Alfred Pennyworth peered in the rear-view mirror as he guided the Bentley Mulsanne through the increasing traffic of a late Thursday afternoon in Gotham City. He could see Blake emptily staring out the window.
Pennyworth wasn't Blake's butler, but old habits die hard. He had spent three decades living at Wayne Manor and serving the Wayne family. He had to admit that Bruce Wayne had chosen well. It had taken just a few minutes for Pennyworth to won over by Blake's passion and intelligence, and it was only natural for Pennyworth to assist Blake in his mission as the Batman.
Pennyworth had allowed Blake to move into the guest house on the Wayne Manor property, and had arranged for the construction of an elaborate underground connection to the foundations under the southeast corner of the main house. Pennyworth continued to live in the main house, and oversaw its use by the Wayne Foundation and its rental for use in weddings and charitable events.
"Something the matter, sir?" Pennyworth asked, arching his eyebrows as he looked in the rear-view.
No reaction.
"John," he said. Forcefully this time.
Blake snapped to attention.
"Sorry, Alfred."
"Is everything alright?"
"Just thinking about last night. What a mess."
"Not really, sir. Miss Simmons is safely in the psychiatric ward at Arkham. Gotham City police were able to round up Crane's henchmen, which means his kidnapping ring is out of business."
"But Crane himself got away. Again," Blake said, turning again to peer out the window. "And Croc is still out there. His organization is getting stronger and stronger."
Blake paused for a moment, and looked around. Pennyworth had guided the Bentley on the southbound highway towards the docks instead of out of town towards the airport.
"Where are we going, Alfred? I thought we were going to pick up the United Nations delegate?"
"We are," Pennyworth replied with a sly smile on his face. "Ms. Prince is from Themyscira. They take, shall we say, a slightly different approach to the world. She's arriving via boat, so we're headed to Gotham Harbor."
"By boat? This ought to be something."
A few minutes later, the Bentley pulled up at Dock 17 at Gotham Harbor. A gleaming white sailing yacht was being moored to the dock. Blake quickly noted that the ship's crew appeared to be all female.
Together, Blake and Pennyworth walked down the dock.
"Well, that sure is something, Alfred. Must be nearly 200 feet long."
"Yes, she is magnificent."
Two crewmembers began lowering a staircase from the boat's deck to the dock below. A regal woman in a pristine white pant suit emerged. Her straight black hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail that reached the center of her back. She paused for a moment to give one of the crewmembers an instruction at the top of the stairs, then began her decent.
"You aren't kidding," Blake said, with a sly grin.
Pennyworth stepped forward to meet the woman as she reached the bottom, taking her hand as she gracefully transitioned to the dock. Blake moved up slowly behind them.
"Mr. Pennyworth," she said with a broad smile. "So nice to see you again. Thanks for meeting me here."
"My pleasure," Pennyworth replied, turning to face Blake. "Allow me to introduce you to the CEO of Wayne Foundation, John Blake. John, this is Diana Prince, from the United Nations Special Executive Programme on Urban Poverty."
Blake reached out his hand and gave her a polite handshake.
"Ms. Prince, it's a pleasure to have you here," he said. "We're glad to see that our efforts to revitalize Gotham's most challenged neighborhoods are being noticed. We're proud of the Wayne Gardens project and think it's a whole new way of addressing these problems."
The three of them began working their way back up the dock towards the Bentley.
"Please call me Diana, Mr. Blake," she said, looking him square in the eye.
"You can call me John," Blake said as he opened the door to the Bentley. "I'm just an orphan boy made good."
He waited a beat.
"But as for him," Blake said, tipping his head towards Alfred, "he's still Mr. Pennyworth."