Chapter 1

"The Joker won..."

The late night air was getting colder and colder. The mist of Commissioner Jim Gordon's breath floated into the air and faded, until it seemed like it might never have been there at all. He was panting, still a little out of breath from climbing down the broken stairs of the half collapsed wreck that used to be a warehouse... Two-fifty, fifty-second street...

Where's my family?

"All of Harvey's prosecutions", he said, his voice – his soul – deflated. "Everything he fought for...undone". As he spoke his eyes darted between the dark figure stood in front of him... and the darker figure of Harvey Dent lying unmoving on the ground.

Where my family died.

Gordon swallowed, trying to push down the horrible feeling that was growing in the pit of his stomach. Harvey's scarred face... it would be burned into his memory for the rest of his life.

He forced himself to pull his eyes away from Dent, and back to the man who moments before had saved the life of his son. "Whatever chance you gave us of fixing our city dies with Harvey's reputation", he continued. "We bet it all on him. The Joker took the best of us and tore him down. People will lose hope."

There was the briefest of pauses, and the air between the two was so thick that Gordon worried he might drown in it. Finally, the silent figure spoke.

"They won't", he growled. "They must never know what he did." The Batman turned slightly, and Gordon caught a glimpse of his tired eyes – they looked like they had no hope.

"Five dead", Gordon said. "Two of them cops...you can't sweep that up." For the first time, Gordon noticed the way the Batman cradled his ribs in his arm. He realised then just how fragile he must have been, and wondered how he could possibly bear the weight of an entire city on his shoulders. He was a person. Gordon – along with everyone else in the city – had lost sight of that. He was as fragile as anyone else...

"But the Joker cannot win", the Batman said, turning to face Gordon. "Gotham needs its true hero". The Batman's eyes, barely a minute ago so lost and without hope, now pierced Gordon with their unwavering determination. Gordon understood his meaning immediately.

"No!" he exclaimed. The very idea filled him with revulsion.

"'You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain'", he said, a reference that Gordon did not recognise. "I can do those things, because I'm not a hero, not like Dent. I killed those people. That's what I can be."

Gordon's mind raced, trying to find some other way out of this. "No, you can't!" he cried. "You're not!"

"I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be", the Batman replied. "Call it in." Gordon watched as a black hand reached out to him. As he stared at the police radio the was held loosely in its grip, Gordon realised that there were no other options. If he didn't do... this... If he didn't agree to this lie, then hundreds of convictions would be quashed, hundreds of criminals released back onto the streets. And without Dent... he didn't see any hope of sending them back. The city would spiral back downwards, like it had been before. And Gordon refused to let his city sink back that far.

He reached his hand out slowly, and took the police radio from the Batman's hand. The horrible feeling that until then had been consigned to the pit of his stomach overwhelmed him when his fingers grasped the plastic casing. He cradled the radio in his hands for a few moments, doing nothing but stare at it. It had to be done, he knew. But he couldn't. Not yet. He hadn't the will.

Gordon lifted his face up, and met the eyes of his friend. "They'll hunt you", he said weakly.

"You'll hunt me", Batman replied instantly. "You'll condemn me, set the dogs on me. Because that's what needs to happen. Because sometimes... the truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded".

The two stared at each other for a moment longer. Gordon wavered once more, and thought of trying one last time to convince the Batman not to go through with this. But one look at the steely determination in his eyes was enough to tell Gordon that there was no backing down from this. There was no other way.

The sound of sirens echoed quietly around them, and they both knew that time had run out. Wordlessly, the Batman turned and limped quickly away. Gordon let out a sigh that he had been holding in for a long time.

"Batman?" A voice that he recognised called out to the figure that was barely visible now in the distance.

"Batman!" his son called out again, now stood beside Gordon. Without looking up at his father – eyes still fixed on the disappearing figure of the Batman – his son asked the question that Gordon was dreading answering. "Why is he running, Dad?"

Gordon swallowed again. Because we lost... a voice echoed in his head. But he was damned if he was going to lie to his son. If he couldn't make his own son understand why he was doing this, then there was no hope... no justification.

"Because we have to chase him", Gordon said wearily. He felt two figures emerge from the ruined building behind them – his wife and his daughter. They stopped, perhaps five yards behind them, sensing that something was wrong.

"He didn't do anything wrong", Gordon's son said.

No... Gordon thought. No he didn't...

"Because he's the hero Gotham deserves", he said out loud. "But not the one it needs right now. So, we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark Knight."

A moment of silence passed between them, and Gordon heard the familiar sound of police sirens – closer now, almost there.

"I don't get it..." his son said. Gordon glanced down at him and saw that his face was contorted in a mixture of confusion and sadness. It broke his heart to see his son so upset. He turned to him and knelt down in front of him, so that their faces were level. He tried to find the words to explain why this had to happen. To find a way to explain to a ten year old boy why building a lie... why that was the right thing to do.

But as he opened his mouth to speak, their quiet was interrupted by deafening sirens, and a police car sped into the car park and skidded to a halt. Gordon didn't turn to look at it. Instead, he held the confused gaze of his son, trying to tell him with his eyes that he had to stay quiet.

And he noticed without surprise that it had started to rain. The tiny drops surrounded them, turning the floor into mud.

Gordon heard the sound of a car door slamming shut behind him. He raised his hand gently and stroked the cheek of his son, before turning him gently and pushing him towards Barbara. Then he turned and, for the first time, looked at the two cops that had arrived.

Both of their eyes were filled with... what? Surprise? Their gazes were fixed on the body of Harvey Dent.

"What...?" one of them stuttered. "What the hell happened here, Commissioner?" Both of them turned their attention to him, and Gordon knew that now was the moment. Now was the time to lie, to condemn the man who had just saved his family's life – and his. For a moment he didn't think the words would leave his lips – he tried to form the words, every time he tried to speak he felt as though he would vomit.

Finally, though, the words came. "The Batman did this", he said, grimly. Once those first words were out in the open, he was sickened by how easily the rest of the lie came. "He murdered Harvey Dent. He murdered Wuertz. Maroni. Maroni's driver. He murdered Jameson and Carlos. He's a cop killer. A murderer..."

"Liar!" his son's voice screamed from behind them. "You're lying. Why are you saying that?" Gordon closed his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to turn around – to see the condemnation in his wife's eyes, or the anger in his son's... Instead, he held the gaze of the two men in front of him.

"It's... Anderson, isn't it?" he said, pointing to the tall, red haired man on his left. The man nodded. "And Lee?" He said, gesturing to the much younger man on his right.

Gordon knew that they would be suspicious. He needed to separate them. "Lee", he said. "Stay with my family. Make sure they stay safe. Anderson... we're going after the Batman".

Gordon looked briefly over his shoulder back at his wife. He hoped to God that she understood what was happening, and would stop their son from speaking. He didn't want Lee to know any more than he already did. The fewer people that were involved in this, the safer it would be.

He strode over to the passenger door and climbed in. Anderson followed behind. As the police car pulled back out of the car park and out onto the highway, Gordon finally raised the radio to his lips.

"All units", he said. Any hesitation that he had before had dropped away, replaced by a numbness. He didn't think that he would ever escape that feeling again. "This is an APB. The Batman is wanted for murder. I repeat, the Batman is wanted for murder. Take him down by whatever means necessary". He leant his head back against the car seat and closed his eyes. After a moment, he raised the radio back to his lips. "Take him in alive", he said quietly.

"Sir", Anderson said, nervously. "What's going on here, Commissioner? Since when does the Batman kill people?"

"I don't know, son..." Gordon said, staring out of the car window at the darkness outside. "I guess he must have... snapped. It doesn't matter. What matters is... seeing justice done". Justice, he thought to himself. There's not much of that going around these days...

The radio suddenly burst into life – just static at first, but it quickly turned into a woman's voice. "skkkrt Batman sighted", the voice said. "I repeat... Batman sighted. He's on Avenue 12, headed out to the Palisades. We are in pursuit. Wish us luck".

Gordon grabbed the radio. "This is the Commissioner", he said loudly. "Do not engage. Wait for reinforcements, and try to keep him cornered. We're close by".

Both Gordon and Anderson waited for the radio to burst into life again. It was agonising – their police siren blared out around them, but other than for that and the sound of the engine there was no noise. As they turned onto Avenue 12, the radio flared back into life.

"skkkrt Batman is cornered", the same woman's voice said. "The Batman is cornered. He's in an alleyway, between the power plant and the water treatment facility. Three cars on the scene. Requesting back-up".

Damn. Gordon had been banking on the Batman escaping. How could he let himself get cornered? If he got caught now... Gordon knew he wouldn't be able to keep this lie going in court. And that's where it would lead – the Batman, whoever he was, would stand trial for six murders. And Gordon would have to testify.

He shook his head. They weren't there yet. There had to be some way out of this. As they pulled up to the alleyway they saw another two cars arrive. That made six in all – twelve officers. No doubt more were en route.

Gordon scanned the area. He knew exactly what needed to be done. As soon as the car he was in stopped he pushed open the door and climbed out. "OK people", he said loudly. A group of nervous faces turned towards him, and a couple of their expressions turned to relief. Good, Gordon thought. They're scared. They all know what the Batman can do – hell, half of them have always been as frightened of him as the criminals are. And now it's worse. They think he's snapped, and they don't know what to do. They're looking to someone – anyone – to tell them. Hopefully they won't think too much about what I'm saying...

"Right", Gordon continued. "I want two people covering the entrance to the alleyway. I want six of you up in the buildings either side – three in each. The rest of you, go in there and flush him out. Force him to make a move. As soon as the people in the buildings spot him, take him down". He turned away and faced Anderson. "You're staying here with me", he said.

"Oh, and be careful", he added as an afterthought. "This man in extremely dangerous. Don't get careless with your lives". Gordon smiled inside – that should put a little more fear in them. As the frightened cops around him broke themselves into three groups, Gordon felt a pang of guilt. He had deliberately left the entrance to the alleyway open – just three cops, plus himself. He knew that the Batman would have no trouble getting through. He just hoped that no one else could see – or that, if they could, they would think that he'd just made a bad call.

But as he turned back to Anderson he could see suspicion already forming in his mind. It was a problem that he would have to deal with later.

"OK", he said, not taking his eyes off Anderson. "Move in". He said it loud enough that he hoped the Batman could hear, and he hoped he was getting ready to move. With any luck, these kids would get out of this without getting hurt. "Take positions".

Gordon knelt behind the car that he and Anderson arrived in, and motioned for Anderson to kneel next to him. They both drew their guns and watched as the four unlucky cops made their way slowly into the dark alleyway, trying to flush out a man that they were all terrified of.

They had made it barely a few yards in when they were blinded by a bright light, and then deafened by the roar of an engine. Gordon raised his hand in front of his eyes, as though he were blinded by the light himself. It would give him an excuse for not firing. Next to him, however, Anderson had already opened fire.

It was too late. The Batman surged towards them. Gordon caught sight of a few sparks caused by bullets hitting the metal of his bike, but none of them even slowed him down. As he approached the entrance to the alley, Gordon saw the Batman lift his arm, and as he flew past he threw something toward the car that Gordon knelt behind. For the briefest of moments, Gordon actually thought that it might be some kind of bomb. Wouldn't that be ironic... he thought bitterly. Anderson was still shooting. Gordon lunged at him, and shoved him hard away from the car.

Whatever the Batman had thrown hit the car's back wheel and burst it open. Gordon felt the wind in through his hair as the bike shot past them, and he watched on as the Batman once again disappeared into the night.

Gordon struggled to his feet, and made a show of hurrying. "Get after him", he cried out. "Everyone. Quickly!"

There was a mad scramble as the cops up in the buildings hurried down to their cars. By the time the first of the cars pulled away Gordon was sure that the Batman would be far enough away to be safe. Still, he watched the police cars drive away one after the other, and realised how close their lie had come to collapsing before it had even been built.

After a minute or so only he and Anderson remained. Anderson still wore the look of a man trying to hide that he was suspicious. Gordon could feel his piercing gaze burning a hole through him every time he looked away.

"What is it, Anderson?" he asked. "Is there something you want to say?"

Anderson frowned at him, and hesitated. "Uh..." he mumbled. Then he seemed to steel himself, and Gordon knew he wasn't going to get away from this easily. "I could have got him", Anderson continued. "I had a clear shot, and you pushed me to the ground".

"The Batman threw something at the car we were kneeling next to", Gordon said. "I thought it was some kind of explosive. I was wrong. Better to be safe than dead".

Anderson looked away, but he was clearly not satisfied. Gordon let out a long sigh. He had no interest in having this conversation now. He hadn't realised before, but he was so tired. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

"You feel up to helping me with the spare tyre, son?" he asked as he moved to the back of the car.

Wordlessly, Anderson followed. Together they removed the tire that had been burst and fixed their spare tire in its place. By the time they had finished it was past two in the morning, and Gordon wanted nothing more than to go home to his wife and children.

He climbed into the passenger side of the car and let his head fall backwards onto the seat. "Take me home", he said, and he closed his eyes.

After a moment, another thought struck him. A thought that jolted him awake. "Anderson", he said quickly.

"What happened to the Joker?"