sorry i'm late, folks. rachel leans in to dent, speaking under her breath.
worried you'd have to step up?
well, then, fair's fair: heads, i'll take it. tails, he's all yours. dent flips. shows it to rachel- heads.
my father's lucky coin. as i recall, it got me my first date with you.
i don't. i make my own luck. dent looks across at the defendant- sal maroni.
tee-off's 1:30. more than enough time to put you away for life, sally. the bailiffs lead a thin man into the witness box. rossi.
with carmine falcone in arkham, someone must've stepped up to run the so-called family. is this man in the courtroom today? could you identify him for us, please? dent turns to maroni, who is poker-faced. dent smiles.
i've got a sworn statement from you that this man, salvatore maroni, is the new head of the falcone crime family.
permission to treat the witness as hostile?
ceramic 28 caliber. made in china. if you want to kill a public servant, mr. maroni, i recommend you buy american. everyone stares, open-mouthed, as dent adjusts his tie. the bailiffs are wrestling rossi from the box-
but, your honor, i'm not done.
glad you're so pleased, rachel. i'm fine by the way. rachel turns to dent. smooths his lapels.
can't. i dragged the head of the major crimes unit down here.
well, good thing about the mob is they keep giving you second chances. dent picks up a bundle of bills from the heist.
lightly irradiated bills. fancy stuff for a city cop. have help?
save it, gordon. i want to meet him.
and that flood light on top of
i've put every known money launderer in gotham behind bars. but the mob is still getting its money out. i think you and your "friend" have found the last game in town and you're trying to hit 'em where it hurts: their wallets. bold. you gonna count me in?
gordon, i don't like that you've got your own special unit, and i don't like that it's full of cops i investigated at internal affairs.
you want me to back warrants for search and seizure on five banks without telling me who we're after?
well, that's a start. i'll get you your warrants. but i want your trust.
i hear they've got a different nickname for me down at m.c.u.  gordon smiles.
it took three weeks to get a reservation and i had to tell them i worked for the government.
this city health inspector's not afraid to pull strings. rachel smiles. then, over dent's shoulder, she sees wayne enter, accompanied by a beautiful woman.
what?
the famous bruce wayne. rachel's told me everything about you.
i don't know if they'll let us-
is wayne manor in the city limits? rachel gives dent a withering look.
gotham's proud of an ordinary man standing up for what's right.
we did. all of us who stood by and let scum take control of our city. wayne watches dent. sees his passion.
when their enemies were at the gate, the romans would suspend democracy and appoint one man to protect the city. it wasn't considered an honor. it was considered public service.
well, i guess you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. look, whoever the batman is, he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life doing this. how could he?
maybe. if i'm up to it. natascha reaches up and covers the top half of dent's face.
if i were sneaking out every night someone would've noticed by now. dent takes rachel's hand. rachel glances at wayne. awkward.
that's nice of you, bruce, but i'm not up for reelection for three years. that stuff won't start for-
you're a hard man to reach. gordon bursts onto the rooftop, weapon drawn. sees dent.
lau's halfway to hong kong- if you'd asked, i could have taken his passport- i told you to keep me in the loop.
my office?! you're sitting down here with scum like wuertz and ramirez.  oh, yeah, gordon- i almost had your rookie cold on a racketeering beef.
we need lau back, but the chinese won't extradite a national under any circumstances.
i'll get him to sing.
i knew the risks when i took this job, lieutenant. same as you. how will you get him back, anyway? batman is gone. dent looks around, startled. gordon smirks.
i've got it. rico. if their money was pooled we can charge all of them as one criminal conspiracy.
in a rico case if we can charge any of the conspirators with a felony-
what is this gordon, your fortress?
i don't trust them here.
it's your call, lieutenant. be right.
i don't know about mr. lau's travel arrangements.
but i'm sure glad he's back. maroni and the chechen are watching the tv.
i asked gordon to make some arrests.
she shares my enthusiasm for justice. after all, she is a judge.
it won't matter. the head guys make bail, sure.  but the mid-level guys, they can't, and they can't afford to be off the streets long enough for trial and appeal. they'll cut deals that include some jail time. think of all you could do with 18 months of clean streets. the mayor waves gordon and loeb out.
rachel-
thanks. alfred, right?
rachel talks about you all the time. you've known her her whole life?
any psychotic ex-boyfriends i should be aware of?
you can throw a party, wayne, i'll give you that. thanks again. mind if i borrow rachel? rachel glances back at wayne as she moves to dent. wayne watches them head inside.
you cannot leave me on my own with these people.
compared to this, the mob doesn't scare me. although, i will say: them gunning for you makes you see things clearly.
yeah. it makes you think about what you couldn't stand losing. and who you want to spend the rest of your life with.  rachel looks at dent. smiles.
not if the mob has their way.
okay. let's be serious. what's your answer? rachel looks at him.
i guess no answer isn't "no".
it's someone else, isn't it? wayne is moving up behind him. fast-
just tell me it's not wayne. the guy's a complete- rachel's eyes go wide as wayne puts dent in a sleeper hold-
so where do you keep your trash? gordon looks at dent. impressed.
you're due in court- i need you alive long enough to get you on the record.
refuse to cooperate on the stand- you won't be coming back here- you'll go to county. how long do you calculate you'll last in there?
tell me what you know about the joker.
where are you?
rachel, listen to me. you're not safe there.
gordon's gone, rachel.
and he's gone. the joker's named you next. rachel looks around the bullpen. eyeing the detectives.
rachel, i can't let anything happen to you. i love you too much.
rachel, i know he's your friend but-
okay. go straight there. don't tell anyone where you're going. i'll find you there. wider shows us we are-
i love you. dent hangs up the phone. taped to a chair in front of dent- the joker's thug, blindfolded. dent rips off the blindfold.
you wanna play games? dent pushes the gun against the thug's head with real malice. pulls it away and fires. the thug flinches. dent puts the gun barrel against the thug's temple-
no. i wouldn't. that's why i'm not going to leave it up to me. heads- you get to keep your head. tails.  not so lucky. so, you want to tell me about the joker? the thug, scared, says nothing. dent flicks the coin into the air. slaps it onto the back of his gun hand . dent shows him the coin. heads. the thug exhales, shaking.
go again?
you're not playing the odds, friend. dent tosses the coin again. this time it doesn't land. dent looks up. batman is there.
not exactly.
the joker killed gordon- and, and loeb. he's going to kill rachel.
why?
you can't! you can't give in! but batman is gone.
ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. i've called this press conference for two reasons. firstly, to assure the citizens of gotham that everything that can be done over the joker killing is being done. secondly, because the batman has offered to turn himself in- the crowd reacts-
but first. let's consider the situation: should we give in to this terrorist's demands? do we really think that-
the batman is an outlaw.
but that's not why we're demanding he turn himself in. we're doing it because we're scared. we've been happy to let batman clean up our streets for us until now-
yes. they are. but the night is darkest just before the dawn.
so be it. take the batman into custody. at this, a hush descends. wayne is sitting towards the back. hungry eyes scan the room. wayne starts to rise.  dent
i am the batman. a beat. wayne stares.
i'm sorry, i didn't have time to talk this through with you.
they're transferring me to central holding. this is the joker's chance, and when he attacks, batman will take him down.
how do you know what he's thinking?
heads i go through with it.
i'm not. she turns it over: it is double-headed. she looks up- the doors close on his smile. she shakes her head. torn.
lieutenant, you do like to play it pretty close to the chest.
thanks, detective- i've got a date with a pretty upset fiance.
rachel? rachel is that you?
it's ok, rachel. everything's going to be just fine. he looks around. behind him, metal barrels, hooked up to a car battery, with a timer counting down: five minutes.
can you move your chair?
look for something to free yourself.
nothing. i'm trying to.  dent contorts his head to keep from swallowing any.
don't think like that, rachel. they're coming for you.
no! not me.  why did you come for me?! batman stares at dent. the joker lied. the counter hits 5 seconds. batman drags dent out- dent fights to stay-
rachel!
rachel!!!
remember the name you all had for me when i was at internal affairs? what was it, gordon?
say it! dent's anger makes gordon flinch. he looks away. ashamed.
why should i hide who i am?
why would you listen to me now?
no. no you're not. not yet. gordon takes a last look at dent. then leaves.
your men. your plan.
you live. he turns the coin over. the flip side is deeply scarred.
you die. the joker looks at the coin. looks at dent, admiringly.
hello.
half. dent picks up wuertz's drink. takes a sip. wuertz watches the bare muscles retract as dent swallows.
who picked up rachel, wuertz?
you, of all people, are gonna protect the other traitor in gordon's unit?
funny, i don't know what's going to happen to you, either. dent pulls his coin from his pocket. flips it. wuertz watches it spin. it lands on the table. scarred side up. the drunk at the bar stirs at the gunshot.
going to join your wife? maroni starts. someone is in here with him. harvey dent- two face- leans forward, clutching a pistol.
you love her?
can you imagine what it would be like to listen to her die?
the joker's just a mad dog. i want whoever let him off the leash. maroni looks at dent. worried.
i took care of wuertz, but who was your other man inside gordon's unit? who picked up rachel? it must've been someone she trusted.
it can't hurt your chances.
i said it couldn't hurt your chances. dent flips it. looks: good side. he shrugs.
lucky guy. maroni looks confused. dent flips the coin again. looks down at the coin. shakes his head.
but he's not.
your driver. dent presses the barrel of the revolver behind the shadow of the driver. maroni lunges, screaming. dent fires.
she believe you? ramirez nods.
she trusts you. just like rachel did.
'what they were gonna do'? you're the second cop to say that to me. what, exactly, did you think they were going to do?
don't! dent flips his coin.
live to fight another day, officer. dent cracks her on the head with his gun.
hello, jim.
you're about to know what my suffering is really like.  gordon looks across at the prewitt penthouse.
where my family died. click. gordon looks at the swat leader. pale.
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.
but you didn't, did you?
yes, you could.
if you'd listened to me- if you'd stood up against corruption instead of doing your deal with the devil.
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-
no, just the person you need most. so is it your wife?
we have a winner. dent pulls the boy away from his mother.
you brought your cops?
you think i want to escape?! there's no escape from this- dent indicates his face. his suffering.
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.
it's not about what i want. it's about what's fair. 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 break.  you were wrong. the world is cruel. and the only morality in a cruel world is chance. unbiased. unprejudiced. fair.
his boy's got the same chance she had. fifty-fifty. batman steps closer, desperate, trying to reach dent.
then why was it only me who lost everything? batman looks into dent's eyes. emotional.
the joker chose me!
and he was right.
fair enough. dent eases his grip on the boy.
you first. he points the gun at batman. flips the coin. tails. he shoots. batman collapses to the ground, clutching his gut.
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.
your turn, gordon.
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.