A knock on the door forced Eliana off the couch. She found herself secretly hoping it was Bruce, but it ended up being Jess.

"Holy freaking crap, El! What happened to you?" she said as she quickly stepped inside.

"To be honest, I still don't really know. I mean, I was kidnapped by five men, but the thing is they were all working for someone else. But no one would tell me who it was or why he wanted me. It's so frustrating."

"Forget that! Are you okay? Those sickos tortured you!"

"I'm fine, Jess. I'm just recovering."

Jess held up both of Eliana's hands, revealing the two splints covering her four broken fingers. "This is 'fine'?"

"It could've been worse. A lot worse."

"I suppose. If it was me, I'd be handling all of this a lot worse than you are."

"It's still kind of freaky to know they haven't been caught yet. But…on the bright side, Bruce and I are talking again. After all, getting tortured can kind of make you start reevaluating things."

"Well, at least one good thing is happening throughout this nightmare."

"He's been by almost every day to get me what I need. He usually only stays for a few minutes, but it's a start."

"I'll take it. I couldn't stand to see you guys so icy towards each other. It dropped twenty degrees when you guys just looked at one another."

"Very funny, Jess."

"I know."

Eliana checked her mailbox and found a letter from Bruce. Her brow furrowed. What was he sending her that he couldn't just tell her in person?

When she opened the letter, she found a typed up invitation to his birthday party. There was a note on the back that read, "I really hope you can make it, El. It'll be just like old times."

She scoffed a little bit. She hadn't been to one of his birthday parties since he was 22. It was quite safe to say that this party would not be like when they were in college. Especially since Rachel wasn't around to celebrate this time.

"Okay, now that your obligatory fancy party is over, let's have some actual fun," Rachel smiled.

"I'll get the real cake!" Eliana said.

"And I'll get the movie started!"

Eliana went to the kitchen and grabbed the chocolate ice cream cake out of the freezer and some plates and forks. Then she went to the screening room where Rachel had started up Jurassic Park. They had made it a tradition that each year on Bruce's party, he had his usual big party where the people of Gotham were invited, and then the three friends would kick back in the screening room and watch a movie. Previous selections included Back to the Future, The Karate Kid (one they had watched on more than one occasion), and Terminator.

"Okay, Bruce," Eliana smiled as she lit the 22nd candle on the cake. "Now you can have the party you really want. Make a wish. A real one."

Bruce smiled and looked at 'Happy Birthday, Bruce' written on the cake in perfect cursive icing. "Right now, I have everything I need."

The two girls smiled at him. Bruce took a deep breath and blew out the candles on his cake as the girls clapped and cheered.

"Alright, let's get the movie started!" Rachel said.

Eliana cut up three slices of the cake and handed it to them as the movie opened with some of the workers getting eaten by a Velociraptor. All of three of them made stupid yet hilarious commentary all throughout the movie as they laughed until their stomachs hurt.

It was perfect.

Eliana remembered reading in the news that at his big 30th birthday party, he had called everyone 'two-faced phonies' and 'sycophantic suck-ups' and then burned down his mansion in a drunken fit. Everyone must've gotten over the whole incident because every party he had held after that had hundreds of people in attendance. Must've been one of those rich people things.

The party wasn't for a couple weeks. She would be fully healed by then. She wasn't too keen on the idea of attending a party where she probably wouldn't know anyone, and most people would be judging her because of her background and the fact that she didn't have as much money as they did.

But if she wanted to fix her friendship with Bruce, this was a good way to do that. She went to her calendar and wrote the party down on the specified date.

She would need to go shopping soon. There was definitely not anything in her closet good enough for a Bruce Wayne party.

As soon as she went to the doctor and got her splints taken off, she went out and bought a spaghetti-strap royal blue dress that reached to her knees while the back sank down a bit further. It wasn't flashy, but it would be enough to pass off as one of the elite for a few hours.

The next day, Eliana was finally able to return to work.

"I don't believe my eyes!" Tony said as she stepped inside the garage.

"Hey, Tony," she smiled. "It's good to be back."

"It's good to have you back. Do you know how long we've had Bruce Wayne's car? Way too long. It's a miracle the man hasn't shut this place down."

"Why didn't anyone fix it?"

"Boss closed the place until we knew you were safe. None of us were doing our jobs right because we were so concerned about you."

"Wow, really? Well, as nice as that is, I've been back for weeks. Someone could've fixed it then."

"Well, to be honest, we can't figure out what you were doing to fix it because we don't know the exact problem."

"This place would fall apart in a matter of days without me here. You all realize that, right?"

"All too well. That's why you aren't ever allowed to leave again."

"I don't plan on it. But hey, it's not every day some freak out there has it in for you."

"Yeah, anyone ever catch those guys?"

"They're not who you should worry about. You should worry about the guy who was planning the whole thing. I just wish I knew who he was. And why he was so interested in me."

"I don't know, girl. All I know is that I'm really glad you're back safe and healthy."

"Thanks, Tony. Now, let me get this car finished so we can get it out of the garage. It would be unwise to keep someone as rich and powerful as Bruce Wayne waiting any longer."

Eliana was just finishing up fixing the first, and most likely the last, Lamborghini they ever got in the garage when she heard those all-too-familiar footsteps. She smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Welcome back," she said sarcastically.

"I figured this thing has been in here long enough."

"Why didn't you ask for it sooner? Everyone's freaking out that you're going to shut us down because it took so long to get the car fixed."

"I think under the circumstances, I can forgive them. Come on, I'm not completely heartless."

"Well, let me just go grab some paperwork, and you'll be all ready to finally get this out of our garage."

Eliana left the garage and went inside the office. After grabbing the necessary papers, she returned to find Bruce staring at a framed picture she kept at her workspace. It was a picture of her, Bruce, and Rachel back when they were in high school before they all separated and went to college.

"I keep that around to remember the good times," Eliana said, coming up behind him. "Before…everything went wrong. I like thinking about the times when you, me, and Rachel would all spend time together every day doing homework. Or should I say procrastinating on homework."

Bruce smiled a little. To be honest, he missed those times too. Life had been so much simpler back then. Before he lived a double life and found himself lying to everyone.

"To be honest, I've…really missed you, Bruce."

Bruce set the picture back down and turned to face her. "I've missed you too. More than you can imagine."

Eliana found her breath catching in her throat and all of a sudden, she couldn't seem to get enough oxygen into her lungs. For the first time in a while, she was really able to see just how attractive Bruce had become over the last few years. She had seen him several times since his return, but she had always been blinded by her anger against him. Now that she was finally pushing that anger aside, it was like she was seeing him with brand new eyes.

Had this moment continued for just a few seconds longer, the two of them surely would've kissed. Unfortunately, Tony chose that time to come into the garage to grab something for a client.

Eliana nervously cleared her throat, the moment between them shattered. "Uh, sign here and then you'll be good to go."

Bruce signed the paper before grabbing his keys. "Hey, El, will you be able to make it to my party?"

"I'll be there."

Bruce took off in his Lamborghini and Eliana blew a puff of air out through her cheeks. What on earth had just happened?