And here we go with The Dark Knight!

It's been nearly a year since I got sent to the world of Batman Begins. I knew I was going back eventually, but the wait was killing me. How long was I going to have to wait until I saw all my friends, and more importantly Bruce Wayne, again?

To be honest, I was still confused with what I left Bruce with as far as our friendship went. Every day, I saw that face in my mind that he had when he had kissed Rachel. I couldn't understand why he had looked so confused. Or why he had comforted me when I cried over my father. Or when he told me I was in his nightmare. Or when he had dropped his Batman voice with me…

I was trying not to look too much into it, afraid the fangirl inside of me was making me see things that weren't there and looking too deep into other things, but I was failing.

I had watched The Dark Knight several more times (probably unnecessary times, but who cares?) in order to prepare myself for when I went back…whenever that would be. On my day off from work, I decided to fill myself in again. I was probably taking this a bit too far, but I needed to know every detail for when I found myself back in Gotham. I popped open the DVD case, and saw that there was something wrong. The DVD itself was…well, glowing for lack of a better word. That was the last thing I saw before everything went black.

Just like before, my eyes shot open and I stumbled forward as I found myself in a familiar penthouse. I looked around me and a wide smile formed on my face that would put the Joker's to shame. I was finally back.

"Miss Jacobson?" I heard. I spun around and saw Alfred standing there with a tray of food ready for Bruce.

"Alfred?" I said happily.

"You've been gone for almost a year."

"I know. It's good to be back. Where's Bruce?"

"He's been spending a lot of time at his new 'lair'. I'd be happy to escort you there. I'm sure Master Wayne will be quite thrilled to see you. He's acted quite differently since the day you disappeared."

Looks like Alfred still shipped the both of us. But what did he mean Bruce was acting differently? What kind of differently?

We hopped into the car and he drove us down to the rail yards where a bunch of shipping containers sat. He took a key and unlocked one of the containers and down we went below the ground to where Bruce had put all his Batman equipment until the Manor got rebuilt.

"Be nice when Wayne Manor's rebuilt. You can swap not sleeping in a penthouse for not sleeping in a mansion," Alfred said as we walked in.

Bruce's back was to us as he attempted to stitch up a cut he had gotten from a dog the night before. That stupid fangirl inside of me popped up. I was mentally freaking out at seeing him again for the first time in months. At least it wasn't as bad as when I first met him…

"Whenever you stitch yourself up, you do make a bloody mess," Alfred remarked as he saw Bruce's attempt at healing his wound.

I went over to him and took the needle. "So why don't I do it instead?"

The look on Bruce's face when he realized just who was with Alfred was priceless. "Kristina?" he exclaimed.

"Oh, come on, has it really been so long that you forgot to call me Kris?"

"Where have you been?"

"It's…really complicated," I laughed. "Believe me." I could only imagine how both men would take it if I attempted to explain just where I had been forced to spend my time since my untimely departure.

I took the needle from him and began to finish his poorly made stitches while Alfred cleaned up the mess he had made on the desk in front of him. Luckily for me, I didn't get queasy at the sight of major injuries like his. "What on earth happened to you?"

"Did you get mauled by a tiger?" Alfred asked.

"It was a dog," Bruce answered.

"Huh?" Alfred and I asked at the same time.

"It was a big dog," he said exasperated. I smiled. I had really missed that good old Bruce humor. "My armor. I'm carrying too much weight. I need to be faster."

"I'm sure Mr. Fox can oblige," Alfred said.

"Oh, how has he been doing in my absence?" I asked.

"He's tried to find a new personal assistant, but none of them have worked out. I think you set the bar too high," Bruce told me.

I laughed lightly. If I was lucky, I could get my old job back. I looked over at Bruce and noticed he looked pretty deep in thought. "What's on your mind?"

"There were more copycats last night. With guns."

"Why don't you hire them and take the weekend off?" Alfred suggested.

Bruce laughed. "That wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted to inspire people."

"I know. But things have improved. Look at the new District Attorney."

I finished Bruce's stitches and placed the needle on the tray. Bruce typed some things in on his computer and pulled up some video feed from newscasts or security cameras. I knew he wasn't a Peeping Tom, but it still weirded me out that he could watch someone almost every second of every day.

"I am. Closely. Need to know if he can be trusted."

"Are you interested in his character or his social circle?" Alfred asked.

We looked at one of the cameras that showed Rachel walking into court with none other than Harvey Dent. I felt a small pang of jealousy. In my absence, I had to wonder what had happened with Bruce and Rachel and if I had to start from Square One when it came to…whatever relationship we had at the moment.

"Who Rachel spends her time with is her business," Bruce insisted. I scoffed at that remark but said nothing.

"I trust you don't have me followed on my day off," Alfred said.

"If you ever took one, I might."

Bruce took off his shirt right in front of me to change into some dressier clothes (too bad because he looked pretty hot in that black t-shirt), and I felt my face grow warm. Well, nice to know that wasn't going to change. I grimaced at the sight of a ton of cuts and bruises gracing his white skin.

"Know your limits, Master Wayne."

"Batman has no limits."

"But Bruce Wayne does," I told him.

"Well, can't afford to know them."

"And what's going to happen on the day that you find out?" Alfred asked.

"We all know how much you like to say 'I told you so'."

"On that day, Master Wayne, even I won't want to. Probably."

I smiled. It was really good to be back.

Bruce gladly welcomed me back to the penthouse since I obviously had nowhere else to stay. To be honest, I think he missed having that company. After all, when he returned to Gotham, I had been in the Manor for the whole beginning of his adventure, and he had probably grown used to another presence in addition to Alfred in the house.

I went with Bruce to Wayne Enterprises because he had a meeting to go to and I wanted to see Mr. Fox and see if I could get my job back. I really didn't want to work anywhere else or under anyone else. I mean, it's Lucius Fox I had been working for.

I waited outside the boardroom while the meeting took place for what seemed like forever. Finally, board members came out of the room and I was free to go in. Mr. Fox was busy talking with Mr. Reese (a man I couldn't stand for the entire film), so he didn't see me.

"How'd it go?" I asked as I saw Bruce looking out the window.

"I'm not sure…I may have dozed off during it…"

I tried not to laugh, but I'd seen the movie a million times and I always laughed as those in the meeting realized that Bruce had his feet propped up on the chair, sleeping. "If they knew what you spend your nights doing, I'm sure they'd understand."

"Kristina Jacobson," Mr. Fox said as he came back into the room. "You are a sight for sore eyes!"

"It's good to see you again, Mr. Fox!"

"I have hired a lot of assistants, but all of them have proven that they only applied to get close to Mr. Wayne and ended up flirting with him so much that they allowed their work to pile up way too high. Currently, the position is empty. If you're interested, I'd love to have you back."

"I'd love to! It was the best job I've ever had!"

"Well, then, welcome back to Wayne Enterprises."

I was thankful that he didn't ask where I had been for the last year. I didn't feel like attempting to convince another person that I couldn't explain what had happened to me.

"Another long night?" he asked Bruce. "This joint venture was your idea, and the consultants love it, but I'm not convinced. L.S.I.'s grown by eight percent annually, like clockwork. His revenue stream must be off the books. Maybe even illegal."

"Okay," Bruce said without hesitation. "Cancel the deal."

"You already knew."

"Just needed a closer look at their books."

"Anything else you can trouble me for?"

"I need a new suit."

"Yeah, three buttons is a little '90s, Mr. Wayne."

I put my hand over my mouth to stifle my giggles. Hearing all these great lines in person made them so much funnier.

"I'm not talking fashion, Mr. Fox, so much as function." Bruce handed him some diagrams of some ideas he had in mind.

"You want to be able to turn your head."

"Sure make backing out of the driveway easier."

"I'll see what I can do." He turned to me. "And I'll see you first thing tomorrow."

"I look forward to it!"