Soulmates

Playing With Lives

~Eariler that day~

Y/n: "Are you sure I can't help?" Bruce: "Not this time, Y/n. You've done enough tracking down where Harvey is."

~Burnt Warehouse, 52nd Street—Night~

Gordon peers into the darkness. Gordon: "Dent? No reply. Gordon makes his way deeper. Up the stairs. "

~Second Floor~

Gordon spots Barbara and their two children huddled head-* 16 *' HG moves towards them ~ Barbara is shaking her head. Wham! Dent cracks Gordon over the head with his gun. Gordon rolls him over. He turns to look at the enormous hole in the floor. From this side, in the moonlight, Dent looks completely normal. Dent: "This is where they brought her, Gordon. After your people handed her over. This is where they bound her. This is where she suffered. This is where she died." Gordon: "I know. I was here. Trying to save her." Dent turns, revealing his dark side. Dent: "But you didn't, did you?" Gordon: "I couldn't." Dent: "Yes, you could. If you'd listened to me- if you'd stood up against corruption instead of doing your deal with the devil." Gordon: "I was trying to fight the mob- " Dent moves towards Gordon. Dent: "You wouldn't dare try to justify yourself if you knew what I'd lost. Have you ever had to talk to the person you love most, wondering if you're about to listen to them die? You ever had to lie to that person? Tell them it's going to be all right when you know it's not. Well, you're about to find out what that feels like. Then you'll be able to look me in the eye and tell me you're sorry." Dent turns- steps over to Barbara- puts the gun to her temple- Gordon: "Harvey. Put the gun down. You're not going to hurt my family." Dent: "No, just the person you need most. (cocks gun) So is it your wife?" Gordon: "Put the gun down." Dent moves the gun to point at Gordon's little girl. Gordon: "Please, Harvey..." Dent moves to James Gordon. Brushes the hair out of the boy's eyes with the muzzle. Gordon snaps. Gordon: "Goddamit. Stop pointing that gun at my family. Dent." Dent: "We have a winner." Dent pulls the boy away from his mother. Barbra: "No 1 Jim stop himl Don't let him!" Dent walks James past Gordon to the edge of the burnt floor. He touches the raw wood at the edge of the floor. Gordon: "I'm sorry, Harvey. For everything. But, please. Please don't hurt him." Sirens. Cop cars descend on the warehouse. Dent looks at Gordon, furious. Dent: "You brought your cops?" Gordon: "All they know is there's a situation. They don't know who, or what. They're just creating a perimeter." Dent: "You think I want to escape? There's no escape from this-" Dent indicates his face. His suffering. Gordon: "No one needs to escape, because no one's done anything wrong. And nobody has to." Dent chuckles. A macabre sight. Dent: "I've done plenty wrong, Gordon. Just not quite enough. Yet." Dent squeezes the gun a little tighter against the little boy's neck. The boy whimpers. Batman: (O.S.) "You don't want to hurt the boy. Dent." Dent turns. Batman steps from the shadows. Dent: "It's not about what I want. It's about what's fair." (to Gordon and Batman) "You thought we could be decent men in an indecent world. You thought we could lead by example. You thought the rules could be bent but not broken... you were wrong. The world is cruel. (shows his coin) And the only morality in a cruel world is chance. Unbiased. Unprejudiced. Fair." Batman: "Nothing fair ever came out of the barrel of a gun, Dent." Dent: (shows the coin) "His boy's got the same chance she had. Fifty-fifty." Batman steps closer, desperate, trying to reach Dent. Batman: "What happened to Rachel wasn't chance. We decided to act. We three. We knew the risks and we acted as one. We are all responsible for the consequences." Dent looks at Batman. Pleading. Dent: "Then why was it only me who lost everything?" Batman looks into Dent's eyes. Emotional. Batman: "It wasn't." Dent: (furious) "The Joker chose me! " Batman: "Because you were the best of us. He wanted to prove that even someone as good as you could fall." Dent: (bitter) "And he was right. " Batman: "But you're fooling yourself if you think you're letting chance decide. You're the one pointing the gun, Harvey. So point it at the people who were responsible. We all acted as one. Gordon. Me. And you." Dent is listening, the wheels in his deranged mind turning. Dent: "Fair enough." Dent eases his grip on the boy. Dent: "You first." He points the gun at Batman. He flips the coin. Tails. He shoots. Batman collapses to the ground, clutching his gut. Dent: "My turn." He points the gun at his own head. Flips the coin. Heads. He looks a little disappointed. Finally, he points the gun back at Gordon's son. Dent: "Your turn, Gordon." Gordon: "You're right, Harvey. Rachel's death was my fault. But punish me-" Dent: "I'm about to.Tell your son it's going to be all right, Gordon. Lie. Like I lied." Gordon looks up. Pained. Locks eyes with his son. Gordon: "It's going to be all right, son." Dent flips the coin. High. Dent's eyes follow the coin up-- Batman hurls himself at Dent and the boy. All three of them vanish over the edge. A terrible crash... then silence, but for the sound of Dent's coin, spinning on the floor at the edge of the hole. Gordon, horrified, runs to the edge— peers down— Dent lies at the bottom of the hole, his neck broken. Dead. The coin stops spinning, Good side up. Gordon's son swings into view, hanging from Batman, who is holding onto a joist with all his strength... Gordon reaches down to grab his son- hauls him up Batman falls dropping and dropping, smashing through protruding wood and pipes... He lands hard near Dent. The cops prepare to storm the front door. Gordon races down the stairs. Rushes over to Batman. James: (O.S.) "Dad, is he okay?" Gordon crouches at Batman's side. The Batman gasps. Gordon's arm. Staggers to his feet. Gordon: "Thank you." Batman: "You don't have to--" Gordon: "Yes, I do." Gordon and Batman stare down at Dent's body. Grave. Gordon: "The Joker won." Gordon stares down at the scarred side of Harvey Dent. Gordon: "Harvey's prosecution, everything he fought for, everything Rachel died for. Undone. Whatever chance Gotham had of fixing itself... whatever chance you gave us of fixing our city... dies with Harvey's reputation. We bet it all on him. The Joker took the best of us and tore him down. People will lose all hope." Batman: "No. They won't." (looks at Gordon) "They can never know what he did." Gordon: (incredulous) "Five dead? Two of them cops? We can't sweep that under--" Batman: "No. But the Joker cannot win." Batman crouches to Dent's body. Batman: "Gotham needs its true hero." Gently, he turns Dent's head so the good side of his face is up. Gordon looks from Dent's face to Batman. Understanding. Gordon: "You? You can't-" Batman: "Yes, I can." Batman stands. Paces Gordon. Batman: "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. I can do those things because I'm not a hero, like Dent. I killed those people. That's what I can be." Gordon: (angry) "No, you can't! You're not!" Batman hands Gordon his police radio. Batman: "I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be."

~Later~

Gordon stands at a podium at Dent's funeral. Behind him is a large photograph of Dent smiling. Gordon: "...a hero. Not the hero we deserved- the hero we needed. Nothing less than a knight. Shining. . ."

~Before the funeral~

Gordon: (V.O.) "They'll hunt you." Batman: (V.O.) "You'll hunt me."

~Roof of Gotham Central~

Gordon, on the roof of Gotham Central, axe in hand, watched by an assortment of cops and reporters. Batman: (V.O.) "You 'll condemn me, set the dogs on me..." Gordon takes the axe to the Bat Symbol-sparkling, smashing... Batman: (V.O.) "...because It's what needs to happen."

INSERT CUT: Alfred holds the letter from Rachel. Thinking.

Batman (V.O.) "Because sometimes the truth isn't good enough..."

INSERT CUT: Alfred burns the envelope from Rachel.

Batman: "...sometimes, people deserve more."

INSERT CUT: Lucius Fox types his name into the sonar machine. He hits the "X". The machine flashes red and a self-destruct warning appears. It then dies and Fox smiles to himself.

Batman hurries off. Limping into the shadows. JAMES: (O.S.) "Batman?!" James runs down the stairs to join his father. James: "Why's he running, Dad?" Gordon stares after Batman. Gordon: "Because we have to chase him..." James looks at his father, confused. James: "He didn't do anything wrong." Gordon stares after Batman. The sound of the dogs becoming louder and more ferocious. James: "Why, dad? Why?" Gordon: "Because..."

~Dockside Rooftops~

The Batman lurches between shipping containers. Stumbling. Bleeding. He makes it to the bat-pod... Gordon: (V.O.) "...he's the hero Gotham deserves... but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him because he can take it. Because he's not our Hero..." The bat-pod streaks through Gotham's underground streets, Batman's cape fluttering behind. A wraith... Gordon: "...he's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. . . a dark knight." The Batman races up a ramp into a blinding light.

~Later~

Y/n: "You did the right thing." Bruce: "I know." Y/n: "What are  you going to do now?" Bruce: "Enjoy life without Batman."

~End~