"…promised you weren't going to hurt her".

Rachel regained consciousness slowly. As she did so, she heard voices in the distance… voices that she struggled to make out.

"What did you expect, officer?"

She tried to speak… to ask where she was, what was happening. At first her memories were blank. She remembered who she was, but nothing from the past few days. Then… flashes… images passed through her vision. She saw Harvey, which made her smile, and Bruce… then she saw a monster with a white face and a sickening smile, and terror that she couldn't describe.

…It was Ramirez…

She struggled to open her eyes. All she saw was darkness at first, until her eyes could adjust. She was in a large warehouse, tied to… something behind her. All around her were canisters. A door at the far end of the room was open, and through it she could hear arguing.

"I thought she was just bait", she heard a voice cry. It was a woman's voice… Ramirez. Anger flared then. That bitch, Rachel thought. How could she… She shook her head. No… now isn't the time for that. I need to get out of here. She tried moving her hands, but they were handcuffed behind her back and she was firmly secured against one of the canisters, and it was too heavy to move.

"Bait?" a man's voice said. "Bait for who? You think we want the cops round here? Or the Bat? No… this is about revenge. And we couldn't have done it without you. You're a credit to the force".

"Fuck you", Ramirez screamed. Rachel had stopped struggling, and now simply sat and listened. Suddenly, Ramirez's face appeared at the doorway. When she saw that Rachel was awake she stopped, maybe fifteen yards away from her.

"I'm so sorry…" she said, her voice quivering. Rachel stayed silent, though every fibre of her being wanted nothing more than to scream at her. "My mother… she's sick. And I can't afford to pay the medical bills to help her. I don't expect you to forgive me, but… I honestly didn't know what they were planning".

Three men appeared behind her, one with a gun pointed at the back of Ramirez's head. Two of them were wearing balaclavas with leather jackets and jeans, but the third… he had some kind of mask on his face… as black as the night sky. It sat tight around his face, tight enough to make it look more like the outline of a black skull. And he wore a suit.

It was this man who seemed to be in charge. He faced Ramirez and tutted. "Officer…" he said, in a mocking tone of voice. "You aren't having second thoughts are you?" Ramirez stayed silent, but the expression on her face answered for her. "Well", the man continued. "Allow me to make it easier on you. If you don't leave right now, my colleague will blow a hole right through the back of your thick skull".

Even from the other side of the room, Rachel could see Ramirez's eyes flare with anger. But she wasn't stupid… there was no way that she could have fought them without getting killed, so she reluctantly left, giving Rachel one final guilt ridden look before leaving her to her fate.

The man in the black mask watched her leave, and after a moment he laughed loudly. "What a bitch", he said, and the other men joined in his laughter. Then they turned their attention to Rachel, who up until then had been doing everything she could to stay silent and unnoticed. They strode over to her, the masked man never taking his eyes from her. Then they simply stood there, silently, for a while.

"Um…" one of the men said. "What are we waiting for, Ramon?"

The black masked man suddenly whirled round and struck the man who'd spoken on the side of the head. "Don't you ever use my name again!" he screamed. "What are you, stupid?"

"B… but…" the man wailed. "She hasn't seen your face! And she'll be dead soon, anyway!"

Rachel felt a coldness grip her heart when she heard those words. So they did mean to kill her… she'd known it for a while, she supposed, but hearing them say it brought the reality home to her. She'd die in this hole… she'd never be able to tell the man she loved that she wanted to marry him.

The man in the black mask turned slowly to face her, and even though she couldn't see his mouth Rachel knew that he was grinning. "Maybe not…" he said, menacingly. "Go and fetch the table and the radio".

The two men turned around and left, leaving Rachel alone with their boss. He knelt down directly in front of her, fixing her his beady eyes.

"Listen", he growled. "Here's what's going down. The Joker's locked up… right? Wrong. It's all part of a plan. We've got you… and we've got your lover boy safe and sound somewhere far away". Rachel whimpered then… they had Harvey, too? She couldn't bear the thought of him being in the same situation as her.

The man grabbed her by her cheeks and turned her so that she was facing him again. "Listen up, bitch", he growled. "This part's important. And it's quite delicious, too. We're going to tell your friends where you are, right? But we've rigged it so that there's only enough time for them to save one of you. So… do you think they'll come running for the damsel in distress or the white knight?"

He laughed loudly then, as the reality of what he had just said sunk in to Rachel's head. Either she would die… or the man she loved would. Either way, her life would be over. And… knowing Bruce… he'd come running for her, even though Harvey was much more important.

The masked man stood, slowly. "Just between you and me", he whispered. "I hate the Joker. He shot me, see? Robbed my bank… and shot me. And I'm gonna kill him. But not yet. Let him get our money back for us, and then I'll rip his heart from his chest".

The other two men appeared behind him then. One of them placed a table in front of Rachel, and the other placed a two way radio on top. Rachel looked at them, quizzically. "Lover boy's on the other end", the man said. "At least you'll be able to talk to him when he dies".

Tears started to roll down Rachel's face, and the man laughed sickeningly. And then they walked away, leaving her tied down in a room full of oil canisters rigged to explode. Rachel waited until she was sure that they were gone, and then she started to scream.

"Hellooooooooooo!" she screamed. "Can anybody hear me? Hellooooooooooooo".

"R… Rachel?" a familiar voice said over the radio.

"Harvey!" Rachel screamed in relief. Hearing his voice made her feel… safer, somehow. "Harvey thank god! Are you okay?"

There was a brief pause, then, and Rachel worried that he'd gone away. "I'm alright", his voice answered eventually. "I'm in a… I'm in a warehouse. They got me wired to these oil drums".

So it was true… they had done the same thing to him as they had done to her. God, she thought. "I am too", she replied, even though she knew it would just make him worry about her. "Harvey…" she started, but then she heard a strange thud come over the radio, and heavy breathing. "Harvey?"

"I'm OK", he replied.

"Harvey listen", Rachel said. "We don't have a lot of time… they said that only one of us was gonna survive and they were gonna let our friends choose which one".

Another pause. Rachel knew that he must have been close to panicking… she was struggling to keep calm herself.

"OK", he answered eventually. "They're coming for you".

I know… Rachel thought. She knew that Bruce wouldn't let her die… and part of her loved him for that. But another part of her would always hate him if he let the man she loved die, even if it meant losing her own life.

"Harvey, just in case", she breathed. "I wanna tell you something, okay?"

"Don't think like that", he answered immediately, trying to comfort her. "They're coming".

"I know they are", she cried, her voice beginning to crack. "But I don't want them to. I don't wanna live without you, and I do have an answer for you. My answer's yes".

Then, over the radio, she heard the thud of a large door swinging open, and then Harvey's screams… at first she though he was crying in pain, but that wasn't it.

"No! No! No!" he yelled. "Not me! Why are you coming for me?"

As the realisation of what was happening sunk in, a strange sense of calm filled Rachel. This was right, she thought. This was how it should be. Harvey was going to save this city, and he could do it without her.

"No! "Rachel! Rachel!"

Harvey's screams echoed around her head. For the first time since she had seen Harvey's face on TV hours ago, the horrible fear at the pit of her stomach lifted. "Okay", she sighed. "Harvey, it's okay. It's all right. Listen…

"Somewh—"

And then she felt fire pass over her body in an instant that seemed to last a lifetime. She felt her body come apart, and she knew that she had died. But there was no more pain, no more fear… the man she loved was safe. She was at peace.