Most of the journey is spent with his eyes closed, fading in and out of consciousness. He hears breathing to his right and left. He doesn't know if it's Harvey, Dent, or his imagination. He tries to keep himself awake in case Dent tries to hurt him, but as vulnerable as he is, Dent would've already hurt him if he wanted to.

Hands on his shoulders shake him awake. He sees Lucius, brows upturned in concern but lips pressed together in anger. He probably wonders why Bruce invited the tyrannical, skyscraper-crumbling mayor into the batmobile.

"We're in your living room, not in the batcave. I didn't want him knowing where it is. He went into the bathroom and argued with himself for an hour, Bruce! He's a madman."

Bruce blinks slowly. His brain isn't awake enough to explain why Harvey and Dent are here.

Lucius sighs. "I've been taking care of Alfred, but he needs proper help. I'll use some of your funds to convince some people to help him confidentially and not ask any questions. It's not the cleanest thing to do, but since you're harbouring a criminal, I don't think you'll have much of an issue with it, will you?"

Bruce nods. There's a flash of pity in Lucius' eyes. "I just hope you know what you're doing," he says. "I'm grateful you've stopped the Children of Arkham, and I have faith in you to keep Gotham safe, but… well, anyway. I'm going to make those bribes now."

Bruce nods again and after Lucius leaves, he reaches up and feels his ear. He's bled a lot, but it's dried and gone crusty, and he's only lost a chunk of his ear. He wonders if it'll damage his 'millionaire playboy' persona; he tries to have faith in people, but some people are so superficial they might think a missing bit of ear renders his beauty tarnished forever.

Oh, well. He never liked that persona. The 'reclusive billionaire who occasionally funds museums and gives to charity' is closer to home. The 'playboy' schtick was mostly the media's doing, fabricating it after he'd made some friendly conversation with the wrong women. Not that it was their fault. A man and a woman get along slightly and the media jumps to conclusions, and he let them culminate for too long.

Something wet and cold touches his ear and he jumps up.

"Calm down, I'm cleaning your ear," comes Harvey's voice. He's holding a wet flannel and sitting on the sofa Bruce jumped from.

"Oh. 'Course," says Bruce, sitting back down.

Harvey continues the cleaning. It's quiet. Bruce can hear Harvey's breathing next to him, slow like his own. He swallows.

"Why are you -"

"Don't ask questions," Dent snaps back in his growly voice, "Harvey's wasting time."

Harvey and Dent are two different people. When Harvey mentioned the drug had caused some issues to resurface, he'd likely meant Dent, which means Dent's been around for a long, long time. Dent is Harvey's protector, acting out in his defense. Dent's a separate person to Harvey. Perhaps, Bruce thinks, because he's so vulnerable, Dent doesn't feel the need to protect Harvey from anything. Or maybe Dent, like Harvey, isn't beyond saving. Or maybe there's some other reason Dent isn't murdering him right now.

Bruce remembers what Selina had said after she threw him the skeleton key: Harvey had wanted to be loved. Selina had given him that. And to Harvey, Bruce had taken that all away.

But that wasn't the truth. Bruce had liked Selina, in a way. They'd danced and stepped in time with words and in the bar when they were fighting their opponents, and perhaps in another universe, they could've been something. Bruce had loved some girls, so he knew he was capable of that.

But Selina isn't the kind of girl he could love. He tried to keep her at an arm's length; she wasn't on anybody's side, and no amount of compatibility would change that, and she wasn't honest. Not like Harvey. Harvey, Bruce had been able to tell, was an honest man. When he talked about making the city a better place, Bruce had been able to see truth in his eyes and his heart on his sleeve. To Bruce, whose method of change involved deceit and lies and false identities, this was… refreshing. It was like seeing his younger self reflected back at him. Harvey had given him hope for Gotham. And even more so, Harvey had given him hope for himself. That he would be able to put away the cape and cowl and be Bruce Wayne, and be himself with a friend - no personas.

But no more than that. He hadn't fooled himself into thinking Harvey was interested in him in that way, even before Selina. And it was fine. Bruce had had feelings for men like that before, and he'd been fine just standing by their side. He wasn't a teenage boy trying to figure himself out; he was Bruce Wayne man of many masks, and hiding feelings is nothing new for him.

Still, he had at least wanted Harvey to stay friends with him. The scene Harvey had walked into and assumed things had changed that. The actions he'd taken as mayor had changed that. Bruce had no intention of sleeping with Selina and every intention of making up for his father's wrongdoings, but Harvey hadn't believed any of that. And so, he'd lost Harvey.

Actually, since he's sure Dent played a part in convincing Harvey that Bruce wayne was the worst person to have ever lived, it was more like Dent had taken Harvey away from him. For the first time in a while, he feels something burning in his chest. Anger... or broken ribs. Or a punctured lung.

Bruce think he should probably go to a hospital at some point.

"Well? Are you gonna say thank you?" Growls Dent, jerking Bruce back into reality.

"Thanks, I guess," says Bruce. Not having dried blood all over his ear does feel better.

"It's weird, seeing you like that," Says Harvey. "You're Bruce, but you're also Batman. I mean, in the Batman suit. I don't know… which one's the real you."

Harvey pauses, and then laughs. "I guess I'm, uh, not one to talk."

"They're both me," says Bruce. "Or they're both parts of me, anyway. Harvey, I'm - I wanted to help people, like you. So I started, uh, dressing like a bat and beating up backalley criminals at night, and donating to charities and things in the day, but it was never enough until you came, and just…"

Bruce isn't entirely sure what he's trying to say, but he continues anyway. "I still believe in Harvey Dent. You can't change Gotham anymore and, well, you did blow up a building and instate martial law, but you can at least be the friend I used to have -"

"FRIEND?" Growls Dent. "Oh, and what a friend you were to me! Sleeping with MY Selina! You and your whole family are corrupt, deceitful bastards, and this whole Batman thing just proves it more -"

"No," says Harvey. "He helped us when the COA were after us, he stopped us from hurting people -"

"As Batman! As Bruce, he stole Selina from you!"

"He… he did…"

Bruce decides he needs to clear his name. "Harvey, Dent, I told you, I didn't. I was staying the night, because I was injured by the Children of Arkham. You saw the injuries back then, you know who I am now, I -"

"Stop making EXCUSES!" Bellows Dent. "You sent us to Arkham! You'll probably send us back after this! And there's only one way to stop that from happening."

Dent stands up. Bruce tries to remain calm, but he can't help but be reminded of when Harvey'd snapped and Bruce'd had to wear him down. Except this time he's too worn down himself to do anything if Harvey decides to use his bulk to snap him in half.

"I'm not going to send you back to Arkham," says, Bruce. "They can't help you. I was in there too. I know what it's like. I wouldn't send my worst enemy there."

Dent - he can tell it's Dent by the narrowing of his eyes - seems to hesitate. "So jail, then?"

Bruce shakes his head wearily. "No," he says. "I can't. I can't just send you into some hole to rot. Not Harvey, anyway."

Dent doesn't say anything, but sits down after a few seconds. "So exactly what do you plan on doing with dear old Harvey Dent?"

Bruce rubs his temples and closes his eyes. "I don't know. Maybe… maybe I can get you a fake passport and just… send you off somewhere. Maybe you can start a new life…"

It's a shit plan. Dent's dangerous. Bruce wouldn't feel good sending him back out to the public. Besides, Harvey Dent killed people. He couldn't just be let off scot-free.

"No," says Harvey, interrupting his train of thought. "I don't want to do that. I can't just start again, not after all this. And I can't… I want to make up for what I've done."

Bruce isn't sure what to say, after a few moments, Harvey says: "Don't leave me alone with him again, Bruce."

That hurts, and Bruce realises: after he thought Bruce had slept with Selina, in Harvey's mind, it was like losing two friends at once. They'd both betrayed him - left him for eachother. But Harvey didn't know. Selina had said that Harvey had badly wanted to be loved - but he had been loved. By Bruce. He'd just never told him.

Bruce swallows. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I want to do the right thing, Harvey, but I don't know what it is. I don't know what choice to make. I just want you to be - I just want things to be okay."

But if Bruce tells him now, he's not sure it'll help. It might just confuse Harvey Dent further. He might thinks Bruce is lying - or worse, he'll believe him, and he'll hate him for it.

But this might be the last time Bruce will ever see Harvey again.

Bruce stands up. "I don't know what to do, but whatever happens - just know that Harvey's always been loved, and never been alone. "

He walks out before he can see the consequences of his indirect confession, hiding away in his bedroom to sleep in a bed and non-Batman clothes.