My phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket, not looking away from the screen.

'Your brother has arrived, madam.'

I sighed. No escaping the party. 'Alright. Thanks, Alfred, I'll be right there.'

I turned off the computer as I heard Alfred tell Ryan I wouldn't be long before he hung up. I'd spent the remaining time until the party looking at police reports and data trying to find the Joker or how he got Brian Douglas.

I stretched my neck and straightened the skirt of my new favourite fancy outfit; a washed-out black, skirted jumpsuit with a boat neckline and sleeves that were long enough to be warm but not long enough to be always in the way. And it had pockets.

It was a simple, artistic dress, which was good, because I didn't have anything to wear with it.

I slipped out of the mini bunker with a forlorn glance at where my suit was hidden behind the wall and headed downstairs, ducking under the rope Alfred had taken to putting at the bottom to keep the party downstairs.

I milled through the crowd, spotting Rachel making her way toward me with Harvey Dent.

I let my eyes keep moving and finally saw Ryan, waiting for me in the kitchen. I cut through the milling with ease, people recognised the hostess, and pulled the packet of dried mango out of his hands before he could get into it and put it back into the cupboard.

'You look nice,' he said, not even bothering to mention the mango.

'Thanks,' I said, pulling him by the crook of his elbow out of the kitchen. 'Found your suit, I see.'

It was a stylish, plain cut suit that was the right amount of saturated black to make Ryan's brown hair stand out.

'I think I saw Alice,' he said casually.

'You what?' I blinked, stopping.

'Mm, over by the food.'

I frowned at him, let my eyes point out the many food tables scattered around the room, and looked at him again.

'Over there,' he corrected, waving a hand toward the dining area.

I craned my neck to look. 'Are you sure…?'

'Of course I'm not, but-,'

We were cut off by Rachel reaching me. 'Evelyn! Is this your brother?'

'Yes!' I smiled, 'this is my brother, Ryan Pendragon. Ryan, Rachel Dawes, Harvey Dent. Hello, Mr Dent.'

They exchanged greetings. I glanced out of the window for a sign of Bruce.

'I trust you won't be down here long,' Rachel grinned at me knowingly.

'As little as I can,' I agreed. 'Without seeming too rude, Mr Dent.'

'No, no,' Dent said, waving a hand, 'I'm sure I'm more uncomfortable than you are here, Dr Pendragon. If you managed to get away I'd ask you to teach me how.'

Ryan laughed and Rachel was whisked away by a friend.

'And please,' he added, 'it's Harvey.'

'Harvey it is,' I nodded. 'Evelyn,' I confirmed to him.

Alfred appeared. 'A little liquid courage, Mr Dent?'

'Thanks.' Harvey took a glass and Alfred offered one to Ryan.

'It's Alfred, right?'

'That's right, sir,' Alfred smiled.

I glanced between them, trying not to think about the social structures of these two meeting, it looked like a mangled spider's web.

'Rachel talks about you all the time, you've known her her whole life?' Harvey asked.

'Well, not yet, sir,' Alfred replied smoothly.

I eyed him, not missing the resemblance to Bruce.

Harvey laughed. 'Any psychotic ex-boyfriends I should be aware of?' he asked quieter.

I burst out laughing, sounding like a witch as I doubled over and ducked behind Ryan to hide from view, who swivelled on the spot in disbelief as Harvey glanced between Alfred and me. It wasn't a warm laugh; it was harsh and slightly hollow but Alfred counted it as a win.

'Oh, you have no idea,' he grinned wickedly as there came a huge noise from outside. As everyone whipped around and tried to find the source, including Ryan, I wrestled for control, not helped by Bruce's incredible timing.

My helicopter, or Bruce's, but my design, lowered down into view and out came Bruce, the black suit flapping through the wind, then a woman, another woman and a final woman.

Ryan's surprise was unmistakable.

As Bruce put an arm around their shoulders and waltzed in, my poor brother glanced at me, first in shock, then in concern, then in question and then finally just let his boggled state show completely.

I had time to offer him an exhausted "everything about this man is ridiculous" shrug of the shoulder before Bruce's voice came through the room. 'I'm sorry, that I'm late, I'm glad you started without me! Now!' he clapped his hands together. 'Where… is Harvey?'

Ryan was still blinking at Bruce with frequent glances at me, as I looked like I was forcing myself to pay attention.

'Where- Harvey Dent.' Bruce waltzed closer to Harvey. 'And where's Rachel Dawes? She is my oldest friend, come here.'

The crowd parted to show Rachel standing with her arms folded, near glaring at Bruce.

I eyed Ryan's champagne. It was my night off… My fingers had even touched the glass before I put my hand back down. He frowned and followed the movement. Oh Rachel…

'You know when Rachel first told me that she was dating Harvey Dent,' Bruce said, as Rachel moved to Harvey, arms still folded, 'I had one thing to say; "the guy from those god-awful campaign commercials?"'

Harvey shifted uncomfortably at the laughter around the room.

''I Believe in Harvey Dent.' Yeah, nice slogan, Harvey.' Bruce gave him a condescending thumbs up. 'But it caught Rachel's attention.'

How he handled the room I'd never know. The creeping feeling that would be screaming up and down my spine if I were in Bruce's place unsettled me just at the thought.

'And then I started to pay attention to Harvey, and all he's been doing as our new D.A., and you know what? I believe in Harvey Dent. I believe that on his watch, Gotham can feel a little safer. A little more optimistic.'

The sincerity in Bruce's words got to Harvey, I could see the change in his eyes. It also got to Ryan and me, who let our heads fall down a little, out of the room, the familiar painful feeling hitting us.

Rachel looked over, and saw us, and her eyes widened as she realised more about what I meant to be Thunder and Batman, by the one private look on my face and Ryan's that showed just what Gotham could do to a happy life. It was all fine for Bruce, he looked like a chipper playboy, it was a lot harder, by design, to see what plagued him. But she saw it in my face as I mirrored my brother and hid it from view.

'Look at this face.'

I looked. There stood a happy man, glancing at Rachel as he squirmed a little under the attention, but happy, nonetheless.

'This is the face of Gotham's bright future. To Harvey Dent. Let's hear it for him.' Bruce started the clapping and the room followed. Bruce moved around and let the party continue, soon enough slipping off onto the balcony to rid his glass of champagne. I eyed Rachel a little suspiciously as she teetered with herself, looked at me, and followed Bruce onto the balcony.

Ryan was about to interrogate me about Bruce when Harvey reappeared.

'Alfred warned me about Rachel's crazy ex-boyfriends, and you laughed your head off,' he said, appearing next to me as I watched Rachel walking outside.

'When you talk with Alfred Pennyworth, you hear all sorts of tales,' I replied easily.

Harvey leant back. 'Ah, I see… And uh, Wayne?'

I blinked. 'Bruce?'

Harvey eyed me uncertainly for a second, a little taken aback by my seamless use of his first name. 'Yes.'

'What about him?' I slanted my head a little, displaying confusion.

'Rachel's never…' Harvey shook his head, looking for something to say, 'gone on a date, been in a-,'

'She should be so lucky,' I replied levelly.

Harvey stopped and blinked, not sure if I was complimenting the asshole he knew as Bruce Wayne or making a comment against Rachel, who he loved dearly.

Ryan looked equally as confused, not so much by my words, but by the Bruce Wayne he'd seen earlier.

I left it long enough for Harvey to be about to ask to clarify when I laughed, intentionally acting like I had made a joke about Bruce's idiocy. He laughed heartily.

'I don't think Rachel's the type to date someone for their money,' he said happily.

'She's not, that much I can tell you,' I agreed.

Outside, a much less warm conversation was taking place.

'Harvey may not know you well enough to know when you're making fun of him, but I do.'

'No,' said Bruce, standing up from his lean on the balcony, 'I meant every word.'

Rachel frowned and folded her arms.

'Harvey is… what we've wanted, he's the person who can reinstate Gotham's faith in the law, in the authorities and let people sleep safer at night without having to thank two people who never show their face.'

Rachel's frown deepened; it wasn't a reply she'd been expecting.

'He was right, at the restaurant, I don't want to do this forever. The time when I can stop being Batman, when you and I can be together is just around the corner.'

Rachel's shoulders tensed, mind arcing back to my words a few weeks earlier once again.

'What is it?' Bruce asked.

'I…' Rachel sighed, debating how to start. 'You… You're really so at ease with my closeness to Harvey?'

Bruce chose his reaction carefully. His brow twitched and he leant on the railing again, looking at her warmly. 'Should I not be?'

Rachel struggled to summon her courage, glancing back inside to the people enjoying themselves, spying Alfred first and watching him for a moment. 'It doesn't upset you that, despite my promise, I have such a close relationship with Harvey Dent?'

Bruce tilted his head thoughtfully. 'You never seemed to be wary of Evelyn, and I'm much closer to her than that.'

'No, I never thought you'd… … … I never thought you'd do that.'

Suddenly Bruce became sceptical. 'What makes you assume I would think that of you?'

Rachel shuffled, left speechless and hardly breathing.

Bruce let her take her time.

'They always seem so close,' Harvey said, seemingly attempting not to sigh or sound upset.

I eyed him carefully. 'You disapprove of Bruce so much?'

He was surprised by my question. '"Of Bruce?" Well Wayne isn't exactly known to be grounded.'

I ignored the irony.

Ryan kept quiet, opting for his coined "gossip stealth" mode.

'And he seems so irresponsible all of the time, in all the tabloids and all the rumours.'

'He threw you this fundraiser, didn't he?' I said with a wry smile.

I was giving Ryan whiplash, and caught Harvey a little off guard and he whipped his head around to frown at me for a moment. 'That was because of Rachel, though.'

I couldn't tell him otherwise, so I laughed. 'Fair point.'

'Though I've never seen him treat those girls he's always with disrespectfully,' Harvey continued thoughtfully.

'There are some lessons his parents had time to teach,' I said, a little quieter, watching Bruce's back.

A hush fell between us and Harvey looked at the man through the glass, now a little sadly.

Rachel looked Bruce steadily in the eye. 'What you face… in that suit… how hard you fight, for Gotham, for yourself, keeping your own self steady.'

Not being used to this point of view from Rachel, Bruce was considerably alarmed.

'I never realised how cruel I was to you.'

'When were you?' Bruce asked soothingly, now bending down to look her in the eyes gently.

'Harvey. I'm so sorry, Bruce.'

It began to dawn on him what Rachel was talking about.

'I'm always with Harvey,' Rachel said, 'holding his hand, being close,' she saw the twitches in Bruce's eyes, 'you never once considered I'd break my promise? That I was being… … being cruel?'

'Of course not,' Bruce replied gently, trying to calm her down.

For a moment, Rachel felt a rush of relief, before she realised that had been my exact concern. Tears welled in her eyes and she couldn't stop the shake in her voice. 'I'm so sorry.'

Bruce felt his world begin to shake a little.

'I never thought about what I was doing.'

Bruce took her wrists, steadying her.

Harvey immediately started forwards at the sight of Rachel distressed but I held an arm in front of him. He promptly opened his mouth to argue with me but I beat him to it.

'Trust me,' I said soothingly, 'it's better to leave them to it.'

He settled a little, but that didn't mean a lot. 'Do you know what they're talking about?'

'I haven't the faintest clue,' I replied honestly, 'but you can't just jump in when people are having a hard time only because you want to. Bruce can handle it.'

He held my gaze for a very long moment before relenting. Then he looked at me. 'Exactly how well do you know Bruce Wayne?'

I let out a laugh and we turned away.

Harvey chuckled, too. 'More than Rachel does?' he chuckled.

'I'm not sure,' I laughed, not happy with my necessary response.

Ryan saw through me; he knew what my answer actually was.

Rachel took Bruce's wrists with her hands and they stood there a moment.

I hoped Bruce would be okay. Harvey began to move around again, craning his neck.

'I… I love Harvey Dent and I have betrayed your faith in me and… I am so, so sorry, Bruce.'

Bruce's hands slackened a little. He stared at her, barely twitching. Everything I'd said so long ago at the lake about Rachel's promise, everything Rachel had ever done, all of Alfred's life advice and the oddly freeing feeling of soaring through the sky in his suit, all came falling into his mind.

Rachel forced the tears away from her eyes and held her head high. 'I loved you for the first decades of my life, and you will always be my first and oldest friend. Bruce, please do not hate me.'

Bruce let out a breath and moved his hands to take Rachel's. 'Thank you for telling me, Rachel. What made you say this now?'

Rachel glanced inside.

Bruce followed her movement and glanced at the party, confusion writing itself into his expression. Then it dawned on him. 'Evelyn,' he smiled, knowingly, finding me through the crowd as Ryan pulled a face at me.

Rachel nodded, relieved at having a moment with Bruce in which she didn't have her arms folded, there was no playboy, no secrets swinging in the air, invisible.

Neither could manage to think of something to say and so eventually Bruce stepped back and nodded at her kindly.

Rachel returned indoors, only noticed by Harvey and me when she stopped to say something to Alfred. Surprised to see her back inside I spun to look out the window, finding Bruce standing there, looking at me.

I cocked my head and frowned.

He tipped his head to indicate the balcony.

Frown deepening I nodded at Ryan, who looked equally as concerned, and grabbed a glass of champagne.

'Sorry,' I immediately said to Harvey, who eagerly left me to it and hurried for Rachel. I skirted around guests and pushed the glass doors open.

Bruce was a mess of emotions when he turned away from the party.

'Are you alright?' I asked, throwing my champagne out over the side.

Out came a huge sigh. 'I think so.' He eyed me in the side of his eyes. 'You knew Rachel's feelings?'

Ah. Oh. Ouch… I winced and looked down at the street below for a second. Then I buried my head under my arms with a large wince. 'I did, I'm sorry. I couldn't let it go.'

'Well…' he drew in the crisp air. 'I can say "thank you." It had to end some way. This was a good outcome.'

I lifted my arms away. I eyed him as he looked around at the buildings. 'You won't lose her; you mean too much to her.'

Bruce nodded. 'I know.'

I took a deep breath and sighed it out, leaning on the railings, mirroring his glum yet peaceful mood as I surveyed Gotham. Bruce leaned on the railing as well.

We looked back out over Gotham.

'Not sure that was worth going drinking and scaring your brother over.'

'Y…' I frowned. 'You don't seem as shattered as I thought you would be,' I said with a quiet tone.

'I'm thinking the same,' he admitted.

I glanced at him, following his line of sight to a row of balconies near our height a few blocks away.

'I don't think I'll have the time to figure out why with that going on.' He indicated the party with his head, not moving his eyes.

I solemnly hummed in agreement.

'I feel better with you out here, though.'

'I should think so,' I replied smartly, 'I'm only bloody Thunder.'

That got the first little chuckle into Bruce.

We stayed there for quite a while, studying the buildings towering above and the traffic so far down, the gaps of horizon visible and the colour of the sky. Eventually Bruce had sorted through his jumble of emotions and thoughts.

'Evelyn…' his voice was quiet and matched the atmosphere.

'Mm?' I dropped my gaze back into the balcony at Bruce.

'You've done a lot for me.' He said it like a statement, but there was gratitude in his eyes and a warmth that was familiar in him.

The smallest of smiles melted into my face and I put an arm over him to comfort him as I returned my eyes to Gotham.

He hung his head for a moment, hiding his face from the party in case anyone should happen to look out as he smiled softly. Then he lifted his head and looked at Gotham again.

The air in Gotham had been getting cooler as night settled in but it was warmer with each of us beside the other. Bruce's expressions were more relaxed.

Eventually we both moved the wrong way at the wrong time and his empty champagne glass went toppling over the edge. I used my free hand to try and catch it but missed and we watched it fall, the arm I'd had around Bruce stretched comically down over the railing as we stared at the smashed glass resting on the ledge on the other side of the glass barrier right in the splash from where we'd tipped our glasses out earlier.

Batman and Thunder, and somehow managed to drop a glass.

Then Bruce began to laugh, and I couldn't help it either, hanging my head in defeat. We laughed for a long time, the same laughs Alfred missed.

'I must say, for the hosts of the party you don't seem to be enjoying it very much.'

We turned our heads to see Alfred coming through the glass doors with a cloth, small bucket and long window washer in one hand.

'Wait a moment.' He pulled a camera from his pocket, making us raise our eyebrows. 'Turn around again.'

We did as we were told with small uncertain smiles, returning to our default animation of watching Gotham.

Alfred appeared behind us a minute later, holding the camera to us. It was on a picture he'd taken the morning I came back from Hong Kong, sitting in the cave against the green and white light from the outside and the waterfall, dressing gown thrown somehow over both of our backs.

The next was taken that evening before we'd dropped Bruce's glass, my arm over him comfortingly.

The next one was of when we had dropped Bruce's glass, and I laughed seeing my reaching hand and hanging head, body language betraying my defeated giggles and Bruce laughing in a defeated manner, too, looking down at the mess.

I clicked to the next photo and peered carefully at it.

Again against the brilliant gold of the evening and silver of the buildings in the Gotham light, there we were, slightly silhouetted, but the details still there. It was a beautiful photo. We could certainly see traces of the parts of us that were Thunder and Batman watching Gotham, but even more clearly was Bruce and Evelyn enjoying the view. A brilliant photo that held so much. Put simply, it was a photo of us.

Alfred was smiling at it, pleased, and I could tell it would be a treasure to him. He passed Bruce his camera and peered over to examine the glass.

'That's going to blow away when the night air settles properly,' he said disapprovingly.

We watched as Alfred tried to clean it with the window washer, but he just couldn't reach far enough. Nor could Bruce, with his longest arms.

I sighed and glanced at Bruce, lifting my legs behind me to take my heels off.

'Here.' I eased Alfred to the other side of me and looked at Bruce, who merely looked at me questioningly in return. I held my hand out and put my other hand on the railing. Sceptical, he took my hand and I braced myself.

'Evely-,' Bruce began.

'Mad-,'Alfred began.

I jumped over the railing and Bruce, with a trace of panic, immediately hurried to lean down and grab my wrist with his other hand, grinning at what I would describe as my calculated stupidity.

'You're an idiot, you know that?' he scolded, panicked, entertained, and absolutely astonished, holding my arm extremely tightly.

Alfred hurried to pass me the bucket and I crouched down carefully, holding the arm that Bruce had above my head. I tossed the water out of the bucket, and put it by my feet, carefully picking up the glass from the flat surface, minding my balance. The two of them were watching me with very similar bewildered expressions.

'Everything alright?'

The sudden voice made Bruce tighten his hold on my arm.

Alfred turned around while Bruce put his party persona on as Harvey Dent appeared outside.

'Can I help you, sir?' Alfred asked.

'Uh, yeah, I'm looking for Dr Pendragon.'

Bruce had to laugh.

'Here,' I chortled, getting infected from Bruce's laughter, picking the final shards from the pile, sticking as far from the edge as possible.

Harvey appeared next to Alfred and finally saw me behind Bruce, reacting by looking down in total panic before he saw Bruce had my arm.

'We dropped a glass,' I explained.

He didn't really have a response to that. 'Do you need help?' he asked Bruce eventually, sceptical of his strength.

'Oh don't worry,' Bruce replied wryly, 'if I drop her, she'll kill me.'

I paused to grin at him.

'What if you get startled or something?' Harvey asked Bruce, concerned, and it was a fair concern, considering what he thought of the billionaire "playboy". He was looking between us, baffled, the first time he'd seen an example of our friendship.

'Then he's just likely to grip my arm even tighter,' I assured Dent distractedly, shuffling carefully closer to the edge a little to get a few run-away pieces, Bruce cautiously following my movements with fixed eyes and adjusting so I wouldn't be at awkward angles.

'Is that the last of them?' asked Alfred.

'I think so,' I said and reached up, passing him the bucket.

Without Harvey Dent present I would have vaulted back over easily, but, in reality, it was a huge jump. Bruce was thinking the same thing and I sent him an apologetic expression.

'Be careful,' he said, steering me around the splatters of our champagne.

'I am,' I replied, equally performing. I reached up and grabbed his wrist and he pulled me gently up to a stand. With one hand on the railing and the other held by Bruce, I was able to get over the railing in a convincing clamber, rather clumsily as I wasn't used to clambering.

When I landed on the balcony Alfred passed me my shoes and set about finding water to splash on the champagne spills. I awkwardly put a hand on the railing and lifted a foot to put my first shoe back on. 'You were looking for me?' I asked Harvey.

'Uh. Uh, ah, yes, someone's just told me you studied Jonathon Crane's fear gas at one point.'

Bruce stiffened at its mention, not liking the memory of what happened at Wayne Manor on his birthday.

'That's correct,' I said, working to maintain my balance while doing the tiny clasp with one hand, remembering heaving Bruce out of a window as he battled the hallucinations. 'I was the one who developed the cure. What's your interest in it?'

'Oh, that's right. Well, it's similar to some of my cases at the time that are still open now, but if we can determine whether or not the accused had been exposed to the gas beforehand…'

I gave up trying to do the clasp single-handed and balanced on one foot, reaching down with both hands. 'It's certainly worth looking at,' I agreed, casting my mind back, 'each person presents a different case, but it's easy enough to spot the signs. Extreme behaviour, paranoia, fright, no clear thought, except in stronger minded people that is,' I added as an afterthought, remembering Bruce being able to talk to me, 'and there were often physical effects as well. I'll have files floating around somewhere.'

'I'd really appreciate it, thank you,' Harvey nodded.

I got the clasp done up and switched to my other shoe, leaning on the railing with my side.

'How did you come by it, by the way? The cure. If you don't mind my asking.'

'A friend of mine had the bad luck to inhale a big dose,' I said, now sliding along the railing.

'Oh,' Harvey said, face twisting in concern. 'Is that why you developed the cure?'

I nodded, slowly diverting more and more attention to getting my shoe done up.

'Did they survive? Did you make it in time?'

'Oh, they're fine,' I said, dropping my shoe in frustration. 'They went partying the night after.'

Harvey laughed.

'Sounds like my kind of person,' Bruce said, playboy laugh in the mix.

He would say that, wouldn't he? I snatched my shoe from the ground and stood up, starting to sit slightly up on the railing.

'Evelyn!' Bruce chided in chagrin, reaching out a hand to insistently pull me down.

'You try putting on heels.'

Bruce just stepped forward instead of replying and held me steady by the shoulders while I balanced to get my shoe on.

'The drug was unpredictable,' I continued, turning my head to look at Dent, putting more weight into Bruce's aid, 'the most obvious cases were closed at the time, so your remaining convictions may be the unique cases, maybe they only got exposed to a minimal dose.'

'I was thinking the same,' Harvey nodded.

'You can talk to Jim Gordon if you can't get hold of me,' I said, 'he was in the narrows when it went everywhere.'

'I will,' said Harvey, nodding, 'thank you.'

I got the clasp on my shoe done and picked up my empty champagne glass from the ground as everyone left the balcony, Bruce waiting for me.

It was a lot warmer inside and the night slowly began to trail past. I was nearly at my usual point of slipping under the rope across the stairs and leaving when Ryan waved at me from across the room, beckoning me over.

I studied who was around him in the crowd as he turned to talk to someone and as I moved through the bodies I spotted who he was talking to. He was right, he'd seen Alice.

I smiled and picked my way through the tables and people quicker.

'There she is,' Ryan said as I arrived, and Alice turned.

'Evelyn!' she cried with a joyous grin, giving me the biggest hug she could without spilling her drink. 'I've been looking for you all night!'

I wondered vaguely how many people that I knew had come to these parties and tried to find me amongst the rabble.

'That looks amazing on you, I'm so glad it fits.'

I held out my sleeves, showing the outfit off.

Alice blushed and looked away with a proud smile. 'You've gained more muscle since I last measured you.'

'Sorry,' I winked. 'Who dragged you here?'

'Oh, my date,' she said, 'have you met him?'

I blinked, putting incredulous features into my expression with a dash of amusement. When was I ever likely to meet anyone?

'At a party or through Bruce Wayne,' she laughed, explaining. 'Todd Lewis?'

Todd Lewis. It rung a very small, bedside bell. I shook my head, defeated. 'You couldn't pay me to remember all these people's names,' I grumbled under my breath to her.

Alice laughed. 'Be glad you don't have to,' she grumbled back with a twinkling eye. 'Different for me.'

'Is it now?' I nodded knowingly.

'The amount of businesspeople I've been introduced to,' she continued quietly. 'Their names just go pfff.' She gestured around her head. 'Todd Lewis, Bruce Wayne. That's about all I can manage.'

'Your date and the richest man in Gotham,' I said blankly, smile creeping into my face. 'A grand total of two.'

'A grand total of one, since my own date probably doesn't count.'

'This isn't the first date, is it?' I asked warily, pulling an "ew" face.

'Fifth.'

I tilted my head back and forth. 'Could be worse.'

Ryan laughed. We eyed him for a moment and he fell silent, though still laughed to himself.

'Do I finally get to meet Bruce Wayne tonight?' Alice asked as we turned to lean against the window, watching the crowd.

'I'm sure he can't be that hard to bump into,' I replied with a moderate sigh. Alice scooped a glass of champagne from a waiter for me. I'd already thrown one glass out, and it was my night off, so a two-glass limit was absolute. Trying to get rid of this one would be hard so I chalked it down as the first and took a sip.

'What does he actually do at these functions?' she laughed.

'Beats me,' I shrugged as Ryan leaned on the window on my other side. 'I'm normally hiding upstairs by now.'

'So why aren't you?'

'I like Harvey Dent, so I stuck around.'

'You've met him before?'

'Briefly,' I said before she could get the idea I had revived a long since disregarded social life. 'The same time he met Bruce.'

There was shrill laughter from the seats by the fire and we looked over to see Bruce, three models and a party of guests laughing at some joke.

'Ugh,' I said to react and took a joking large gulp of champagne.

'You know for someone friends with very powerful people, you sure seem to hate their presence,' Alice murmured, tilting her head toward me, still watching the group.

I tilted my head toward hers to reply, still watching the group. 'That's because in person they're far more annoying.'

'I've been meaning to ask you about that,' said Ryan, also tilting his head in, who had somehow heard me clearly enough to know what I said, 'how come Bruce Wayne is a complete ass in public but is actually a very respectable person?'

'You're not to repeat that,' I said warningly, not bothering to look at my brother.

'Understood,' he nodded, pulling his head back upright.

'If you must know,' I began, 'even I don't. I imagine it's something to do with growing up an orphan in the public eye.'

'We should stop watching him before it gets creepy,' Alice said.

'It probably already is,' Ryan replied.

'Go over and talk to him if you're so curious,' I exclaimed to both of them, gesturing in his direction.

'No, I'm scared,' Alice replied.

'Of Bruce Wayne?' I let my head drop, looking at her like she was crazy.

'Yes, of Bruce Wayne! Only the bloody centre of who's who in Gotham.'

'Well you're dating one of them, aren't you, what's the difference? It's Bruce's party, you should say "hello."'

Alice grumbled a little with a wince. 'Okay, but you're introducing me.'

I sighed and led them over, nodding to someone I'd seen before at a party and was yet to say a word to. I spied Rachel and Harvey circling the crowd near Bruce as well as Harvey got dragged from group to group, using Rachel and her amusement as moral support.

'Just…,' I warned Ryan under my breath before we reached the group, 'don't expect him to be how you know him.'

He nodded.

'Bruce,' I smiled, feeling my spine age and my eyes glaze over, 'there you are. Someone to meet you.'

'Ah!' Bruce went, looking up from his comfortable chair, 'hello. Evelyn, this is Louise, daughter of Roger Hardy, owner of Gotham's biggest accounting firm. This is Caleb…,' he went on, I memorised the names by accident as I greeted them even though I was zoning out, the usual.

'Pleasure,' I finished to the last one. 'Well to all, this is my brother, Ryan…'

'Nice to meet you.'

'And this is Alice.' I reached beside me and got her shoulder, pushing her forward toward Bruce.

Bruce blinked. I eyed him with moderate suspicion. Then his expression smoothed over again and he reached a hand up and shook her hand. 'Bruce Wayne.'

'Alice Fowler. Hi.'

'Nice dress,' Bruce said, gesturing to her.

Alice's eyes flickered, for a moment quite uncomfortable.

'You designed it yourself, right?' Bruce continued immediately.

I couldn't hide the warm grin I watched him with.

'Evelyn's told me you make her dresses.'

'Oh,' Alice blinked, beginning to see what Ryan had been on about earlier. Then she smiled. 'That's me. Yes, I made this one. Thank you.'

Bruce opened his mouth to say something else when my phone rang. Considering the people most likely to call me were nearly all in the room, I frowned as one of the models continued the conversation, admiring Alice's dress. I stepped around Ryan to leave the group, closer to Bruce.

'Hello?'

'Dr Pendragon, thank god.' It was Gordon, and he sounded very anxious. 'We've just received a death threat for the commissioner, Harvey Dent and Judge Surrillo. Harvey Dent is at your house, right? Some fundraiser?'

I looked down at Bruce. "Find Dent," I mouthed. Bruce's eyes flickered and then he stood up. I turned back into the phone. 'Yes, he is.'

'Okay. Police are on their way. I don't know for sure, but as a precaution, don't let anyone in until the police arrive.'

'I understand. Do you know where they are?'

'I haven't the faintest clue. With any luck, they'll be on the Joker's trail. Leave a window open.' It was less advice and wilder, adrenaline induced dark humour, but he wasn't quite joking, either.

'I will,' I replied and Gordon hung up. I looked around for Bruce, seeing him move through the party swiftly, face pleasant, eyes subtly trained. 'Ryan,' I said, reaching for him as I looked around at all the people.

He held his elbow out to touch my hand to get my attention.

I turned around, put my head in low and murmured. 'Stay in the crowd.'

His brow crossed and he looked up, read the deadly look in my eye and nodded without a word. I nodded back and went after Bruce. 'Where is he?'

'Back the way you came,' Bruce replied, speeding past me.

I spun on the balls of my feet and followed him.

I finally saw him with Rachel in the area behind the kitchen with the spare food and boxes, away from the party. Bruce immediately veered left and circled through the house to get behind him.

'If you can't right now, that's okay,' Harvey was saying, 'just as long as it has nothing to do with Wayne, the guy's a complete-,'

Rachel's eyes had widened when she saw the figure approaching and her eyes blew further as Bruce locked Harvey easily into a sleeper hold.

'What are you doing?!' she exclaimed.

Bruce waved Harvey's useless attempt to fight back away with a hand and turned to the cupboard. 'They've come for him,' he said, though his voice was Batman's, passing half of Harvey's weight to me.

Rachel whirled round in fear to look at the party, then back in time to witness something only Alfred had. Thunder and Batman, without the suits.

My hardened eyes were glaring across the room, analysing the space and the people.

Bruce shoved a broom through the handles of the cupboard and pointed at her. 'Stay hidden.' He then looked at me.

'Go,' I said firmly.

He nodded, his eyes locked with mine as long as they could before his line of sight was cut off by his turn and he vanished into the house.

'Why aren't you going, too?' Rachel asked.

'Thunder turning up in my house is a little more suspicious,' I replied, steering her further into the house. 'Rachel,' I turned her around. 'Bruce will be fine. Stay hidden.'

I left her and went to find Alfred. I was halfway through the party when a gunshot rang through the room.

I ducked on instinct, as did most of the party and screams filled the air.

'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,' began a voice I knew well by that point.

A tray clattered to the ground. The room was frozen. I was stuck.

'We are tonight's entertainment!'

Two thugs pushed a man to the ground. I frantically searched the sea of scared faces for Alice.

The Joker swanned through the room. 'I only have one question. Where is Harvey Dent?'

No one moved.

I watched him closely. He moved along the edge of the crowd, pointing his gun at people. He grabbed champagne from a woman's hand, threw it out and drank the last drop. 'Do you know where Harvey is? Do you know where he is?'

He moved along the crowd. 'Do you know where I can find Harvey? I need to talk to him about something, just something.'

My spine was creeping and my balance was the usual mix of delicate and very stable.

'Little, huh? Mm, no…'

He kept moving. In spare moments, I looked for Ryan or Alice to know where they were.

'Anyone? No? You know, I'll settle for his loved ones.'

'We're not intimidated by you thugs!'

Bruce… I watched in horror as a man stood square to the Joker.

The Joker considered him for a moment. 'You know, you remind me of my father.' He put the gun down and grabbed him, pulling a knife up to his face. 'I hated my father!'

'Okay, stop!'

My eyes flew wide in panic and I turned my head, as did the Joker, to see Rachel standing with her arms folded.

She was buying time. Why she didn't leave that to me, I didn't know.

Her eyes didn't even glance through the crowd subconsciously to find me.

The Joker pushed the man away and peered at her.

'Why, hello, beautiful!' He fixed his hair as he approached her.

Three henchmen, one Joker. We could take him tonight.

'You must be Harvey's squeeze.'

I winced, cursed and, as energy began to fill the crowd again, slowly moved through the scared stir toward Rachel.

'And you are beautiful.' He stopped in front of her and Rachel shrunk back, but kept her ground. 'Oh, you look nervous, is it the scars? You wanna know how I got them?' He grabbed her by the chin and put the knife to her cheeks.

I skirted around as Rachel struggled.

'Hey. Look at me. So I had a wife, who was beautiful, like you. Who tells me, I worry too much.'

My eyes were fixed on the knife. I cut through the crowd with ease the further away from the henchmen's eyes I got. Then I felt a tap on my arm and whipped my head around. Ryan was blinking at me, telling me where he was.

I met his eyes for a moment and kept moving.

I focused back on the Joker and Rachel. 'One day they carve her face. And we've got no money for surgeries. She can't take it. I just want to see her smile again. Hm?'

I reached the closest I could without leaving the crowd and waited, preparing to jump in at a split second.

'I just wanted her to know that I don't care about the scars!' he was still holding Rachel, shaking her head around as he looked at her fiercely. 'So, I stick a razor in my mouth. And do this,' he showed his jaw, 'to myself. And you know what? She can't stand the sight of me!'

He was getting angrier, more out of control as he went. I poised.

'She leaves! Now I see the funny side. Now I'm always smiling!' he lifted his hand away from Rachel and she whacked him hard in the gut.

He leapt back, recovering.

My nerves reached their end and I stepped to the edge of the crowd.

'You've got a little fight in you!' He walked back toward Rachel.

I moved, going to stand in front of her.

'I like that.'

'Then you're gonna love me.'

The most relieved I'd ever been to hear Batman's voice was that moment. Batman threw himself between Rachel and the Joker, charging at him with a yell.

A little obvious, Bruce.

As yells and grunts filled the room I pulled Rachel back.

Then the Joker pointed at us, as one of the men grabbed Batman.

I heard the click of a knife from over where Batman was and heard him yell.

Then two thugs came for us.

I threw myself between the thugs and Rachel.

To protect my identity I shrieked wildly and swung round low when I heard footsteps running toward me. Clumsily, looking like I was relying on pure luck in a panic, I rolled on my back under a hit and sprang up. I sent that one back with a wild swing easily enough, but under the cover of the crowd another had snuck behind me. A gun was pressed to my temple before I could look around.

'Batman! Stop or she dies!'

Batman's head turned and I noticed the slight change in his eyes, though it wasn't out of concern but surprise.

Trying my best to maintain my façade, I screamed again, twisting and panicking. In the flurry of completely useless movements, I elbowed him in the stomach and ducked my head. The instant he reacted, I sent my hand flying to the gun, yelling in shock, sending it blindly aiming in the air, ducking my head and looking at the ground as if in fright. It fired far too late.

Along with most of the people in the room, I screamed as loud as I could when the gunshot sound rang through the room. Then I darted away, tripping the thug as I ran behind him, both of us falling to the floor. Everyone recoiled in shock, while Batman was squinting to make sure I hadn't been hit; it would have been near impossible to tell through all my screaming and movement.

Shakily, I stood, putting a hand over my heart and making a fuss.

Apart from Alfred who was stood by the elevator proudly and anxiously watching us, Rachel was the only one not shaken utterly and who knew us, and so saw us fighting together for the first time.

Ryan watched in disbelief, unable to figure why I wasn't fighting with my treasured training.

Batman's eyes flickered at me ever so slightly, though not even I noticed. He didn't like hearing me scream, even if was only acting.

A scream from Rachel caught our attention and we looked to see her being subdued by one of the Joker's henchmen.

Without a thought, Batman dove at the man holding Rachel and tore him away, pulling her behind him noticeably protectively as my heels slipped on the champagne the Joker had tipped out and I stumbled, feeling myself get grabbed in a hold that would take high-level martial skills to escape.

No, no, no…

The Joker pointed a gun to my head and dragged me backward, shooting out a window. I cried out as everyone else did and tried to duck out, but he was still too skilled for someone untrained to match.

'Oh, Batman! Take off that mask and show us all who you really are.'

Batman stopped to look only when Rachel was back amongst the crowd, stopping in his turn when he did. The fact that he knew I had complete faith in him prevented unease or tension sneaking into him, which as far as identities went, was a very good thing. 'Let her go.'

Shit... My eyes widened and I looked at Batman in horror, my heart sinking as I became more and more aware of the height of the drop behind me.

'Very poor choice of words.' The Joker dropped me before I had a chance to assign my weight forwards.

I cursed again in fright as my stomach lurched and I fell backwards out of the window, winded and coughing against the freezing night air. Suddenly I missed Hong Kong, with the nice views and my suit.

Rachel yelped at the sight.

I slid down the building, closing my eyes against the wind and just waiting, ignoring the panic the rest of my body was in.

To prevent a connection between me and the Batman, he forced himself to act normal and simply make haste to save me, rather than diving headfirst in a flurry.

The thud told me he'd jumped after me.

'In future, try to get me killed when I'm not in a dress,' I pleaded at him, pain riddled through my voice, holding an arm out as I could feel the skin of my forearms sliding down the glass, wincing from the pain.

'I'm so sorry,' he breathed and caught my hand firmly as we toppled off the edge of the tilted glass and fell straight down.

He trusted me to hold on and used his arms to spread the cape as we plummeted, angling toward the next street. We landed fast and hard, rolling separately across the pavement with grunts, or in my case, yells. I really missed the suit.

He stood up first and walked over to me, crouching slightly.

'Sorry,' came Bruce's very worried voice sheepishly when I fixed him a look.

'"Hand her over," or "give her back," would have done,' I coughed, forcing air back into my lungs, Batman putting a hand on my arm to pull me up as I gasped for air.

He took my weight until I could walk normally and I went into the foyer again, stepping into the lift.

Quiet descended on the room quicker than I'd ever witnessed when I walked out of the elevator, all eyes on me. I nodded and panted, reassuring everyone with body movements that I was unharmed.

Alfred and Ryan hurried over and I assured them, too, that I was fine.

I then left the room and walked to an upstairs balcony to see him waiting outside for me to unlock the door. I pushed the handle down and swung it open.

'Skills as excellent as always, I see,' he said normally, removing the cowl.

'Mm. Get your suit back on. Bad choice of words. Get the fancy suit back on. Still a bad choice of words, get the cloth suit back on.'

He hurried out of the room. I waited, tapping my fingers on the window.

He returned fixing his tie. 'As it was?'

I nodded. 'No escaping the party. Especially since it was your idea.'

He sighed.

'Ladies and gentlemen,' he said as he entered the room again, now filled with police, 'I hope you are all alright. Such a dreadful thing..., I'll have the waiters bring out something stronger.'

The tension in the room shifted and people laughed.

'Well you'll definitely exceed your target now,' I said, 'each and every one of them will be behind Harvey Dent.'

He nodded. Then he paused, turning fully to me and murmuring quietly, 'You've left him in the cupboard, haven't you?'

'Me?!' I hissed, 'that was you!'

As we started laughing Rachel appeared. 'Are you both alright?'

'Yes,' Bruce said, smiling at her, 'we're fine.'

I nodded at her when she looked to me. She looked different than before, but I didn't follow that line of thought. I blinked. 'Oh, right, Harvey Dent in the cleaning cupboard.'

I shoved Bruce out of the way and hurried through the house.

Rachel came looking for me a little later, finally thinking to check upstairs, let past by Alfred, in the games room.

She heard my voice, but not the TV, so approached slowly. She peered around the spacious corridor, through the glass wall to see two heads over the back of the couch, one third in from each side, a heavy, deep atmosphere through the dimly lit room.

We were sat on the couch, each holding a glass of what Rachel would think was whiskey, if she hadn't seen Alfred serve iced tea earlier. We couldn't even drink; we'd spend the night after this in the suits.

Bruce's mood and energy had plummeted after the conversation with Rachel earlier, had hit him so hard that he'd been stripped of any strong feelings or warmth. Like opening a shell to find nothing inside.

What was scary was how easily this slotted with my own psyche. 'As far as Alfred's concerned, you're a dead man walking,' I was saying quietly.

'He thinks the same way of you,' Bruce replied in a light retort.

I scoffed and looked at the top of the TV. 'Dent will pull it back,' I said with a bitter edge in an otherwise calm and warm voice, 'he has to.'

'It's hard to tell if we're truly nearing the end.' Bruce was as quiet and as thoughtful as I.

'Let's not count the days until we do. I don't want to count away a life's work.'

'I don't know what I'm going to do after this now,' Bruce said, lost, rubbing a hand over his face.

'Without Rachel?'

'… Yeah.'

'Giving up body and time is one thing… But this… If it wasn't for Batman, you'd already be together.'

Strain entered Bruce's voice. 'And now that will never happen.'

'And there's not a single thing we'd change, we'd do this a hundred times over if we had to.' I let out a very long sigh and after a long moment of silence, spoke softly; 'Gotham will learn to heave itself back. But is it worth the price of our souls?'

She had expected us then to run a hand through our hair, look down, anything, but we just stayed still.

We weren't even considering what I'd just said with appropriate weight.

Bruce spoke. 'If we ever get out, I'll think about the price of our souls.'

Rachel stared, as if from an entire city away. She suddenly felt very cold, as if she finally could taste the distance, mood and hardship Bruce and I lived in, even between us. She realised, then, that she would never truly understand.

Just thinking of travelling to Hong Kong, smuggled, to break into LCI Holdings' skyscraper offices… it was something she hadn't wanted to consider at the time.

She could see, in her childhood friend that she knew so well, desperation. She could finally realise just how much Bruce wanted to be able to put the cowl down but couldn't until the darkness, so unfamiliar to her, that had plagued him nearly his whole life was gone.

'Looking at the horizon without living in fear… If we get out,' I said, angling my glass around, looking at the ice, 'we'll have to learn to live free. Hm! How long has it been… since I've seen light shine through my life?'

'We wouldn't be here if we were used to the light, if we didn't know the dark this well.' Bruce replied simply, darkly.

Still Rachel saw no real consideration, just some strange, ethereal or non-existent depth.

She realised too late. A few hours too late.

A scream pierced the house, ripping in an echo across the manor.

Bruce stopped on the stairs, foot mid-air, straining to hear for the source. Nothing.

Alfred, who had stopped when Bruce did, waited until he moved again and followed his charge through the manor.

They followed the noise and trailed the destruction around them until they rounded a corner and stopped dead.

Bruce understood why Alfred had never heard a noise of this kind before, in that moment.

It was like a ghoul was in the corridor. Fear swarmed all but one other on my face, and that was the deadly undertone in my eye.

I'd heard them, turned and screamed again.

They cowered from the noise alone.

'Evelyn!'

Time was running out, and I wasn't going to get any less dangerous.

Bruce held his hand out silently, and Alfred passed him the syringe.

His original plan of catching me off guard and pinning me for long enough wasn't going to work.

He crept forward as I turned and wailed on the spot, screeching as my hand hit a vase on a table that ran along the hall. It smashed instantly, shattering to the floor.

Quickly, Bruce glanced at my hand to see no blood, which, right then, was a bad thing. I'd hit it correctly. I could still fight.

Bruce had fought me only once before and had seen me fighting in full combat against Al Ghul in the corner of his eye and what he could see when drifting between consciousness. What he did know, was that I thought with a quick, calculating mind.

Which meant that in the current situation, he didn't know what to expect, but I should be weakened.

He studied my behaviour as quickly as he could. Testing a hunch, he reached for a clock. I was staring at him in between thrashing around, voice scraping and screaming.

Staring right at me, he threw the clock underarm to land right beside me.

I screamed louder than I had before, swung a kick that would have broken a bone and fell backwards, landing on the floor with a horrible thud.

Seizing the chance, Bruce sprinted forward, but not quick enough as, as if on autopilot or a reanimated dead, I twisted upright again and swiped at his head.

Bruce stopped dead and threw his head back, escaping with only a lighter blow to his jaw. His teeth clattered and his balance suffered, neck jarring from the twist his head had to give. It was a power he still wasn't expecting.

He caught my other arm that came his way, threw it back and found only one opening that he didn't want to take; it would have to have been a hard and fast blow to the neck.

He was used to fighting to disarm or disable when others were trying to kill him. That was his edge here.

The noise coming from me was the hardest thing to combat, and he even flinched a few times as we exchanged blows.

He saw Alfred had moved, the butler unknowing of the true danger he was edging closer to. Alfred had never seen me fight.

'STAY BACK!' Bruce yelled urgently, wrestling to fend the flurry of attacks away.

I seemed to react to the noise and yelled in fright, ducking and flinching away, with a swipe like a claw going to Bruce's face.

He saw it only just in time.

He felt a nail scrape across his face and with a grunt shot a hand after the claw, managed to hold it at the wrist and bent my arm, by then barely thinking.

He bent until he was able to twist me around and in the time it took me to rearrange my body he had injected the antidote.

The next thing, his ears hurt from the noise and he was on his back, blinking in pain at the ceiling, winded.

He looked down, past his feet.

I was twirling on the spot, far too fast until suddenly I hit the ground.

'Evelyn!' Bruce scrambled up, moving beside me and lifted me by the upper arms onto his legs, already feeling the strength in my movements beginning to fade.

I reached a hand out, as if trying to reach something, turning into his upper body as I tried desperately to reach something behind him.

'Evelyn?'

I flinched at something they couldn't see and rolled back to face away from Bruce, shielding my head with my hands.

Bruce glanced at Alfred to make sure he was still back.

Then it sounded like I was choking, and Bruce's panic reignited.

'Evelyn!'

I writhed and screamed and turned until I looked at him and recognition seemed to flash through my eyes.

Immediately, I curled back into him, tightly, head ducked under his arm, arms folded across my chest in a tuck, knees twisted.

Bruce was starting to see changes.

'Evelyn?'

I relaxed, rolling backward to face the ceiling again.

I looked at Bruce and stilled. Stilled far too much.

That was wrong. That was wrong.

My eyes glazed over, blankly staring away from him. I gave no movement.

That was wrong.

That wasn't… no.

No.

He woke up as my dead eyes dawned.

With an abrupt, terrified yell, Bruce moved, blinking and breathing heavily to find himself flung upright into a sit, blanket still over his legs.

He heaved the air into his lungs and became aware of the boiling sweat covering his body.

When he finally could breathe a little easier, deep, huge breaths, he closed his eyes and hung his head, bringing one knee up to lean on it.

That wasn't what happened. I'd most likely be asleep in my own bed or still up going through Gordon's files for Wayne Enterprises.

Definitely not dead on the floor of Wayne Manor.

He couldn't comprehend what had just happened. He'd never dreamt about that fight for my life before, or even given it much thought after it had happened.

He cursed Harvey Dent for bringing it up. It must have reminded him. He started to shake.

He'd had nightmares of his parents dying when he was younger, but over the years he'd tended to stop having dreams that he could remember. He didn't like the connection one bit.

He was breathing heavily, torrents of air passing through his lungs.

If he'd failed then… if he'd failed that night, too, with the Joker, plummeting to the streets of Gotham…

But he didn't. That didn't matter.

That didn't stop his terror.

He squeezed his eyes shut as he leant his head on his folded knee. Then he laid down and tried to force himself to calm down, alarmed when he found it wasn't working, regardless of his lifetime experience.

Curse his memory, able to replay that night exactly as it was as a nightmare, that ended in torment.

It had been too accurate, he realised, right up until those different last moments. Half of his brain couldn't distinguish between the two, no matter how hard the other half tried to say it.

Resigning himself to temporary insomnia and an awful, awful night, Bruce got out of bed to make tea.

He sat in the dimly lit kitchen at Alfred's cooking table, mug in his hands and his head on his arm.

Confirmation would bring him back to reality. But it was so late, phoning was - I wouldn't care.

He took his tea back to his room and picked up his phone to a message he'd missed earlier.

Rachel; Thank you for protecting Harvey.

He paid it no mind and called.

No answer.

Big mistake.

Forcing himself to breathe, he tried again.

I stared around my room for a moment, looking at the lights from Gotham. Then a light went off next to me.

So it was my phone that had woken me up.

I answered it before the ringtone could start with a worried expression. 'Bruce?' He wouldn't have called over Rachel or that evening, so something was wrong, whether for him or for Gotham.

A long silence passed as Bruce's body stopped listening and he had to hang his head.

I looked out of the windows while I waited.

He put his ear back to his phone. 'Sorry,' he smiled.

'Hm,' I hummed gently and waited, watching the lights move.

Bruce was silent, just happy to know I was there. He couldn't form a single thing to say.

So I matched the silence and put my phone back beside my bed.

When morning came, the silence hadn't been broken, we were both asleep and the call was still going.