The breakfast was silent. Rachel's eyes were slightly puffy and red. Harvey's sad destiny had been hard on her. She tried hard to concentrate on her bowl of cereals but her mind wandered. She was brought back to reality on a regular cycle of minutes from the sound of newspaper as Bruce turned page.

Rachel gazed discreetly at him and scanned his features. His forehead showed slight wrinkles as he practically buried himself in the Economic's pages.

He turned page again.

Rachel smiled lightly. This was something she could live with. The comforting peacefulness, the silence in the kitchen. His presence.

Still, when she said yes to Harvey, she knew these types of moments with Bruce never would happen. But they did with Harvey. He would have made her happy. And he did make her happy. Rachel wished, not for herself but for Harvey's sake, she wouldn't have had the dark shadow in the back of her mind.

She wondered where the butler was, she hadn't seen him at all this morning. "Where's Alfred?"

"At the market."

"Hm."

He finished his glass of water and put the dishes away in the sink. When he returned, he sat down beside her.

A shiver ran down her spine when his tucked away a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"You haven't slept well."

That statement was true.

"Trouble to sleep."

"Nightmares?"

"I can't fall asleep to begin with."

His fingers continued to run through her hair.

"Did you sleep well then?"

"Better than you apparently."

"Good for you."

"Hm."

"Bruce wha-"

His lips pressed on hers. She was momentarily stunned. It was over just as fast as it had started. Bruce had started to pull away when she swung her arms around his neck and drew him closer again. He happily accepted and kissed back with much more passion. This was it. That thing she had missed. Glowing passion.

The moment was ruined by Harvey's face coming to her mind. She pulled away and explained her sudden pull away as breathlessness. A quite bad excuse, she even realized that.

:::

"I can't believe you bought my apartment and all inside!"

"But it did come in handy, admit that." Bruce responded, smiling into the back of her head as she hurried down the streets towards her home.

She searched through her bag and found the paperwork she was looking for. Rachel turned around quickly, almost making Bruce stumble over her. She pushed the papers into his chest, with a little more force than necessary.

"What's that?"

"Your copy on the contract of sale." She clarified.

"I told you I don't want your money." He answered. "I could have happily given the apartment back to you."

"No." She shook her head. "I want to be in charge of my own home!"

"I respect you for that but-." He said, not sounding pleased at all.

"If it makes you feel better, you sold it for almost nothing. It was a very bad affair." She chuckled. Rachel noticed the truck with her belongings had appeared outside her place. The workmen went back and forth carrying furniture and boxes.

"I have to check on this." She mumbled. "To make sure they're not going to break anything."

"I wouldn't care if I was you. Your belongings are not that much worth."

"Thank you for that one and goodbye!" She waved him off, his hand gripped hers.

"Did I miss something?" She wondered.

His smile grew wider. "Goodbye." Bruce placed a kiss on her cheek.

A flash went off.

She pulled away looking after the source. Of course, a paparazzi photographer.

"The news of your resurrection will soon be heard all over Gotham."

:::

"Yeah, we left that flower pot on the floor as it was when we got here. It got a note on it so I figured you wanted it that way."

"What flower pot? Last time I was here the apartment was empty."

"The big flower on the floor in the living room."

The workers left after a stressed day and Rachel was left alone in her apartment. She decided to investigate the strange flower, she assumed it was some idiotic trick by Bruce.

The flowers were nearly dying. They had been standing in her apartment for a while and that ruled out Bruce. Rachel flipped open the note and gasped.

My dear, tinderbox. I will sadly inform you that you're not longer an object of my interest as I found a new love. I will never forget you.

Kisses T.

"I will never forget you" - that line sounded like a full scale threat to her.

"I got to call the locksmith!"

:::

"I never expected this. Never in my life. I've never seen anything like this before!"

"I understand that this is crazy." Rachel mumbled.

Gordon, the only honest police in Gotham, reliable Gordon stared at her with a stunned expression. "Does anyone know?"

"Not the public yet, but two friends knows... still I'm sure it will be everywhere in the media soon since I was caught by the paparazzi earlier."

"It's better if you go public yourself. What do you have to loose? The joker is behind bars and I honestly believe this could be perfect for Gotham. They need a hero."

"I don't consider myself a hero."

Gordon's cheeks flushed. "What about practical matters? Your home? Your job as a ADA?"

"My apartment is already fixed. The position as an ADA is probably already filled... or?" Hope was raised in her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"Oh."

"His name is Ben Smith. He's damn good and experienced. I wouldn't want to replace him, it wouldn't be fair."

"Of course."

Gordon leaned in. "The position as DA is still unoccupied. They haven't been able to find someone suitable yet. You might be lucky."

"Who's in for DA now? They've got to have someone they consider!"

"No one!"

"How's that possible?"

"Miss Dawes, Gotham is falling apart. The city is bruised after the joker's rampage and now when Batman is gone... everything we worked for is tearing apart!" He hid his face in his hands. "This city is going down."

"Do you- do you think I have a chance to become the DA if I apply?"

"I hope so. Now when Harvey Dent is gone, we need someone like you. People trust you."

:::

The flashlights almost made her blind. Rachel blinked several times.

The officials in Gotham told the news of Gotham's new DA. Rachel stepped in front of the microphone and stuttered her 'official version' of her survival, stating she had been saved before the explosion but the Shockwave had been enough to put her into a coma. The story seemed a bit too unbelievable but the officials had insisted she wouldn't tell the real story. The last thing Gotham needed was fear of a psychopath. Instead was a team of policemen going to solve this case. Terence was going to be brought to justice.

"Any questions?"

A reported elbowed her way through the crowd. "Miss Dawes, how would you describe your relationship with Mr Bruce Wayne? You appeared on pictures with him earlier today and I want you comment!"

She rolled her eyes. "No comment!"

"Are you sure? There's been rumors that-"

"If it's a rumor, it's probably fake!" Rachel bit back. "End of questions!"

In the meantime were Bruce and Alfred watching the press conference in silence. It wasn't until she stepped forward and began telling the story of her survival and time away from the spotlight, Bruce reacted.

"Rachel's handling the media well. She's not going public about that psycho."

"Of course is Miss Dawes lying about that particular detail. It would stir up whole Gotham if she didn't. Lets hope they catch the bastard before he hurts someone else or... her. Speaking of that, do you agree with me when I point out the fact that the cape might need some fresh air once in a while?"

"Sound reasonable."