Chapter One: An Old Friend Returns.

"This concludes the Spring board meeting of Wayne Enterprise please exit out of the south door, the west wing is under construction due to water damage." As the board members leave, I am left wondering how the hell the board meetings could get even more boring than the last time.

"Mr. Wayne are you ok sir...?" Alice my secretary asks quizzically.

"Yes, just admiring how well the board presentation was" I reply with a small grin as I stand up to go back to my office. While we walk to my office Alice gives me the schedule for the rest of the day.

"At 2:00 you have a teleconference with S.T.A.R labs in Central City, then at 3:00 you have a meeting with Mr. Fox over some R&D concerns, after that you have a 5:30 dinner reservation at the Red Rose with a Miss Dale…". Finally, we made it to my office door, just as the phone starts to ring.

"I will tell you the rest later Mr. Wayne" Alice says as she quickly walks to her desk to answer the phone. I quickly close the door and head to the windows that overlook the street." I always feel calmer up here then on the ground." I think to myself. I didn't always feel that way, but in my line of work you get use to being high up.

"M…Mr. W…Wayne you have a call on line two" Alice says when she enters my office. "Who is It?" I ask as I turn around, but when I see that her face is as white as the walls in my office, I know that it can't be someone friendly.

"Alice… all you need to do is close the door and don't let anyone into my office until I come out is that understood." I say calmly as I reach for the phone.

"Y... yes sir" is her only reply as she hastily closes the door.

"This is Bruce Wayne." I say into the phone

"Good afternoon detective. I hope you are doing well." I widen my eyes as I hear Ra's Al Ghul on the other end of the telephone. It has been a couple of years since I have heard the voice of the demon known around the world as the Demon's head of the League of Shadows and one of my old mentors.

"What do you want?" I say bitterly as I sit down.

"We need to have a chat."