The next day, it was finally time for me to return to Wayne Enterprises and see Mr. Fox. I was really nervous about seeing him again. I had no idea how he was going to react when he saw me.

Bruce was going to get some new materials and the magic knee brace so he could finally get rid of that cane. Thank goodness. It needed to go.

Seeing as Bruce owned the company, he saw no need to wait and just waltzed right in to Mr. Fox's office.

"You're certainly still confident," I laughed as we sat down.

"Bruce Wayne," Mr. Fox said as he came into the room. "And Kristina Jacobson. As I live and breathe."

Well, nice to see he wasn't freaking out about my return.

"What brings my personal assistant back into my office?"

"Hold it. Did you just call me your personal assistant?" I asked in shock.

"Well, you never officially resigned, you weren't fired, so as far as I'm concerned, you're still an employee at Wayne Enterprises."

"You're serious?"

"Of course I am. It's really good to see you again."

So, Lucius Fox still considered me his PA. I was perfectly okay with that. So far, a lot of things were going my way. I wondered when it was all going to end.

"What brings you out of cryo-sleep, Mr. Wayne?"

"You haven't lost your sense of humor. Even if you have lost most of my money," Bruce said.

"Actually, you did that," Mr. Fox replied. Ouch. "If you funnel your entire R and D budget into a fusion project that you then mothball, your company is unlikely to thrive."

"What are my options?"

"Well, if you're not willing to turn on the machine…"

"I can't. I can't, Lucius."

"Well, then sit tight. Your majority keeps Daggett at bay while we figure out a future for the energy program with Miranda Tate. She has supported your project all the way. She's smart, and quite lovely."

And the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul. Call me crazy, but they would never work out. I grimaced at the thought of the two of them kissing in the movie. Even when I first watched it and didn't even know her real identity, I never approved of them together.

Bruce gave him his best "are-you-for-real" look…and so did I.

"We all just want what's best for you, Bruce." I loudly cleared my throat and looked at him. He smiled and continued, "Show her the machine."

"I'll think it over."

"Anything else?"

"Nope," Bruce said, standing up. "Why?"

"These conversations used to end with an unusual request."

"I retired."

"Mm-hm. Well, let me show you some stuff anyway. Just for old times' sake."

Mr. Fox opened his secret elevator and escorted us down to the hidden room with all the equipment. It still amazed me, though it had become quite cluttered since the last time I had been down here.

"I figured you'd have shut this place down," Bruce said.

"Oh, it was always shut down, officially," Mr. Fox replied.

"All this new stuff…"

"After your father died, Wayne Enterprises set up fourteen different defense subsidiaries. For years, I've been shuttering and consolidating all the different prototypes under one roof. My roof."

"Why?"

"Keep them from falling into the wrong hands."

Mr. Fox led us over to what looked like a garage door and opened it up to reveal a new mode of transportation, since the Tumbler blew up and all in the last movie.

"Oh, now you're just showing off," Bruce commented. I smiled at that. How I had missed those little quips.

"Defense Department projects for tight geometry urban pacification. Rotors are configured to maneuver between buildings without recirculation."

"What's it called?"

"Oh, it has a long, uninteresting Wayne Enterprises designation. I just took to calling it 'The Bat'. And yes, Mr. Wayne, it does come in black. Works fine, except for the autopilot. Takes a better mind than mine to fix it."

"Better mind?"

"Well, I was trying to be modest. A less busy mind. Yours. Or maybe Kris's."

I scoffed. "You're hilarious. I may have some sick computer skills, but this is way out of my depth."

"I think you wouldn't have a problem if you sat down to think about it," Mr. Fox said. "I'll see you tomorrow, yes?"

"Bright and early," I smiled.

The three of us began walking back to the elevator before Mr. Fox stopped us.

"Mr. Wayne, may I suggest something for that leg of yours?" he asked politely.

Oh, finally!

Bruce was hesitant to use his newfound knee technology for a few days so he just let it sit there. I resumed my work as Mr. Fox's assistant, and it was so nice to be at such a great job again. So much better than my job at home for multiple reasons.

Finally, Bruce caved, and slapped on the brace. Now, while I did want Bruce to get rid of that cane, watching him wear the knee brace really made my stomach squirm. The three of us went down to the new and improved Batcave (I somehow managed to keep my head on), and Bruce put the brace on his good knee so it could configure to that and learn the proper muscle patterns. Then he took the brace off and put it on his bad knee. Now here was the terrible part. He started groaning in pain as it adjusted his bad knee to the better proportions.

"It is really painful?" Alfred asked him.

"You're very welcome to try it, Alfred," Bruce answered. I loved that line.

"Happy watching. Thank you, sir."

The brace continued its job, unaware of how painful it was to the owner. "You need a distraction," I told him. I went up to where he was sitting and firmly pressed my lips to his. I had so missed this sweet sensation. I didn't release him until I heard the brace click, signaling that it had finished hurting him.

I noticed Alfred smiling at us. It was so cute how much he shipped us.

"Not bad," Bruce said as he stood up and could finally walk straight. He turned and kicked a brick wall, dislodging one of the bricks. "Not bad at all."

"If you're seriously considering going back out there, you should hear the rumors surrounding Bane."

"I'm all ears."

"There is a prison in a more ancient part of the world. A pit where men are thrown to suffer and die. But sometimes, a man rises from the darkness. Sometimes, the pit sends something back."

"Bane."

"Bane. Born and raised in hell on earth."

"Born in a prison?"

"No one knows why, or how he escaped. But they do know that once he did, he was trained by Ra's al Ghul, your mentor."

"Bane was a member of the League of Shadows?"

"And then he was excommunicated. And any man who is too extreme for Ra's al Ghul is not to be trifled with."

"I didn't realize I was known for trifling with criminals."

"That was then. And you can strap up your leg and put your mask back on, but that doesn't make you what you were."

"If this man is everything that you say he is, then the city needs me."

"This city needs Bruce Wayne. Your resources. Your knowledge. It doesn't need your body, or your life. That time's past."

"You're afraid that if I go back out there, I'll fail."

"No. I'm afraid that you want to."

I guess I hadn't taken into account how awkward it would be for me to stand there listening to these conversations.

Alfred left, and the two of us were alone in the cave. I needed to fangirl so hard about being in here, but I knew that doing so would have to wait. I took a deep breath and stood next to Bruce. "I, for one, think this city needs Batman," I said softly. "I can understand why Alfred doesn't want you to do this anymore. He's like your father and he's worried about you, especially after everything the doctor told you. But this city needs its hope again and they haven't seen a strong ray of light for eight years. Especially now that they have someone else to fear. Definitely not as bad as the Joker, but they do fear him. And I know that you led a lot of people to believe you killed Harvey, but I'm not one of those people and I don't believe it. Not for a second. And I'm not the only one. I can promise you that."

He looked at me and smiled. "You always did give me uplifting little speeches."

I let out a small laugh. "Who else is going to boost your morale?" I smiled at him cheekily. "So, shall we see if you've gotten a bit rusty?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I want to know if you've still got it."

And that's how I found myself in the garden behind the Manor. I had changed into a black tank top and spandex shorts with my hair in a high ponytail and brought a towel and water bottle. Bruce had set up a mat outside for us. My bare feet squished on it as I positioned myself.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Don't hold back."

And our fight began. Bruce was a bit surprised at first at my newfound skill at fighting, but he quickly got over it. Kicks and punches were delivered from both ends. I actually surprised myself when I managed to land in a few successful hits to his chest. He may have been stronger, but I was smaller and I used that to my advantage. After a good bit of time, I was able to get him down on the ground. Unfortunately, while I was distracted by my supposed victory, he wrapped his legs around my feet and I came crashing to the ground where he pinned my wrists to the mat. I looked up at him, both of us breathing heavily.

"Always mind your surroundings," he said. I chuckled lightly. Wonder where he had gotten that from…

I looked into his eyes and kissed him softly. Then I took him by surprise and flipped him over so that I was on top of him. "I win," I laughed.

"You cheated," he smiled. "But I'll admit, you've certainly come a long way since the last time I saw you."

"And you've still got game even though you haven't been in a real fight in years."

We both stood up and I took a drink from my water bottle and wiped the sweat off my face with my towel.

For the next hour or so, Bruce taught me different fighting techniques that would help me improve in a real fight. Heaven knows I was going to need all this when Bane's men took over…and Bruce wasn't here to help me.

Eventually, we headed back in to take a look at what was going on down in the Batcave.

"Thanks for your help," I said as we walked down.

"You didn't need very much of it. I'm impressed."

"Well, I must be good if such a talented fighter like yourself says I'm good!"

Our conversation was interrupted by a newscast coming across his computers. It showed Bane and his henchman escaping from the Stock Exchange.

"Go," I said, giving him a little push. "Now."

"You'll be needing this." He pulled out my old headset I had used during The Dark Knight.

"You kept it."

"I couldn't forget all that you did for me."

I smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Then he quickly suited up and took off on the Batpod. I put on my headset, sat down at the computers, and began right where I left off.

I pulled up different newscasts and video feeds and I couldn't help but smile as I watched the return of Batman. He drove along a bunch of roads and it wasn't long before nearly every cop car was after Batman. That infuriated me. They should've been going after those who had actually committed a crime. But no. They had to go after the one who was completely innocent.

I heard a few punches and crashes over the headset, but my vision on the computers had gotten to the point where I couldn't see him. I did hear a bunch of sirens and I knew he was cornered. Well, not really.

I heard an explosion and his engines firing up, and he took off past all the cop cars. They "cornered" him again in an alley. But I knew that he showing the world The Bat.

The engines fired up and it took all I had to not massively fangirl into Bruce's ear.

As he drove off, an alert came across on the computers.

"Remember how you tagged Selina Kyle?" I asked through the headset. "Well, she's in some deep trouble right about now. Get to Dagget's place as quick as you can. She's going to get herself killed."

"I'm on it."

There was the quiet sound of The Bat flying around before I heard, "Stay back! I'm not bluffing!"

"They know," Batman's rough voice said. "They just don't care."

A lot of punches came across my headset. And I mean a lot of punches.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Catwoman said.

"No guns. No killing."

"Where's the fun in that?"

More punches and gunfire rang out across the roof they were on. Then I heard the sound of The Bat firing up.

"My mother warned me about getting into cars with strange men," Catwoman said.

"This isn't a car."

Okay, that was it. I had been able to hold in my fangirling for hours, but that was my favorite line in this whole film. So yes, I fangirled and I fangirled hard, and I'm not ashamed.

There was silence in The Bat until they landed.

"See you around," Catwoman purred (pun intended).

"You're welcome."

"I had it under control."

"Those weren't street thugs. They were trained killers. I saved your life. In return, I need to know what you did with Bruce Wayne's fingerprints."

"Wayne wasn't kidding about a 'powerful friend'. I sold his prints to Daggett. For something that doesn't even exist."

"I doubt many people get the better of you."

"Hey, when a girl's desperate…"

"What's he going to do with them?"

"I don't know. But Daggett seemed pretty interested about that mess at the stock market."

There was the sound of a chopper passing by overhead before Bruce asked, "Miss Kyle?" I smiled as he realized he was alone on the roof. "So that's what that feels like."

Another one of my favorites.

I had actually made a fandub of that scene with my friend back at home, obviously before all this happened. I took Batman and Catwoman's voices out and put our voices in. My friend did a mean Batman voice too. Everyone who watched it loved it. Who knew that I was going to end up living it?

Alfred came down and looked at the screens televising the newscasts about Batman's return with obvious dismay. I loved Alfred to death, and I knew why he wanted Bruce to give up Batman, but he had helped so many people and the city needed a hero. This was just one of those things I didn't side with him on.