I worked for half an hour before I'd finished specialising the gear in the base and had become bored. So I began working on the dark, damp, base itself and had installed more secure lights when I heard the lift creak. Down came Bruce holding a woollen mask and dressed in the suit with the climbing gear over the top.

'Whoa-,' he said, noticing the increased blackness of the gear on the table.

'You're welcome,' I said, stepping back from where I was nailing a steel shelf into the stone, 'Now we can make that climbing gear black.'

He agreed and went to a corner to change. I fixed the other end of the shelf.

'Did you crash into a building or something?' I said when he returned, wearing casual pants and a dark blue short-sleeved shirt. I noticed a small bruise on his arm and nodded at it.

'I did actually.' He started putting the gear away.

'Don't bother putting it back in the case.'

'Alright. I'll dump it on the table, shall I?'

'As good a place as any.'

He was surprised by my remark, but unceremoniously dropped the bundle of straps and metal onto the closest free bench to me.

'Tha…ank you.' I finished screwing in the shelf and focused my attention to the table. I sifted through but stopped when Bruce kept standing nearby, in case he had to do something. 'Where's the suit?'

'In the cupboard.' He turned to look at the wooden cupboard just inside from the lift.

'That's all good, then. If there's anything you need to do you can leave me to it.'

He took in a deep breath and surveyed the cave, eyebrows raised slightly. 'Nothing, really.'

'Shouldn't you be out inventing a cover story?'

He yawned. 'It's the first night. I'd rather stay home.'

I tilted my head. 'Fair enough.'

Silence fell as I began work, fiddling with the links in the metal.

Bruce kept standing off to the side, watching closely as I worked and occasionally held something up to the light. My mind remained focused on the work in front of me, though I was aware of what Bruce was doing; intently studying what I was doing so he'd be familiar with it himself. He also studied my hands and focused expression.

When I'd finished with the gear, now smoother working and black, I let out a sigh. In that time, Bruce had changed position to lean on the bricks.

'You hungry?'

'I never notice if I am when I'm working, what time is it?'

'Eight o'clock.'

'Oh. Guess I am, then.'

He smiled, almost laughing. 'I'll get Alfred to make you something.'

'Don't worry; I'll eat at home.'

He activated selective deafness and walked to the lift. 'Anything you don't like?' he called.

'I'm a fussy eater!' I called back, before sighing as he went up to the house. I returned my attention to the work, moving onto the suit.

Half an hour later I'd finished and picked up my bag. I went up to the house and began walking down the corridor when Alfred came round a corner the other way.

'Ah! Dr Pendragon. This way.'

I did consider refusing, but eating there would save me time. So I followed Alfred, resigned to undoubtedly something delicious; the man gave off the impression he was an incredible cook.

He led me into a small dining room which was at a corner of the left wing with two windowed walls, clearly not the main one, with a table with six chairs. The room was decorated like the rest of the house and brightly lit, a window showing the black space and white stars. I instantly recognised a constellation. He sat me in the middle seat facing the larger window and, being the butler he was, pushed in my chair. I thanked him and he returned with a glass of wine. I eyed it suspiciously.

'Are you a bit of a light-weight, Dr Pendragon?' asked Alfred.

'No, I'm just not very fond of wine.'

'I think you'll find you've been drinking the wrong kind,' said the butler with a wink, assuring I'd enjoy the one he placed in front of me.

'Alright then,' I smiled, throwing my hands out a little to show my open mind in an "I'll-trust-you" gesture.

Alfred nodded and walked out of the room. I tapped my fingers on the table, running through calculations.

'Are you always thinking?' came Bruce's voice from the doorway.

'Only when Lucius has a new project he wants me to look at.'

He walked in, heading for the chair opposite me. I didn't fail to notice he'd helpfully blocked out a few stars. I made a small tut and ignored it. 'And how often's that?'

'About once a week.'

Bruce chuckled and sat in the chair, pouring himself a glass of wine, glancing around the room.

I smirked. 'How much of your house have you actually used since you've been back?'

'Almost every room but this,' he replied.

I sent my eyes to the corner of the room in an eye-roll like movement.

Alfred entered with a casserole and my eyes widened from the smell. My assumptions had been correct. He served us each some and bid us a pleasant dinner, leaving to clean his kitchen. I smiled slightly at the behaviour of the butler, who looked like he didn't normally act this formal. Bruce's smile at him approved this theory.

'So what went wrong with your meeting?' I asked, sipping the wine. I took another sip and could feel Alfred's smug face; I liked it.

'Barely made the jump over a rooftop, missed the roof, caught some railings.'

'Which explains the bruise on that arm,' I said, putting the glass down. 'That suit isn't supposed to protect you from a… oooohhh… three metre jump and four metre fall kind of an impact.'

'How can you tell how long the jump was?'

'Because that's one hell of a bruise.'

'Well, hopefully I can get something to help with it.'

I paused in lifting my fork and chuckled. 'I think we have something for you. Come down tomorrow.'

'Well I'm grateful. As long as it isn't a stapler.'

I cocked an eyebrow. 'Funny.'

Bruce looked down for a moment, rearranging his casserole. 'There must be more to talk about than simply Gotham's state. How about what you do in your spare time?'

'I study the stars,' I said, glancing over his head at the outside. Bruce looked out of the other one to his right. 'I play video games, I watch TV and I work overtime.'

'Overtime?'

'When your job is your hobby, you end up doing overtime.'

'Sounds delightful. Wayne Enterprises is fortunate to have you working for it.'

'Thank you,' I replied, sipping the wine again.

At about coffee break time the next morning Bruce came back down to applied sciences. Lucius and I were still at work and paused, he from his computer and I from my shock absorbing boots when he walked in.

'Well, what is it today?' asked Lucius, taking off his glasses, 'More spelunking?'

'No. Today it's BASE-jumping.' Bruce met my eyes.

'BASE-jumping. That like parachuting?'

'Kinda.' He took a hand out of his pocket. 'Do you have any lightweight fabrics?'

'You know, I think we have just the thing.'

'I'll get it,' I said, having already got it out that morning when I arrived.

'It's called memory cloth,' Lucius led Bruce over and ran his fingers over it. 'Notice anything?'

I put on the glove as Bruce shrugged, fiddling with an edge of the fabric.

'Regularly flexible... but put a current through it...,'

I activated the electricity and the black fabric sprung into a stiff shape.

'...molecules realign, it becomes rigid.'

'What kind of shapes can you make?' asked Bruce.

'Can be tailored to fit any structure based on a rigid skeleton.'

'Too expensive for the army?'

'I don't think they tried to market it to the billionaire, BASE-jumping crowd.'

I chuckled and Bruce glanced at me. I let the fabric fall.

'Look, Mr. Fox,' Bruce began.

'Yes, sir?'

'If you're uncomfortable-,'

'Mr. Wayne, if you don't want to tell me exactly what you're doing... when I'm asked, I don't have to lie. But don't think of me as an idiot.'

I smirked.

'Fair enough.' Bruce glanced over at two huge wheels under a sheet. 'What's that?' he frowned at it, clearly having been eyeing it for some time.

Lucius and I turned our heads. 'The Tumbler?'

'Oh, you wouldn't be interested in that.'

I walked over and pulled the sheet off. Bruce's eyes widened like a kid faced with a new gaming console. 'I'll let Lucius tell you about it,' I said and opened the front for the two to get in.

'She was built as a bridging vehicle.'

'One of the brighter plans of last year,' I said over comms, watching as Bruce drove round the open drive area.

'During combat, two of these would jump over a river, towing cables. Over here on the throttle, flip that open and throttle up. This will boost you into a rampless jump... Not now!'

I looked up and laughed when I heard Lucius yelling. The afterburner had lit up from the exhaust.

'Not... Not now, sir.'

Bruce switched it off, and smiled at hearing me laugh my head off.

'We never could get the damn bridge to work, but this baby works just fine.'

Bruce slid it to the right and it skidded to a halt.

'So, what do you think?'

He sounded far too happy and I sent the car a wary glance. 'Does it come in black?'

When he got out he walked over to me.

'I imagine you want me to adjust that to be more you-like?' I asked.

'If you could.'

I sighed. 'Alright, but you'll have to wait until I finish these shock absorbers.'

'Mm, yeah, can I have those?'

I blinked at him, peeved. 'You can have the second pair.'