The Ghost of You
Disclaimer: I don't own Batman Begins or The Dark Knight
Chapter 8: Recovery
Gordon hadn't gotten to the old factory in time to save Rachel Dawes but he was glad two people were saved. But they were badly burnt. He had seen pictures of the burns. Both had muscle exposed and the doctors had to paralyze them with botox. He was in the burn center of the hospital where the two victims were. He went to see Harvey Dent first, seeing that there was more need. He walked into the room and saw the damage that had been done. Harvey's face was partially covered with gauze, leaving a hint of blackened dead layers of skin, a tube through his nose gave him oxygen. He seemed angered, almost consumed in his grief.
"Harvey, I'm sorry about losing..." Jim said but was cut off.
"Rachel." Harvey said reflecting his anger. "It was your fault, Gordon."
"You're right, we didn't get there in time." Gordon replied. "But Rachel is in a better place now."
"What did they use to call me in the old office, Gordon?" Harvey asked still reflecting his anger.
"Harvey 'Two-Face' Dent." Gordon replied hesitantly.
"Two-Face, it has a ring to it." Harvey said looking around. "I'll live up to that name."
"Harvey..."Gordon said.
"No, it's Two Face." Harvey said.
Gordon left his room and went into the next room. But lucky for him, Amanda was unconscious but the accident left her with a part of her right cheek was burnt away. She had accepted the skin graphs but would be left with a slight discoloration. But she had gotten an infection, which had set on rather quickly. Bruce Wayne had stopped in earlier than him and had said she would be home within a week. The infection would just weaken her for a while. She was a good kid, just under bad circumstances. Before he left, a nurse came in with a bright smile. He gave her a quick smile and left. It seemed unusual to hear such a silence in such a chaotic time in Gotham. The monitors let out a small beep indicating that all was still well. But no one knew if she would be or not.
When he was outside of the building, the sounds of Gotham greeted him rather smoothly. The sounds of the cars, the city, and the familiar police sirens. He looked at his watch, it was still early in the afternoon. He looked around, then got back in his car and left.
At the penthouse, Bruce sat in a chair looking at Gotham with dried tear tracks. He didn't know what to do, leave Batman behind and pursue a normal life as Bruce Wayne or try and save Gotham. Alfred walked in casually, seeing Bruce sitting there with Batman's cowl on the floor. He picked it up.
"Miss Dawes believed in what you did, Master Wayne." Alfred said.
"I still don't know what to do, Alfred." Bruce said. "But I know what kind of man I need to become to stop men like him."
"And what is that, sir?" Alfred asked.
"One that can stand up and overpower the Joker." Bruce said.
Alfred handed him the cowl. "Then I'll support your decision, Master Wayne. Just don't let this inner demon consume you."
He nodded and stood up again, taking his cowl with him.
"Would you like the Batpod, sir?" Alfred asked.
"During the day, Alfred?" Bruce said. "Not very subtle."
"Then you'll take the Ferrari?" Alfred replied. "Much more subtle."
Things were not as calm at the hospital, where chaos had finally swept in when the police had showed up saying that someone was going to blow up the building. At this point, one policeman came in and saw a nurse washing her hands.
"Miss, you should be out with the others. Ma'am?" He said.
The nurse turned around and shot the man square in the chest. He revealed himself in a nurse's standard uniform bearing the name tag with Dent's name on it. He passed Amanda's room who looked at him dazed but scared all at once. She needed to get out but how could she? He had no time for her now, that would be later on. But Harvey Dent just needed a little talking to. He went in eyeing the damage to the left side of his face. Once he mentioned Rachel's name, things began to get ugly.
"It was your fault." He said. "Yours, Jim Gordon's, and Batman's."
"Actually, it wasn't my fault. Your girl was in the wrong place at the wrong time." The Joker replied. "But those cops didn't bother, did they?"
It took a lot more now but Dent looked like he wanted to kill the man and who could blame him. But it had done the trick, so he let him go and went into the girl's room to discover she was gone. He walked out and took out something that looked like a phone. He pressed a button and recieved no reaction. Two more pushes and finally the massive explosion happened. He smiled secretly and walked away, taking off the red wig.
Gordon had seen the explosion and was glad everyone was out alive or so he thought. He counted, all the patients here were safe along with others but Harvey Dent was nowhere among them.
"Where's Dent?" One of the men asked.
"I don't know but we'll say we rescued him." He replied.
"And Miss Morrison?" The man asked.
"She's not here either. But Wayne already knows she's missing." Gordon replied.