"Who killed the Joker?" Rachel was direct, spitting out the question before she'd even joined him on the balcony.
Bruce just shrugged. "No one knows."
"You're lying," she tossed back. "Was it one of Gordon's men?"
Technically, no. "Why would one of them do it?"
"I don't know. But you know who did." She stared into his eyes, challenging.
Bruce met her eyes calmly.
She sighed. "And you're not going to say anything. You, Harvey, Gordon. You've all become corrupt."
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Harvey? You think he knows?" What exactly had he said to Rachel?
"No, but he basically admitted that he won't even try to investigate. That he's fine with lynchings and assassinations."
"I doubt he put it like that," Bruce smiled.
"No," she admitted, "but he thinks the sniper did the right thing. All of Gotham thinks it was the right thing, the heroic thing to do. But it wasn't heroic at all."
Rachel trailed off, staring out at the night sky. "He wants to marry me."
She sighed and corrected herself. "Wanted to marry me."
Bruce found himself at a loss for words. This was not a direction he had expected this conversation to take.
"He didn't say anything before, and he hasn't said anything now, but…it's not going to happen. We both know it."
"I'm sorry." He hesitated. "Did you want to marry him?"
She gave a sad smile. "I'm not sure. I loved working beside him, I fell in love during all those late nights prepping for cases. But I've never been sure, so I didn't let myself think about it. But now that the possibility is gone…"
"Maybe it's not," Bruce tried to argue.
But she shook her head. "No, it's been headed that way for a while. We've been butting heads more often than not. And, I know, every relationship has things you have to compromise on, allowances you have to make. But, lately, it's been too much."
"Rachel, this has been a stressful few months. For him, for all of us."
She smiled at the understatement.
Bruce took that as an encouraging sign. "Let things calm down and it'll go back to the way it was."
Her smile was still on her face, but she was shaking her head before he finished. "No, we've realized there are some deep differences in the way we view some things. The way he—"
Bruce caught the guilty look as she cut herself off. "The way he what?"
An apologetic grimace. "The way he defends the Batman. I've always known he supports him, but the depth of approval he has for…your actions, it's just…where does it end?"
With a sniper's bullet, Bruce didn't say.
Rachel's smile saddened even further, and Bruce felt the echo of a year ago, the gentle rejection of who he'd become, softened with a promise she'd never intended to keep.
She'd been talking about Harvey, but suddenly, he knew she was saying goodbye to him, too.
He could see tears building in Rachel's eyes, as she saw him understand all that she was saying. "I know you both think you're doing what's best for Gotham. And I know what you two have suffered. But now that it's over, I - I can't keep following down this path."
She paused again, but Bruce didn't fill the silence. At first, he'd always hoped she'd come back to him, maybe when he'd retired the Batman for good, maybe when she'd finally accepted his other life. Later, he'd become friends with Harvey, and that first hope had dimmed, transforming into a wish for their future, their happiness.
His crusade had cost them all.
…
The mayor listened as Loeb waxed poetic about Gotham PD's great work to the gathered reporters. The man was sincere and proud as he told of his officers' victories over the mayhem the Joker had caused.
His heart ached for the man. Loeb had done nothing wrong; he'd been the Commissioner for Gotham City for over twenty years, and he'd always given his best. He just…hadn't done anything effective. Apart from promoting Gordon to Major Crimes. And with that promotion, as correct and successful as it had been, Loeb had inadvertently turned himself into a mere figurehead, not a power player.
He'd done nothing wrong, but his time was at an end. And Loeb knew it, too.
The only one who seemed oblivious was Gordon himself. Which didn't bode particularly well; police commissioners were supposed to have a little political savvy. But, Garcia supposed, Gordon could always get lessons from his friend, the district attorney. Those two, plus Gordon's Batman.
They were going to be a powerhouse.