A/N: Hehe, this story just keeps on rolling. It's doing twice as good as stories I've had up since last year. I have one or two more chapters somewhat planned (but not written). After that, I'm running short of ideas. Any suggestions? This chapter does not star Bruce specifically, but they do talk about him. For everyone who asked, this is Dent's POV. I hope you like it. He might seem a bit like a jerk, but hey, this is the man who eventually turned into Two-Face in the movie. Like always, please R&R. Flames, comments, corrections, it's all appreciated. This seriously should be the last chapter for a while, the clock is ticking and my essays are not writing themselves. It would be so cool if they could... Excuse me while I ramble, I got up at 4 a.m. for some strange reason. It's seriously messing with my spelling. Luckily I wrote the chapter last night and now I'm just writing the A/N.

I'd like to thank all the awesome people who've put this story on alert list, favorite list, reviewed it, or just read it. You guys are all awesome :D

It was eleven, I had a headache, and my stomach was aching with hunger. I glared at the offending organ (or where it should be, at least) as it growled. If I had time I would have stopped and gone home to rest and eat, but time was one of the many things I was short on nowadays.

Ever since Batman (Bruce) had turned himself in at the press conference, my office has been a mess. I personally went through and assigned someone to prosecute his case. That someone had to meet a lot of standards, including having the worst honest conviction record. It was somewhat difficult, as I had to try and decide whether they had lost because a) the judge was being bribed, b) the jury was being bribed, c) the lawyer was being bribed, d) the witnesses were being bribed, e)there wasn't enough evidence, or f) the lawyer was actually truly incompetent.

Once I had assured myself the worst man was on the case, I had rushed over to the Major Crime Unit. Bruce was being held in Gordon's fortress for the time being, and I would offer my services as his lawyer. Money was definitely not a problem, and just because I had been too late to offer myself as a decoy Batman (why did Bruce have to come forward in the space I was allowing for dramatic effect) didn't mean I couldn't still try to help the man.

Batman was the hero Gotham needed, the one who could fight the criminals without worrying about laws and repercussions. It would have worked perfectly, had he not been such an idealistic idiot and turned himself in. The public outcry for Batman's identification had outraged me. The man had just about handed Falcone and hundreds of other criminals over to the police, and the public turned on him the minute a madman with a manic grin comes waltzing into town. If it wasn't for him, my "stunning" arrest of all those mobsters would have been nothing. Lau didn't simply tie himself up and sit on the steps of the MCU.

I had been confident we could have won Bruce's case, if he hadn't refused to accept my help. Whatever streak of idiocy had caused him to turn himself in also told him it would be a grand idea to plead guilty to all counts against him. I would have spun it so the city would see Batman as the hero he was. Witnesses would have flocked to testify about being saved by Batman, and convicted felons didn't make credible witnesses for the prosecution (if the man was smart enough to even think about that).

I was close to whacking him over the head to knock some sense into his head when he had charged me with protecting his city. He threw my words back at me, told me it was my public duty. Was it his public duty to rot in jail for the rest of his life?

I heaved a sigh as my stomach growled again. It was no use trying to get any more work done, if I wrote anything I would just have to erase it tomorrow. Just as I shut down my computer and turned off the lamp at my office (it saved more energy than using the overhead lights) the door to the outer office banged open. I sucked in a gasp and slowly opened the top drawer of my desk. Had someone finally come to kill me?

"Harvey?"

I breathed out a silent sigh of relief and released the handle of the gun in my drawer before switching my lamp back on. I opened the door to my private office (Ah, the perks of being on the top of the ladder) to find Gordon standing in the middle of the abandoned room.

"Hello, Gordon."

The light from my lamp threw sharp shadows on his features, but I could still see the weary smile he sent me. We may not be the best of friends, but we had a mutual respect. That respect included me welcoming him at odd hours to sit down and discuss business in my office.

"Late night?"

I snorted. "Same as every night lately. Five hundred criminals sure produce a lot of paperwork. I'm sure you've been keeping busy too."

He sighed and brought up a hand to rub his jaw. From the harsh scratching noise, it sounded like he hadn't shaved in a few days. "The Joker's simply vanished. There's been no report of him from anyone since the truck fiasco."

I winced at the reminder. Six men dead and nothing to show for it. It didn't surprise me that the Joker had escaped and hadn't been spotted since. He'd managed to make himself scarce before. You think someone would call if they saw the maniac strolling down the street, but so far anybody who'd seen him had been silent.

A shiver went down my spine as I thought of the reasons for their silence. The most probable outcome was that anybody who had seen the Joker had promptly ended up dead. Maybe we should base our search on the murder rate.

"Still, there are still more than enough crimes to keep my department busy." Gordon shrugged, and I laughed.

"The world can go to hell but criminals will be criminals, eh Gordon?"

He laughed. It sounded forced, like it came from a man who needed to laugh more. Just like me.

"How many times have I asked you to call me Jim?"

I gave him my political grin. The one with the shiny teeth and winning dimples. "Well, what's one more time, then?"

I never told him why I insisted on calling him Gordon, but I think he knew. I was very vocal about the corruption in his precious unit. It was the one thing I could not stand about the man. If he only made an effort to hire clean cops, and not scum.

Gordon broke the contemplative silence that had descended between us. "I saw Bruce today."

My eyes widened with shock. How stupid could the man be? If Garcia ever got wind of that, he would have Gordon's badge within the hour. "Gordon! You know it-"

He held up a placating hand. "Nobody knew it was me."

I frowned but decided to act like the politician I was and let it go for things I was more interested. "What did he say?"

Gordon just gave me a look. Are you serious?

"Alright, what did you tell him and how did he respond?" Apparently, Bruce shared Batman's trait of being as talkative as a brick wall.

I told him what happened with the decoy truck and about Garcia refusing to let him stay at the MCU in a protected cell."

The mention of Garcia's decision made my fingers itch. He had refused to let Bruce stay in protective custody, and had instead put him in a general jail, where all manner of criminals could try for revenge. Public outcry and all that. Garcia was just too afraid to stand up for Batman.

"How did he take the news?"

Gordon shrugged. "As well as anybody who was told the Joker killed six men because he couldn't kill you."

So, not well at all.

"How has prison been treating him?" I didn't come out and say it, but Gordon knew what I mean. Has anybody tried to hurt him yet?

"He claims it was just a brawl, but I doubt there's only been one."

I nodded. Batman had probably put away as many criminals as the police force had in the last five years. "Revenge is a powerful motivator."

Gordon nodded, and we fell silent again.

The clock in the corner ticked on in the silence as we awkwardly looked at each other. There was nothing else for us to discuss, and our mutual respect didn't go as far as making idle conversation. I cleared my throat as Gordon tried to swallow a yawn.

"Well, it's late and I for one am off to home." I stood up, and Gordon followed my lead. He shook my hand and headed out of the office as I grabbed my coat and my hat. After waiting a few minutes to make sure Gordon would be long gone, I turned off the light and headed to my car.