Disclaimer: I only own Scarlett. The rest belongs to the Nolan.
I know no one likes excuses; therefore, I won't make any. This is the last chapter of this story and I hope you guys have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
The ride back to the penthouse was quiet. Scarlett and Bruce sat in the back of the town car quietly as Alfred weaved in and out of the traffic down the streets of Gotham. Scarlett spent the majority of the ride staring out the window, thinking about Harvey. His body was missing and the Joker was once again on the loose. He probably knew she was alive and Scarlett's worst fear was that he was going to come after her. She was meant to die in that warehouse along with Rachel. Glancing over to Bruce, she caught his gaze and she glanced back out the window.
"He's going to come for me," she muttered.
"What, miss," Alfred said from the front of the car.
"Nothing. I'm just talking to myself and thinking about Harvey. I hope he's alright."
"Gordon will find him," Bruce said.
Looking back over to Bruce, Scarlett said, "I hope so."
As he watched Scarlett turn away and continue to stare out the window, he leaned forward and said, "I'm going after him tonight. This cannot continue."
"What about Dent, Master Wayne ? She seems genuinely concerned about him."
"He was her boss. Of course she does."
Bruce leaned back into his seat as the car pulled into the underground garage. As the car stopped, Scarlett pushed her door open and shut it just as quick. As she headed towards the elevator, Bruce and Alfred followed at a slower pace. As she waited for her companions to catch up, the pocket of her jeans began to vibrate. It was her Blackberry. Digging into her pocket, Scarlett pulled out the phone and looked at who was calling. It was Harvey.
Pressing the button to talk, she said, "Harvey? Harvey, are you there?"
Bruce and Alfred heard the panic in her voice as they boarded the elevator. Scarlett took the phone from her ear and studied the screen. Harvey 's number was there and it was still connected. Putting the phone back to her ear, she said, "This isn't funny. Who is this?"
"Scarlett?"
" Harvey," Scarlett said, her voice cracking.
"You're alive? How are you alive?"
"I got out of the building in time and I…"
"Did you get help like you said you would," Harvey replied, his voice dropping dangerously low.
Biting her lip and looking up at Bruce and Alfred, she said, " Harvey, you know what happened. I tried but Gordon and his men arrived too late."
"You promised her that you would bring help back for her."
"I did…"
"A lot of good that did for Rachel. She trusted you, Scarlett."
"She knew that she had a 50/50 chance, Harvey. Same as I or you."
"It really doesn't matter now. She's gone and you're still here. You should have stayed in that building with her. Then I wouldn't be the only person in pain."
" Harvey, you are not the only person hurting right now. Just tell me where you are," Scarlett protested, as the elevator doors opened to Bruce's penthouse.
"Not now. Wait till tonight."
"Why? Where will you be?"
"Where my life ended."
The phone then clicked, signaling that Harvey had cut the connection. Feeling tears beginning to form in her eyes, Scarlett walked to the couch and sat down, lowering her head into her hands. Alfred took the seat next to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. Scarlett allowed her body to lean against Alfred's as she began to cry. Bruce watched the scene as anger swelled up in his chest. He did not like to see the people he loved in pain and he was going to end it all tonight.
Walking to the couch, Bruce kneeled down in front of Scarlett and took her hands in his larger ones. Alfred nodded before he stood and said, "I'll give you a moment with her while I get everything ready."
Bruce smiled at the older man as Alfred stood and made his way towards the entrance to where all of Batman's things were stored. Scarlett looked up at Bruce and said, "He wants to see me tonight. At the warehouse."
"You're not going to go."
Huffing, Scarlett said, "Don't you understand, Bruce? He blames me and Gordon for what happened to Rachel. You're not going to get involved in this. Your fight is with the Joker."
"I don't want you to do this."
"You can't stop me."
Standing from the couch, Scarlett slowly walked towards the window. The sky was beginning to darken and the sun was almost set. Bruce came and stood next to her and they both stood in silence. Looking up towards the bedroom and knowing it was time for him to leave, Bruce said, "I don't want you to leave but I know once you've made up your mind there's no stopping it."
"You know me far too well, Bruce."
She turned towards him and said, "What are you waiting for? He's got hostages and there's no time. You need to go."
Bruce nodded before he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Scarlett smiled at the gesture before she felt his warm hand leave hers. Watching him walk towards the staircase, Scarlett saw him whisper something to Alfred before he continued on his way. Alfred slowly walked over to her and said, "I'm guessing you need transportation."
Scarlett smiled before she nodded her head in approval. She followed Alfred to the kitchen and over to the wall of keys. The old butler grabbed a pair of silver keys from the hook and threw them to her outstretched hand.
"Thanks."
She then turned and walked out of the kitchen to head towards the elevator. Pressing the button for down, Scarlett turned when she heard footsteps approaching. It was Alfred and in his hand he was holding a white envelope. On the front of the envelope was Bruce's name and Scarlett knew it was in Rachel's handwriting.
"What is this," Scarlett asked as Alfred handed her the letter.
"A letter to Bruce from Rachel."
"I really shouldn't," Scarlett said.
"I know. I just wanted to you to know that Rachel knew what she was doing and that I know why you are doing this."
Scarlett nodded before handing the letter back to Alfred. The older man took it as Scarlett wrapped her arms around him suddenly in a tight hug. He hugged her back as she said, "Goodbye Alfred."
As she pulled away, he said, "Goodbye Scarlett."
As Alfred watched her go into the elevator, he watched the doors slide together and hoped that she wasn't going to her death.
The drive to the warehouse was long. All the streets were being patrolled by Gotham City Police and from what Scarlett had heard on the radio, the hostage situation had taken a turn for the worse. The Joker had put a bomb on two ferries. One held the people of Gotham and the other held prisoners from the Asylum. He was giving both boats till midnight to blow the other up. Checking the clock on the dashboard, Scarlett saw that it was 11:30 . The day had gone by fast.
Bruce had crashed the car at around 2:30 and they had been checked over for injuries for a good hour. The police asked them questions till 4:00 when Alfred had picked them both up. Bruce had to make a few stops and that had taken till 7:00 . The drive home took till 8:30 on a count of all the traffic. How it had become 11:30 so quickly was mind boggling to Scarlett. As she pressed down harder on the gas, Scarlett weaved the red Porsche in and out of traffic in order to make it to the warehouse. As she concentrated on the road, her phone began to ring.
Cursing, Scarlett put the Blackberry on speaker phone. It was an unidentified number. Hesitantly, she answered and said, "Hello?"
"Scarlett," a raspy voice replied.
"Bruce?"
"Gordon's on his way to the warehouse."
"What? Why?"
"Dent has his family and is holding them hostage."
"Where are you?"
"On my way."
"And the Joker," Scarlett said.
"The SWAT team has him in their custody."
The conversation ended as Bruce cut communication between the two. Scarlett ran her hand through her hair and took a deep breath as she stopped in front of the demolished warehouse. Caution tape was everywhere and as Scarlett leaned her head against the steering wheel, her eyes closed tightly as she tried to get the images of the warehouse burning leave her mind.
"Ms. Falcone?"
Glancing up from scrolling through her text messages, Scarlett smiled as District Attorney Harvey Dent strolled over to where she was sitting. Standing quickly, she said, "Mr. Dent. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice."
Harvey smiled and said, "Ms. Charles, your friend, was quite persistent. She said you really needed a job."
"Well, besides having no real skills to find a job with, she's right."
Harvey extended his arm towards his office and said, "Shall we?"
Scarlett nodded before walking into Harvey's office and taking the seat across from him. She glanced around the office and noticed it was a bit messy and things were still sitting in boxes. The D.A. closed the door before he came to sit in front of Scarlett. Folding his hands on top of his desk, he said, "So, why did you leave Wayne Enterprises?"
"I just felt that I could no longer work there. Don't get me wrong, I loved the environment and the people I worked with but I felt it was time to move on."
"Really? Some people around here are under the impression it was because of you and Mr. Wayne's relationship."
"That has nothing to do with why I left," Scarlett retorted.
"Absolutely nothing?"
"No, of course not."
Harvey smirked and Scarlett fiddled with her bracelet before she murmured, "Is that really what people think?"
"Most people believe everything they read, Scarlett."
"Well, they shouldn't. If I believed half of what was said about me or my family in the press, I would be in the nut house."
Harvey gave her a warm smile before he stood and walked around the desk to take a seat next to her.
"Listen, Scarlett, I'm not here to judge what you did or why you left. It's not my business on what went on in your personal life. However, you seem like a good person and I would be happy to have you as my assistant."
"But you barely asked me any questions."
"Ms. Charles raved about you over the phone. I also received a letter of recommendation from Mr. Wayne himself."
"Really," Scarlett said.
"The fact that you're a Falcone seals the deal for you as well. I can't have a mobster's daughter be mad at me."
"I'm nothing like my father, Harvey," Scarlett said smiling brightly.
"Great, then it's settled. Can you start next Monday?"
"Sure thing. Just tell me what time and what to bring?"
"9 AM sharp and here at the office. You'll get everything you need on Monday."
Scarlett nodded and stood as Harvey stood as well to shake her hand. "I hope you're ready for some sleepless nights, Scarlett."
"I can handle it. I promise."
As Harvey shook his head in agreement, the door to his office opened and he said, "Rachel, what a pleasant surprise. I was just welcoming Ms. Falcone as my assistant."
Turning towards the door, Scarlett finally laid eyes upon Bruce's childhood friend, Rachel Dawes. She had long brown hair and was an inch or two taller than Scarlett. Dressed in a suit jacket, blouse, pencil skirt and high heeled shoes, Rachel smiled at Scarlett and said, "Hello Scarlett. Pleasure to meet you."
"Ms. Falcone?"
Snapping her eyes open, Scarlett looked to her left and saw Gordon tapping on her window. Wiping her clammy hands on her jeans, Scarlett opened the car door and said, "What are you doing here?"
"Dent. He has my family hostage inside."
"Harvey told me to come here later tonight," Scarlett replied.
Gordon nervously ran a hand across his face before he said, "Stay a couple feet behind me."
She gave a quick nod of her head before the two of them headed towards the warehouse. Gordon went in first as he held the door open for Scarlett. He walked a couple paces ahead of her while Scarlett tried to remain in the shadows. She recognized the building from when she had last been inside and the memories were still fresh.
"Dent," Gordon yelled.
Looking around nervously, Scarlett tried to keep her steps quiet as she remained a few feet away from Gordon. Suddenly, she saw three figures sitting up against a rafter and she watched as Gordon began to run over to his family. He ran past a rafter and Scarlett watched as a hand shot out and struck him with the butt of a gun. Holding back a gasp, Scarlett snuck behind a rafter and watched as Harvey stepped out from the darkness. His face had been hideously scarred and burned so badly that she barely recognized the man who had once been her boss.
"This is where they brought them, Gordon. After your men handed them over. This is where she died."
"I know. I was here, trying to save them."
"But you didn't."
"I couldn't," Gordon replied.
"Yes, you could have. If you had listened to me. If you stood up against corruption instead of doing your deal with the devil!"
"I was trying to fight the mob!"
Harvey pointed his gun at Gordon's face and said, "You wouldn't dare try to justify yourself if you knew what I lost. Have you ever had to listen to the person you love most tell you it's going to be alright? To tell them it's going to be ok when you know that it's not? Well, you're about to know what it feels like, Gordon. Then you can look me in the eye and tell me you're sorry."
"You're not going to hurt my family," Gordon said.
"No, just the person you love most."
He then pointed the gun at Gordon's wife. "So, is it your wife?"
"Put the gun down Dent! Please," Gordon whispered.
Scarlett held back a gasp as Harvey moved the gun to Gordon's daughter.
"Please," Gordon said.
Harvey then put the gun to Gordon's son. Scarlett had half a brain to go and help Gordon's family, but Gordon had told her to stay out of Harvey's sight. She would, unless the occasion called for it.
"Goddamn it, will you STOP POINTING THE GUN AT MY FAMILY?!"
Harvey smiled at the boy and said, "We have a winner."
She watched as Harvey grabbed Gordon's terrified son and saw the desperation on the older man's face. Gordon's wife, Barbara, reached out for her son and screamed, "No! Jim, stop him, no!"
"Harvey? Harvey! I'm sorry! For everything! Please, don't hurt my son," Gordon pleaded.
Harvey seemed to consider it for a moment. He loosened his hold on Gordon's son and Scarlett watched as his face quickly changed when he heard police sirens. He rounded on Gordon, his eyes blazing.
"You brought your cops?!"
"All they know is this is a situation. They don't know who or what, they're just creating a perimeter."
"You think I want to escape from this?! There is no escape from this!"
"Don't do this Harvey," Scarlett said, stepping out from behind the rafter.
Harvey face turned to shock and he said, "And you. You promised Rachel that everything was going to be ok. That you would bring back help."
"I tried! Don't you understand. None of this is Gordon's fault. If you should be blaming anyone, blame me."
"You don't want to hurt the boy, Harvey."
Batman stepped from the shadows and Harvey turned to him, his eyes wild.
"It's not about what I want! It's about what's FAIR! You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time! But you were wrong. The world is cruel. And the only morality in a cruel world…is chance…unbiased, unprejudiced, fair. His son's got the same chance she had: 50/50," Harvey said, taking out his coin.
"What happened to Rachel wasn't chance. We decided to act. We three."
"Then why was it me who was the only one who lost everything?!"
"It wasn't," Batman whispered.
"The Joker chose ME!"
"Because you were the best of us. He wanted to prove that even someone as good as you could fall."
"And he was right," Harvey said, his grip tightening on Gordon's son.
"You're the one pointing the gun, Harvey. So point it at the people responsible."
"Fair enough. You first."
Harvey flipped his coin, while keeping a hand on the boy. Looking down, he smiled when he saw it had landed on "tails." He pointed his gun at Batman and shot him in the stomach. Scarlett covered her mouth to keep from screaming as Batman fell to the ground. Harvey then turned back to her.
"Your turn," Harvey said, pointing the gun at Scarlett.
He flipped the coin again, and it landed "heads" up. "You just keep getting lucky."
Harvey then pointed the gun at Gordon's son's head. Gordon now had tears running down his face and Scarlett tried, once more, to plead for his son's life.
"Harvey, please. Rachel's death was my fault. Pl-Please, don't punish the boy. Please punish me."
Harvey pushed the gun up to the boy's head and said, "I'm about to punish you both. Tell the boy it's going to be alright, Scarlett. Lie…like you lied to Rachel."
"It's going to be alright," Scarlett whispered, tears running down her face.
As Harvey flipped the coin, once more, a dark shadow whizzed past Scarlett, straight for Harvey and the boy. Batman had tackled Harvey over the side of the building before he can catch the coin. Scarlett stood up from her spot and ran towards the edge of the building, with Gordon on her heels. Barbara and her daughter both stood and ran after them. Scarlett fell to her knees and looked down. There was Batman hanging on to the ledge, his other hand holding on to Gordon's son. Down below, Scarlett saw Harvey's lifeless body.
Gordon quickly dropped to his knees beside Scarlett and they both leaned over the side, throwing their hands down. Batman pushed the boy up over the ledge and into Gordon and Scarlett's outstretched hands. Together, they pulled him up over the ledge and into Barbara's arms. She hugged her son tightly, as Gordon and Scarlett both reached back to help Batman. Scarlett leaned out farther than Gordon to reach the masked hero.
All of a sudden, Batman's hand slipped from the plank and Scarlett and Gordon watched as he crashed through several planks before he landed next to the unconscious Harvey. Gordon hauled Scarlett back over and as soon as he let go of her, she stood and ran towards the flight of stairs, and went down them as fast as she could. Gordon followed her, with his son right behind him.
"Daddy! Dad, is he going to be okay," Gordon's son asked.
Once she reached the outside of the parking garage, Scarlett ran towards Batman and Harvey. She dropped to her knees next to the masked man and tapped the only part of his face that was visible. His eyes opened slowly and focused in on her. Scarlett smiled and said, "You saved him."
The moment was short lived as Gordon and his son came up behind her. Gordon reached for his radio, to call for help, but Batman reached up and shook his head. Scarlett grabbed on to Batman's upper arm to help him.
"Thank you," Gordon said.
"You don't have to thank me," Batman said, as he laboriously got to his feet in obvious pain. Once he was standing, Scarlett let go of him.
"Yes I do."
The three of them looked down at Harvey's body on the ground. Scarlett hoped, that if there was a heaven, that Harvey was finally with Rachel.
"The Joker won. Harvey's prosecution, everything he fought for, undone. Every chance we had at fixing our city dies with Harvey's reputation. We bet it all on him. The Joker took the best of us and tore it down. People will lose hope," Gordon said.
"They won't. They must never know what he did," Scarlett muttered.
"Five dead, two of them cops. You can't sweep that up."
"But the Joker cannot win," Batman said, as he kneeled down next to Harvey, whose burnt left side was facing up.
"Gotham needs its true hero," he finished, turning Harvey's head so that his unmarred side faces up.
Gordon's eyes widened, as he immediately understood. "No."
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain," Batman said, quoting Harvey.
He then stood and turned to Scarlett and Gordon. "I can do those things because I'm not a hero, unlike Dent. I killed those people. That's what I can be."
"No, NO! You can't, you're not," Gordon said.
"I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be. Call it in," Batman replied, handing Gordon his radio.
"They'll hunt you."
"You'll hunt me. You'll condemn me, set the dogs on me. Because that's what needs to happen. Because sometimes the truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded."
Without a glance to Scarlett or Gordon Batman turned on his heel and sprinted away, running from the scene. Scarlett watched him go and closed her eyes as she heard the sound of approaching police and their dogs.
"Batman? Batman," Gordon's son yelled, "Why is he running, Dad?"
"Because we have to chase him," Gordon replied.
"He didn't do anything wrong."
Gordon glanced over to Scarlett. She had been watching where Batman had run off and was watching the cops and dogs beginning to look for him. He watched her smile to herself and as she turned back to him, they shared a knowing glance.
"Because he's the hero that Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector…a Dark Knight."
Well, I finished. Thanks to everyone who stuck it out with this story. I know I took alot of breaks from it but I never forgot about the ending and I knew that I had to finish it for you all. This is my last Batman story for a while and I want to focus my attention to another story that is sitting on the back burner. I want to try a story for The Tudors. If any of you have any interest, head on over there or keep me on alert. I can't say much but I will say it's going to follow the TV series and the character of Elizabeth Tudor, who was an actual sister of King Henry VIII but died at 3 years of age. Hopefully, I can get a chapter up in the next few weeks.
Thanks again!