sgt. James Gordon, one of the last good cops in the city. After he'd saved her from Crane, Or Scarecrow, and Rha's Al Ghul's plan to destroy Gotham he'd decided to leave her a hint, one quote that he knew she'd remember "It's not who I am underneath, but what I *do* that defines me."
After it was all over she'd told him that she didn't think there would be a day where he didn't need Batman which meant they could never be together. He hadn't been sure what to say to that so he'd simply watched as she walked away, one of the many mistakes he'd made in his life.
Bruce looked at his cane and smiled as he continued to reminiscence about the past, this had all happened so long ago he didn't know why he continued to let his mind wander to it, looking out the window of the Wayne Mansion he couldn't help but wonder what he could have done differently, could he have changed the way things turned out? As his thoughts traveled back to that fateful day he couldn't help but wonder what exactly had gone wrong.
The Joker was in Custody, finally, and Bruce had just gotten back to his penthouse when the special line of communication he'd set up with Gordon went off. He sighed and picked it up, it was a request to meet at the Gotham Police station in the Major Crimes Unit. Quickly putting his suit back on he took the rbatpod and rushed to the Police Station.
Gordon was waiting when he got there "Dent and his girlfriend, Rachel Dawes, are missing" he said "The Joker has hinted that he knows where they are but he wont say anything and I figured you could help us out." Batman's heart sank as he realized one of his worst fears had come to pass, The Joker had gotten his hands on Rachel.
He moved silently into the interrogation room before they brought the Joker back and his in the shadows as Gordon tried to talk to The Joker once more and smirked at the idea of Bad cop, Good Cop. "Not quite." Gordon replied, moving to the door. The first blow had been to the head, it had felt good to finally get his hands on the bastard. "Where are they?" he growled.
Bruce stood up and groaned, he hated getting old, walking slowly with his cane into the Kitchen of the massive Wayne Manor he poured himself a glass of water and took a sip of the cold liquid, his eyes moved to the glass and he seemed to focus on it for a moment before putting it down on the table and sitting down to think again, he knew he didn't have long left in this world and he just wanted to remember once more, remember what he'd been and what he'd lost all in the sake of protecting this city.
Joker had talked faster than Bruce could have imagined, his mind racing as he ran to the motorcycle that he'd nicknamed the Batpod. "Which one are you going after?" Gordon had Called. "Rachel!" he said without hesitation. Racing down the streets of Gotham, his heart pounding, the only thought in his mind was that if Rachel wasn't safe he could very easily kill the Joker..And not feel bad about it.
Bruce could remember the adrenaline that had been racing through his body as he'd headed to the address The Joker had given for Rachel, he should have known that the addresses would be switched. The entire thing had been a game for The Joker, just another way to mess with the City, With Harvey Dent.. and Most of all with Him. He let out a soft growl as the blame and self doubt came back and his eyes started to feel heavy, he just wanted to go to sleep now.
Bruce kicked in the door and headed towards the sounds of the screams, his heart fell when he realized what had happened.. The Joker had switched addresses 'Please let them get there in time' he thought and raced to the source of the screaming to find Harvey Dent tied to a chair he'd obviously knocked over himself.
"No!" Harvey had screamed "Rachel! Rachel!" Bruce couldn't help but agree with him as he dragged the man out of the building, leaving a second before Rachel's voice had come over the phone set up before the line went dead.
Bruce would never forget watching as Harvey's face had been half burnt all to hell, nor had he ever forgotten the moment when Gordon had told him that Rachel was dead, they hadn't gotten there in time. He had felt like his heart had been torn out of his chest and destroyed along with Rachel. He wanted to blame the Joker, Gordon, anyone. But he knew the truth, it was his fault and nothing he could do could change that.
He'd held a small funeral for her even though there hadn't been any remains found to bury. He had said his goodbyes but he had known he wasn't ready to say goodbye, he probably never would be. That had been so many years ago now, he was ready to go.. He wanted to see her again, his eyes opened for a minute and he swore that Rachel was standing there, motioning him to follow.. Which of course he did.
Bruce Wayne was found dead of Natural causes the next day, finally he could rest in peace.
Note: I don't own The Dark Knight, Or anything Batman related. Now, what did you guys think? I wanted to do another oneshot that wasn't a songfic or Creddie, though as soon as I upload this I have a songfic to The Perfect Drug by Nine Inch nails that I wanna give a try to write. This was just something that popped into my head while listening to Promises by Megadeth, and is my first Batman fic. Thanks for reading and please leave a review or just a comment on how you thought the story was!