Bruce came home, his mind whirling with thoughts and grim preparations for the next day.

His meeting with Maroni had been as unsuccessful as he should have expected after everything they had experienced with the Joker in the last few days. The mobster knew nothing on the Joker, and not only did he not know but he had pointed out what Bruce had known deep inside but hadn't wanted to face – no-one was going to sell out the Joker, even if they could.

It was too well known that the Batman had rules, rules against needless violence, against guns... and against killing.

The Joker, however, had no rules. Something Bruce was only just starting to fully grasp. It was as Alfred had said - some men didn't want money or anything to gain personally. Some men… just wanted to see the world burn.

Seeing Harvey Dent later that night hadn't exactly improved Bruce's mood either. The man was clearly starting to reach the end of his patience, and Gordon's death and the discovery that Rachel was being targeted next was driving him to more desperate measures. His yells, almost screeches, after Batman still rang in Bruce's head even now, a few hours later.

"You can't give in!"

Bruce sighed. He knew Harvey meant well, but the White Knight of Gotham didn't understand - Bruce didn't have a choice anymore. It was painfully clear that the Joker would not stop until the Batman turned himself in. And Bruce couldn't have another death on his hands, especially when he knew it was only a matter of time before the Joker targeted Rebecca as well.

Bruce paused in his doorway when he saw the tall, feminine silhouette standing by the repaired window where Rebecca had been thrown out just three nights ago, staring out at Gotham below.

"You got home late." Rachel commented as she turned to look at Bruce, and Bruce pulled a cocky smile onto his tired face.

"Yes, well, I was engaged elsewhere." He answered. After all, he was telling the truth – technically. "I'm sorry if you stayed up waiting for me?"

His voice lifted curiously at the end of his sentence, turning his comment into a question as Bruce wondered why Rachel was up and clearly waiting. He'd expected her to either go to bed or sit waiting for her sister – yet, Rachel's body language as she faced him clearly said she had been waiting for him.

Rachel folded her arms, and she jerked her head back towards the window as she commented with only a half-attempt at casualty, "You got this fixed fast."

"Well, I can afford to pay to be put on priority." Bruce answered with a half-smirk. "And, the breeze I was getting was a little too much."

His smile dimmed slightly however when Rachel noted in a barbed tone, "I don't remember seeing you at the party after the Joker arrived."

"No," Bruce pulled a sheepish expression, "I, well, don't tell anyone – I don't want to deal with the bad press – but I hid when I heard the crazy guy arrive. I didn't want to accidentally get caught in any crossfire."

"Let's agree to cut the bull, Bruce." Rachel said flatly.

Bruce's slight smile dropped completely as she stated, staring him right in the eye, "I know you're lying, and that you have been lying the entire time since you came back to Gotham."

"What do you mean?" Bruce continued to feign ignorance, but his eyes had narrowed just slightly as he realized there was no fooling Rachel - not anymore.

"I saw the way you looked at Becky when you finished your speech for Harvey." Rachel said quietly.

Bruce tensed as Rachel went on, ""You act like this rich playboy, this selfish man who doesn't care about anything or anyone but himself. And it was always strange to me that Becky continued to defend you despite that. I know she can be a sweetheart when she wants to, but she normally hates people like the kind you've been acting as."

"Rachel-" Bruce began, but the brunette woman held up a hand as she said firmly, "I'm not finished, Bruce."

Bruce went silent, waiting, as Rachel continued, "And the thing is, I couldn't understand why she suddenly started condoning your behaviour when I know she was as upset with you as I was – if not more so."

Rachel sighed before she went on, "What I never realized was that her sudden change in attitude towards you started right after the whole fiasco with Crane and his fear toxin. When the Batman saved her and then took her to be cured."

Bruce's shoulders bunched very slightly as he tensed, but he didn't interrupt as Rachel went on pointedly, "And three nights ago, I finally saw what I'd been missing."

Rachel looked him straight in the eye as she asked, "Did you jump out of this window to save my sister because it was the right thing to do… or because you love her?"

A heavy silence followed as Bruce met Rachel's blue-eyed gaze unflinchingly.

He could see that she knew not just his secret but also exactly how he felt about Rebecca. It was clear her question was more a demand for him to say the words aloud; Bruce could see in her eyes (which really did look too much like Rebecca's for comfort) that Rachel knew the answer as well as he did.

"I saved her because I love her."

Bruce's voice was quiet even in the deathly silence surrounding them, but there was no mistaking the honest ring that seemed to resound like a gong around the room.

Rachel sucked in a sharp breath at his admission.

Another long silence stretched between them, before Rachel said in a low voice, "Harvey called before you came home – he said the Batman is going to turn himself in."

"I have no choice." Bruce answered shortly, but Rachel asked sharply, "And what about Becky?"

"That's why I have to do it, Rachel."

Rachel stared at Bruce as the man turned to stare out of the window and out at the city below, his eyes unseeing as he watched the glittering lights.

"It'll only be a matter of time before Becky is targeted as well. He got Gordon, and he's already going after you. She's the obvious next choice for this guy to go after. I'm going to turn myself in before that can happen." Bruce murmured and Rachel frowned.

"You honestly think it's going to stop the Joker if the Batman turns himself in?" She asked skeptically, and Bruce sighed.

"Perhaps not." He admitted. "But, it might be enough to divert his attention from the people. I've got enough blood on my hands, and I see now what I have to become to stop men like him."

Bruce turned back to Rachel then, meeting her eyes squarely as he added calmly, "No-one knows about Becky and I aside from Alfred and now you. At the very least, if I turn myself in, the Joker won't have reason to target her. She'll be safe."

"You really believe that?" Rachel asked skeptically, but Bruce answered firmly, "Yes, I do."

"You don't think you'll hurt Becky when you leave her behind?" Rachel challenged. "Because you have to realize that if you turn yourself in, they aren't going to let you go."

"I know."

Bruce didn't say any more as he looked out the window once more, and Rachel pursed her lips.

"Well, it's not my place to tell you what to do." Rachel muttered at last, turning to go to the guest bedroom Alfred had kindly prepared for her to stay in for the night.

"But… think about what I said, Bruce. I don't want my sister to get hurt, and I really think you should think this through carefully."

I have.

Bruce didn't say the words but they hung in the air between them as Rachel walked away from him. He watched her go for a moment before he turned and stared out the window once more.

Rebecca never managed to get home that night.

With all the paperwork they had to file, sort, and dig through, it was all she could do not to drown herself in coffee as she tried to somehow stay awake and alert enough to try and find any lead on the Joker. But when the sun began to peek over the horizon, she was forced to acknowledge that she was barely able to keep her eyes open let alone find anything.

"This is ridiculous." She muttered, running a frustrated hand through her tangled red hair as she tried her hardest not to think what seemed to be the only inevitable answer.

There was just nothing to find.

The Joker, somehow, just did not have any prints or any hints to identify him; he didn't leave any clues as to where he might be or who he was before he painted his face. He barely even seemed to exist despite the ever-increasing body count under his name.

A count that might soon include Rachel.

Rebecca tightened her clenched fists on her desk before she abruptly pushed away from the piles of useless information before her.

"Where are you going?" Stephens called after her, and Rebecca answered grimly, "I'm going to check if we can't find more information."

"From where?" Stephens asked skeptically, but Rebecca muttered as she walked out, "Anywhere. There has to be something we didn't check."

It was a careful balance of truth and lie - she knew exactly where she was going to go. But she also knew that there was definitely more that they at the MCU couldn't check; but she knew someone who might have more answers. And that was where she was going.

Thankfully, she had the car today so she was already dialing on her cell as she climbed in.

However, she frowned when Bruce didn't pick up.

'Is he sleeping?' She wondered, though she doubted it. Bruce rarely slept, even before this; he wasn't likely to be sleeping now with the Joker around.

But then, why else was he not responding?

Switching off her call, she began dialing the penthouse instead, in the hopes of reaching Alfred, when the radio on her car suddenly announced, "Breaking News."

Rebecca tensed instantly. Had the Joker struck again?

"We interrupt this broadcast to inform you that the Batman has turned himself in-"

Rebecca hit her brakes so fast she almost gave herself whiplash. She had pulled over as she did, and she almost missed the rest of the announcement between the cars honking, her ow beating heart that seemed to thunder in her ears, and the shrill sound of her phone as Stephens called the entire force.

"- revealed to have been district attorney, Harvey Dent. DA Dent, who called a press conference this morning for an important announcement, admitted to being the man behind the mask…"

"Dawes." Rebecca barely managed to croak out as she automatically and numbly answered her phone.

"Dawes! Get to the courthouse and get to Dent!" Stephens yelled, amidst the cacophony behind him that could be easily heard over the phone. "He needs full police protection while we bring him in for questioning."

"Of course." Rebecca answered distractedly, and Stephens checked in concern, "Are you okay?"

"Fine." Rebecca choked out, and Stephens noted, "You don't sound fine. Oh, right… your sister's dating Dent isn't she?"

"Yes." Rebecca replied briefly, and Stephens sighed.

"I'm sorry, Dawes." He said sympathetically but firmly. "But we need your help to bring him in - especially if we want to bring him in alive."

"Of course, sir." Rebecca answered.

Thankfully, Stephens hung up soon after, needing to see to other things and probably quiet down the MCU so they could focus - at least, if the distracted yelling that Rebecca had heard over the phone was any indication.

But all of her awareness for that was happening mostly in the back corner of her mind, probably close to her subconscious. Mostly, Rebecca still sat, stunned, by the double, shocking blows that she had just received.

Her initial reaction to the news that 'Batman' had turned himself in had filled her with a cold dread; just the idea that Bruce might have done something so drastic and incredibly dangerous was frightening. Not only would she undoubtedly lose him in the following inevitable chaotic outbursts from the public not to mention the justice system, but Rebecca had no doubt the Joker would come looking for 'the man behind the mask'.

And she did not want to even think how a confrontation between Bruce Wayne, not the Batman, and the Joker would go.

The news that Bruce had not been that incredibly stupid filled her with relief; but the news that it had been Harvey who had been so incredibly reckless filled her with a worry that clashed terribly with that relief. The resulting feeling was a sickening weight in her stomach and a pressing headache as her already worn-out mind struggled to process everything.

It felt as though her world had spun, crashed, and then straightened out partially all in the space of the one minute. For while she supposed her current situation was better than if Bruce had been the one to be arrested, it was definitely not ideal.

'Oh, let's be real.' Rebecca thought to herself morosely as she pulled out again and turned her car around, heading straight for the courthouse where Harvey was. 'Nothing has been ideal since the damned Joker.'

Bruce sped his way home, cursing silently. Things were not good.

Bruce had to admit, he had not seen this morning coming.

If someone had told him two weeks - no, even one week - ago that he would have been planning to turn himself in as Batman only to be blindsided by the poster-boy of Gotham city, Bruce would have laughed. It would have been too absurd to even consider coming out with the truth about his identity, particularly since giving the Batman an identity made him vulnerable the same way any man was while currently the Batman could be above that. And as a symbol, he couldn't be touched the way a man like Bruce Wayne could be. But the idea that Harvey Dent (who had everything going for him) would risk his reputation, his career, and his life for a masked vigilante he didn't know? That could have been even more ridiculous.

In fact, it was still unbelievable and Bruce cursed himself just as much as he was internally cursing Harvey, for not having anticipated this.

Yes, Harvey was just as anxious to catch the Joker as Bruce was; but Bruce had thought that Harvey's glowing career and his blossoming romance with Rachel would have made the DA more cautious.

Apparently, Dent wasn't as cautious as Bruce had thought he would be – or rather, Bruce hadn't realized the blond DA could be as stubborn as Batman. Dent was clearly making a play to try and draw the Joker out into the open by going into custody as a suspect for the Batman, a play he was also likely hoping the real Batman would capitalize on to capture the Joker.

But there was also every chance that that stubbornness could very well cost the man his life.

Well, Bruce determined grimly as he straightened his back and squared his shoulders. That wasn't going to happen - not on his watch. He owed it to the man, not least of all because he was Rachel's boyfriend. Harvey was a good man. And Bruce wasn't about to watch a good man die for him.

As Bruce drove quickly back to get ready, he recalled something else one of the protesters outside Harvey Dent's press conference had shouted.

It had been before Dent's announcement and as Bruce himself had been preparing to announce the true identity behind the Batman. He had been passing the group of protesters - who had been calling for a stop to the Joker - when one yelled.

"No more dead cops!"

That comment, that demand, had struck him too close to home. It was a reminder of just how endangered Rebecca was for her position alone. They'd lost Gordon because he was a good cop. And Bruce didn't know what he'd do if he lost Rebecca too.

'Don't think like that.' He scolded himself. 'She's safe with her team. He can't get her.'

He ignored the tiny part of his brain that prayed he would be right.

Rebecca sighed as she watched Harvey, who was handcuffed, come out into the backlot of the police station to the sarcastic applause of one Detective Wuertz.

It was clear that Rachel had been arguing with him (or more like pleading with him) but the DA was obviously determined to stick to his guns - so to speak. At last, Rachel was forced to step back, unable legally to come any further as Rachel and her men stepped up to put Harvey in the back of the heavy-armoured SWAT van.

Harvey used the last moment to press a deep kiss on Rachel, pulling away reluctantly when Ramirez tugged on his jacket, and Rebecca shook her head when Harvey sent Rachel a last winning smile.

"Heads I go through with it." He told the older Dawes sister before flipping his lucky coin.

Rachel caught the coin with a mix of exasperation and fondness; and worry.

"I can't believe you're leaving this up to chance." Rachel muttered, and Harvey's smile just widened.

"I'm not." He answered, before he was handed over to Rebecca and Rachel was forced to stay behind.

"What were you thinking?" She asked the blond man as she took over from Ramirez, who backed off without a word. Rebecca nodded to where Rachel stood, watching Harvey with worried eyes.

"You're making my sister worried sick."

"It'll be worth a few hours of worrying her if we can catch the Joker." Harvey answered calmly.

Catching sight of Rebecca's face, he insisted, "Come on, Sergeant. You can't honestly say you aren't as keen as I am to nab this terrorist as quickly as possible. He had Rachel's name on a tag, he's specified her out as his next target. We have to stop him before he can get to her, and this is the best chance."

"I'd prefer if we could do that without using you as bait." Rebecca answered dryly as she hoisted Harvey up into the back of the SWAT van, and Harvey chuckled.

"It was you or me, Rebecca - and I think she'd be more worried if it were you." Harvey replied, and Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"We get through this, Dent, and I'll hand it to you." She replied as she stepped out while the rest of her men piled in beside Harvey. "But if we get our asses handed back to us, then you have to sit quietly while I say 'I told you so'."

"Deal." Harvey grinned and Rebecca shut the door on him.

Turning, she moved back to where her sister stood.

"I'll look after him." Rebecca promised and Rachel sighed.

"Just be sure to look after yourself too, Becky." Rachel said.

She then hesitated before adding in a soft tone, "And call me later. There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Okay…?" Rebecca said, looking at Rachel oddly, but the older Dawes sister just smiled and shook her head.

"Later."

"Okay, later." Rebecca agreed. "And don't forget to text me when you get home."

She then turned, calling as she moved toward the front of the van holding Dent, "Okay, let's move it! Move it, people, look alive!"

As her orders were repeated and carried out around the lot, Rebecca hoisted herself up into the driver's cab of the van. Only to blink as she found a heavily armoured SWAT officer, complete with tinted helmet, already sitting in the driver's seat.

"Hey, I don't think you're supposed to be here." Rebecca commented, before she frowned as the man ignored her. "Look, pal-"

The man turned, flipping up his helmet partially as he did so only she could see his face, and Rebecca blinked.

"Oh."