hell fire • joker + bruce wayne ✔️

XI

"Hey, kid," said Sal. "We need to talk."

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Rachel Dawes stood in front of Bruce Wayne's penthouse window, nursing a drink in her hands. She had fled to his apartment after the horrible attempted assassination at the parade earlier that day. And, more importantly, she was there because Harvey Dent discovered that the Joker had identified Rachel as his next target, so it was imperative she remained somewhere with protection.

She heard his soft footsteps, cushioned by the luxurious carpet.

"Harvey called. He says Batman is going to turn himself in," She said dully as if her voice no longer had the ability to inflect tones. Her eyes were no different; they were glassy and shiny instead of dark and inquisitive like usual. Evidently, the events of the day had taken a lot out of Rachel's countenance.

"I have no choice."

She scoffed, "You honestly think it's going to stop the Joker from killing?"

Bruce stopped beside her, a conflicted look in his perceptive navy blue eyes. "Perhaps not. But I've got enough blood on my hands. I've seen, now, what I would have to become to stop men like him."

Rachel stared at him, opting to say something before Bruce continued.

"You once told me that if the day came when I was finished...we'd be together."
He stared out into the night. "Clearly, that isn't the case anymore. I've got Stephanie, and you have Harvey...but sometimes I miss who we were before."

"Bruce, don't make me your one hope for a normal life," she said.

"I'm not," he retorted softly.

Bruce Wayne turned around and grabbed Rachel's hands, still friendly but with a noticeable distance physically and emotionally.

Knowingly, Rachel gave him a half-glare. "We'll then don't make Stephanie your one hope for a normal life."

"Why not?"

"You know very well why not. Out of all the women in Gotham, you choose her — the daughter of two crime lords in the heart of the Maroni crime ring. Smart girl, yes, but with it comes the cunning. She's charming, charmed you and Harvey and Harvey's nephew and who knows else. And she's caught the Joker's interest with that move she pulled at Harvey's party, standing up to him so stupidly he spliced open the side of her face. The Joker's attention is never a good sign. Stephanie Carmichael is trouble." Rachel placed a hand on Bruce's chest. "You know it in your heart."

"Stephanie is different," said Bruce. "She isn't her family."

"Two things can be true, Bruce. She doesn't have to be like her family to be dangerous."

His eyes snapped to hers. Rachel realized how blind her friend and ex-lover had been to who Stephanie was as a person.

"What are you implying?"

Rachel sighed, taking a pause to find the best way to word her thoughts.

"Bruce, not only is she a liability to your identity because of how she chooses to live her life, surrounded by Park Row degenerates despite a very plausible reason to move into the city, but she's also collateral. Now that people and the media know who she is and how she is associated with you, there will be people going after her, Bruce. If that isn't enough, she has the enemies of her half-brother and the Joker right on her tail." While she was giving him her spiel, Rachel pulled the two old friends together by their linked hands. She embraced the dark knight.

Bruce slowly ran his hand up and down Rachel's back, mulling over his friend's words. Everything she had said was true. Bruce was always running around the city, making sure Stephanie was safe. His girlfriend had no idea how many people he had scared off around her apartment in the past week. There were at least five men each night, all with the intention of murdering Sal Maroni's half-sister for revenge or taking Bruce Wayne's lover hostage for ransom. Admittedly, he was the cause of half of the appearances, but still, Rachel had a point.