"Ahhh!" They both screamed.

Bang!

Chapter 8: Screams

Robin felt the bones in his arm twist and shatter, tearing into his flesh! But not before forcing the aim of the gun to shift and his hand to close over Two-Face's knee, instead. Two-Face crumpled to the ground writhing in pain, "Fuck! You mother f…" The pistol slipped out of Robin's limp fingers and clattered on the hardwood floor.

Stumbling over to a pew that had been overturned, Robin steadied himself. His right arm hung uselessly at his side. Blood ran thick down it from a wound where a jagged bone fragment had broken through the skin. With his teeth and good arm he quickly fashioned a tourniquet around his upper bicep in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Shut up!" After a while Robin threw down his third and last attempt at making a sling. His good hand and body where starting to shake too much. "Shut the hell up," he shouted again. Dick hunched over and took the pistol up into his quivering left hand. Was it blood loss? Was it fear? Anger? Or a crazy mix of everything? "It ends now Dent! Tonight, you will be repaid for your sins."

Two-Face tipped his head up towards the ceiling and clenched his jaw, squeezing his eyes shut. Sweat poured down his face, "What the hell are you talkin' about, kid?"

A dark smirk. Robin bowed his head; black hair fell into his eyes. He wiped the corner of his swollen lip with the back of his hand, further smearing the droplets of blood on the left side of his face. He aimed the gun at Two-Face's other leg and fired a bullet square into the crime lord's shin.

Harvey Dent's screams echoed throughout the church. Those screams…they were horrible…it was as if they were from dark depths of hell itself. They were the closest thing Dick had ever heard to those that shrieked out from his own dying heart. The last time he heard such a horrible sound was—

Oddly enough, like a man who seeks an instrument that mimics his woeful wails Dick hungered more for those screams. He had suppressed the longing so much that the pain of hearing them finally only made him long for more. It was as if he realized that the sole reason he continued to live was to find something that matched that horrible sound he heard 10 years ago...the night he died.

Robin cocked the gun again and pressed it against Two-Face's other knee. "Tell me, Dent…who do you hate more?"

"Fuck you!" The corner of Two-Face's eyes watered.

"Suit yourself." Robin's glove creaked as he began to squeeze the trigger.

"Whoa wait, kid. Let's not be too hasty." Two-Face's eyes widened as he shifted around uneasily. He shook his head weakly, "It's not you if that's what you're asking for."

"That wasn't so hard now was it, Dent? Didn't even need your coin to tell you what to do," Robin chuckled darkly, "You know what I realized tonight? I realized that we both hate…Batman."

Two-Face didn't say anything. He just continued to stare sedately at his tormentor. His body had grown limp and his eyes had taken on a hazy glaze, now.

"But," Robin took a couple steps toward the villain. He proceeded to kneel down in the pool of growing blood. The moonlight that poured through the crimson stained glass windows made the blood appear almost black. "After what you've done to me…to my family…to my friends," with each word Dick slowly leaned in further until he was he could whisper into Harvey Dent's normal ear, "I hate you…ever…so slightly…more!"

Robin pressed the barrel of the gun up against Two Face's temple and stood back from the disgusting villain.

"W-whoa," Two-Face struggled weakly, "wait...what are you doing? Your family? Your friends? I don't know what hell you're talking about. Come on, kid. You can't do that…you're one of the good guys…"

Robin could feel the rage contort his face once again. The back of eyes began to burn with tears, "It ends now." Dick stiffened his grip around the pistol handle.

"Wait," the two-toned man's voice suddenly changed from a gravelly sound to a smooth normal one, "Robin, it's me the former DA. Don't you recognize me? Please don't kill me. I can tell you who he was stealing for. You want to know right? I know, Robin. I found out. I couldn't stop Two-Face, though. It was the coin…I had no choice. But I know you can stop him, Robin. I can help you. Just please don't hurt me anymore." Two-Face's head twitched and the gravelly voice piped up again, "Shut up, coward. If the boy doesn't kill you the boss will." He threw his head back over to right and looked up at Dick, "Robin, please understand" the smooth voice returned, "I didn't want to do any of this. I don't know what I have done! But I want to help you. Just don't kill me, please. Please hear me out," Two-Face threw his head back to the left again, "You're dead, Dent! You're dead!" Two-Face turned back to the right and began to weep pitifully. Who do you believe?

After Dick regained his stern composure, he reaffirmed his aim at Two-Face's head, "You're lying." He began to close his palm around the gun's handle.

"No! You have to believe me! Slade! He calls himself Slade."

Dick took his finger away from the trigger, "What did you say?" His scowl lightened. A two-toned face…a two-toned mask flickered in his mind! It wasn't Two-Face who shot Raven but—. How could I have been so careless?

"And where do I find…Slade," Robin spat out the name as if it were an insult.

"That's all I know I swear! He always contacted Two-Face by phone, anyway. So, I don't know. I think picked up the phone once. Voice was distorted…knocking…someone was knocking on the door in regular intervals in the background." Harvey Dent threw his head to the side again, "DEAD, DENT! You're so fucking dead!"

Robin lowered the gun. It was hard not to feel sorry for a man being torn from both the inside and out. Just then a crow flew into one of the red stained glass windows that was still intact. The window cracked and shattered under its own weight. Bit by bit, like drops of rain or blood, as each fragment fell from the window frame, the red light was replaced by pale moonlight. "My Robin. My dear little Robin." His mother's voice, then her scream echoed in his ears.

"Good bye, Mr. Dent." Robin raised the gun again.

Shink! Bang! All of the sudden, a Batarang came from the entrance of the church, knocking the gun out of Dick's hand just as his hand clamped down on the trigger. "Robin! NO!" Batman and Batgirl came running down the aisle towards him. Robin straightened up.

Batman reached Dick first. He looked at Dent who was slipping into unconsciousness, then at his side kick with a limp arm. "What do you think you were doing, Robin?"

"Just saying my 'good-byes,' Bruce. Robin stepped, although shakily, around Batman towards the foyer of the church.

Batman easily stepped back around Dick and blocked the doorway, "I'm sorry, Dick, but I can't let you leave. Not until you tell me what you're doing here."

"Is that a fact?" Then, like a pent up dam bursting, Dick grit his teeth and struck Batman with a solid punch. Bruce caught Robin's hand in the second attempt and kicked him back into the church. "Ahhh!" Robin landed on his broken arm.

"Dick, stop. Don't!" Barbra's call once again landed on deaf ears. With tears streaming down his face, Dick ran at Batman again. He pulled on every martial arts move that he had learned, but failed in every attempt to land another blow. Again and again, Batman blocked and counterattacked him, throwing Robin against the ground each time.

"Stop, Dick. He's going to kill you if you don't stop!" Barbra pleaded again.

Robin's hands trembled as he tried to get up, again. All of the sudden he doubled over and spat out a mouthful of blood. It reminded him of that night he was on the iron ship deck with Two-Face. Dick's hunched shoulders began to shake violently. He was laughing? He grit his teeth and began to push himself to his feet again. That's it, you psychotic bastard. Just finish me off…finish what you started 10 years ago when you gave me this mask…

Wham! Batgirl hit Robin on the back of the head. Dick collapsed back onto the ground.

"Why, Barbra?" Dick murmured as his vision blurred.

"I'm sorry," she said with a sad look on her face when he looked up at her, "It was the only way to make you stop."

Author's notes: Sorry for this boring chapter, guys. Calm before the storm, perhaps? Heh. Is it going too slow? Is it confusing? Let me know what you think! Are people still out there reading?