A/N: Last chapter with Bruce for a while. I warn you, there's a lot taken from the movie in this chapter. I tried to add Jenna in as much as possible, but I love Batman's reappearance so much, I didn't want to change it, so Jenna's mostly just announcer/commentator. But still, I hope you enjoy and please review!

The Dark Knight Returns

"AGH!" Bruce shouted in pain as the brace Fox had designed bent his unused knee.

"Is it really that painful?" Alfred questioned, as he and Jenna observed Bruce in the Batcave.

"You're very welcome to try it Alfred," Bruce suggested.

"Happy watching. Thank you sir," Alfred assured him.

"Not bad," Bruce said, taking a few steps. He kicked the wall, scattering fragments of brick everywhere. "Not bad at all." Jenna and Alfred looked at each other. They knew what this meant, and they didn't like it.

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

"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," Bruce confirmed. "Right. Born and raised in hell on earth."

"Born in 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." Jenna raised an eyebrow; for a guy who wanted to bring balance to the world, he certainly did a lot of evil.

"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."

"You could say that again," Jenna muttered, fiddling with her charm bracelet and think of her mother.

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

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

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

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

A few days later, Jenna was working at the DA's office when her phone rang. "Jennifer Dawes speaking."

"Jenna, I need your help," came Bruce's voice. Jenna held back a groan.

"With what?"

"There's a hostage situation at the stock exchange, I think Bane's involved and I need your help."

"Why me? Why can't you get Alfred to do it?"

"You're better with computers. Besides, you know you want to."

"Bruce, no–"

"Come on, for old times sake."

"Yeah, well, this isn't like old times. In old times, you could walk perfectly fine without a brace."

"Look, I know I've changed but so has the computer." Jenna stopped. "Think about all the new upgrades you and Fox have added, all waiting to be tried out."

"Tempting me with shiny new toys isn't going to work, Bruce," Jenna told him, but couldn't help but feel a slight pull at the thought of working at that computer.

"Come on, this may be your last chance to ever play hero." Jenna debated this internally before she sighed and began to pack up, her common sense defeated by her childhood wishes.

"I really, really hate you sometimes," Jenna told Bruce as she left the DA's office and headed for her car. She soon found herself getting out of her car and entering Wayne Manor, before heading down to the Batcave, where Bruce was suiting up, Alfred looking him over nervously.

"You came," Bruce commented, looking slightly surprised. Jenna gave him a look.

"Just this once," she stated and Bruce gave her a disbelieving look, which Jenna responded with a glare. Bruce then got on the Batpod and drove it over the gap, through the waterfall, and toward the city that needed him once again. Jenna looked at Alfred, who was staring at the ground, his face looking as though he had lost someone he loved. Jenna put a reassuring hand on his arm. "He'll be alright Alfred." Alfred nodded slightly, though he still looked like he was in pain. A blinking light on the computer caught Jenna's attention and she hurried over, putting on the headset that she spoke to Bruce through and observing the security camera footage. The hostages at the stock exchange were slowly making their way out of the building, their hands above their heads, with the police's guns trained on them. Suddenly, the hostages dove out of the way as a few motorcycles drove out of the building and past the cops. The cops didn't fire however, as they immediately saw the hostages the bikers had taken, and simply watched as the thugs drove over the barriers designed to block them. Jenna face palmed; Bane was clever, she'd give him that. The cops quickly turned around and began the chase.

"They're headed for 16th street. You can cut them off at the parking garage on 13th," Jenna told Bruce. She got no reply but as the goons entered the parking garage, the lights began to flicker. Jenna smiled. "Ladies, Gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, after nearly eight years of waiting in the shadows, reappearing tonight, I give you the Batman!" One of the goons stopped, giving his hostage the chance to run, and the Batman quickly took out the goon. He then pulled out an EMP rifle and shot it at another goon, intending to disable the motorbike, but missed and hit the lights instead. There was a slight ding and the Batman looked down to see the remains of a bullet sticking to the edge of the gun. He turned to see a rookie with his pistol out and trained on him.

The rookie lowered his gun and sheepishly said, "Sorry" before the Batman got back on the Batpod and headed after the other goons. As he went after them, one of the bikers turned around and headed straight for the Batman. However, he did not collide and drove right past, while the Batman and the police did nothing but watch.

"What are you doing? You have to get him!" Jenna exclaimed.

"I need to focus on the hostages and the information they took," he replied.

"You could've at least crashed him."

"There's no guarantee he would've survived." Jenna shook her head and sighed.

"Alright. I suppose you have a plan?" The Batman responded by taking a shortcut, before he lifted the hostage to safety and sent the Batpod out, causing the thug to crash. Jenna raised an eyebrow. "Ok, and how did you know he would survive that?" The Batman ignored her, and simply broke the man's helmet, before he reached into the man's pack and pulled out a device. The screen read that whatever Bane and his goons had set out to do, it had been done. A spotlight shinned down on Batman, who looked up to see himself surrounded by policemen, some of whom he had once fought beside. Jenna smiled bitterly. "Well, you've certainly gotten their attention." The Batman simply took the attachment off of the device and got back on the Batpod. He scanned the area before he turned the pod and shot the ramp of a car carrier. He then rode the Batpod up and over the ramp, onto the freeway above. He then drove off, the police in pursuit of him. "If you cut over to the alleyway between 5th and Broadway, Fox's new toy is waiting for you." He turned into the alleyway, and the police stopped, believing him to be cornered. A few cops got out of their cars, among them Foley and Officer Blake.

"Like a rat in a trap gentlemen!" Foley shouted. Jenna face palmed again; Foley must've forgotten what the Batman was capable of. Foley turned on his megaphone and Bruce turned on the lights and engines of the Bat.

"I think you may have the wrong animal sir!" shouted one cop as the Batman flew off, the police watching as he did. Jenna shook her head.

"Show off," she murmured.

"I heard that," came the Batman's voice.

"You were meant to. So, what do you need me to do now?"

"Check for any 911 calls or anyone who could use my help."

"You got it." Jenna combed the screens, searching, until a bit of movement caught her eye. She turned one of the screens and squinted at it. A feminine figure clad in a black body suit with goggles that were shaped like cat ears was standing over John Daggett on a rooftop, and from the looks of things, she was ticked off.

"Our missing Cat's come out, and by the looks of things, she's stolen a certain business partner of ours," Jenna informed Bruce.

"Where?"

"6th and Orchard." The Batman turned the Bat in that direction and quickly landed it and got out, sitting on a perch to observe heavily armored, camouflage clad thugs surround the cat burglar and the businessman. Selina backed up, her gun pointed at Daggett's head.

"Stay back! I'm not bluffing," Selina shouted at the mercenaries. "They know!" the Batman called. She looked up at him. "They just don't care." Selina responded by turning back to the hired guns and shooting one. The Batman soon jumped down and helped her fend them off. Selina tried to shoot another goon, and the Batman knocked her gun aside, before continuing to knock out goons.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Selina snarled.

"No guns, no killing," he stated.

"Where's the fun in that?" The two continued to fight side by side, however, and Jenna smiled. This Selina Kyle may be a criminal but Jenna had to admit, she had a lot in common with Bruce. The smile soon slipped off her face as backup arrived and started shooting at the Cat and the Bat, who quickly ran to the edge of the roof. The Batman jumped down onto the Bat, while Selina hesitated and looked back, to see Bane slowly walking toward her. She then turned and jumped, before quickly getting into the vehicle.

"My mother warned me about getting into cars with strange men," she joked.

"This isn't a car." Selina stiffened when she heard the engine whir to life. The duo took off, Bane watching them leave, and soared over Gotham, the city's light sparking below. The Batman eventually landed on a roof and Selina got out.

"See you around," she said.

"You're welcome."

"I had it under control," Selina persisted.

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

"Wayne wasn't kidding about a powerful friend," Selina purred. "I sold his prints to Daggett. For something that doesn't even exist," she added bitterly.

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

"Hey when a girl's desperate…" Selina shrugged.

"What's he gonna do with them?"

"I don't know. But Daggett seemed pretty interested in that mess at the stock market." A helicopter flew overhead and the Batman turned to watch.

"Miss Kyle?" he asked, turning back, to see that she had vanished. He looked around. "So that's what that feels like." Jenna's jaw dropped to the floor.

"Wait, she left… while you were still talking to her?"

"Yeah."

"… Alfred where's the shotgun? Those two are getting married right now!"

"He's headed back," Jenna said, after Bruce had stopped a few more muggings and such. Alfred didn't reply. She turned to the elderly English butler to find him looking at one of the monitors. "Something wrong Alfred?"

"Look at this Jenna. Just look at him." Jenna walked over to him and watched the footage of Bane taking out several security guards in a matter of seconds. "Ra's al Ghul and the Joker were powerful adversaries but they weren't capable of violence of this nature."

"Alfred, can you possibly think that anyone is worse than the Joker?"

"I'm not saying that. However, physical skill and strength wise, he is on a level that Master Wayne hasn't been on in years."

"What can we do? Bruce has made up his mind, and we know that once he's done that it's impossible to change it."

"I don't know Jenna, you were able to convince him to let you drive the Batmobile," Alfred smiled. Jenna blushed slightly.

"That was different Alfred." Alfred turned back and sighed.

"That it was Jenna. And unfortunately, desperate times call for desperate measures. I need to convince Master Wayne to stop and save himself before he…" Alfred couldn't finish. But he didn't need to, Jenna already knew.

"I know Alfred but how?" Alfred looked at his feet.

"What's the one thing you could never imagine me doing?"

"Leaving Bruce. Why?" Alfred looked back at her, his eyes saying what he could not. Jenna's jaw dropped. "No."

"I'm sorry Jenna."

"Alfred please, no, you can't!"

"Jenna, if my leaving saves his life, will you honestly be mad at me?" Jenna stopped. "I'm sorry, but I can't sit by and watch him destroy himself… and something tells me you can't either." Jenna thought a bit but nodded. If this didn't convince Bruce, nothing would. The full force of what was going on and of what was at stake suddenly hit Jenna, and knowing that the end could be near, she took out a piece of paper and did to her old friend Danny what Rachel had done to Bruce: she wrote a letter, apologizing, thanking, explaining, and wishing well for her friend. Soon after she put it in an envelope, she heard the sound of an aircraft and turned to see the Bat burst through the waterfall entrance. Bruce landed the Bat and exited.

"I see from the television coverage that you got your taste for wanton destruction back," Alfred acknowledged.

"I retrieved this," Bruce said, holding up the attachment he'd retrieved.

"Aren't the police supposed to be investigating, then?"

"They don't have the tools to analyze it."

"They would if you gave them to them."

"One man's tool is another man's weapon."

"Maybe in your mind there are few things you can't make into a weapon."

"Alfred, enough. The police weren't getting it done."

"Perhaps they might've if you hadn't made a sideshow of yourself."

"You thought I didn't have it in me."

"No, you led a bloated police force on a merry chase, with a load of fancy new toys from Fox. What about when you come up against him?" Alfred questioned, pointing to the video he'd showed Jenna. "What then?"

"I'll fight harder. I always have."

"Look. His speed, his ferocity, his training. I see the power of belief. I see the League of Shadows resurgent."

"You said he was excommunicated."

"By Ra's al Ghul. Who leads them now?"

"Ra's al Ghul was the League of Shadows and I beat him. Bane is just a mercenary." Jenna raised an eyebrow. She'd seen the footage, and she'd never seen anyone fight so violently, quickly, and effectively. She wasn't afraid of Bane, but calling him just a mercenary was like calling the Joker just a "crazy clown"; it completely underestimated the damage and destruction that they were capable of. "We need to find out what he's up to." He brought up the data from the antenna. "Trades of some kind. Coded. And my fingerprint, courtesy of Selina Kyle. Jenna, could you maybe–"

"Bruce, I've been up all night and I have to be back at work in" Jenna looked at her watch and sighed, "three hours. Not gonna happen." Bruce looked disappointed but nodded.

"Alright. Get this to Fox," he instructed, handing Alfred the device. "He can crack the code and tell us what trades they were executing." The three of them made their way back upstairs.

"I'll get this to Mr. Fox, but no more," Alfred told Bruce. "I've sewn you up, I've set your bones, but I won't bury you. I've buried enough members of the Wayne family."

"You'll leave me?" Bruce asked.

"You see only one end to your journey. Leaving is all I have to make you understand, you're not Batman anymore. You have to find another way. You used to talk about finishing a life beyond that awful cape."

"Rachel died believing that we would be together; that was my life beyond the cape. I can't just move on. She didn't, she couldn't." Alfred turned to Jenna, who closed her eyes and nodded. She was through keeping secrets; Bruce had to know the truth and it was either now or never. "What if she had? What if, before she died, she wrote a letter saying she chose Harvey Dent over you?" Alfred paused. "And what if, to spare your pain, I burnt that letter?" "How dare you use Rachel to try to stop me?"

"Bruce he's not lying," Jenna spoke up and Bruce looked at her, betrayal and pain evident in his eyes. "I am using the truth, Master Wayne. Maybe it's time we all stop trying to outsmart the truth and let it have its day. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? You expect to destroy my world and then think we're going to shake hands?"

"No… no, I know what this means."

"What does it mean?"

"It means your hatred... and it also means losing someone that I have cared for since I first heard his cries echo through this house. But it might also mean saving your life. And that is more important." "Goodbye, Alfred." And with that Bruce turned and left. Alfred turned to Jenna.

"You should leave Gotham while you still can Jenna." Jenna shook her head.

"I can't. I'm not staying for him, but Gotham needs to be defended, even if he's on a suicide mission, and I'm not going to leave it in the hands of that psychopath."

"Understandable. I wish I could do more, but–"

"You've done everything you can Alfred. Let me take it from here."

"Do at least try and talk some reason into him? Please. If anyone can convince him, you can." Jenna smiled sadly.

"Still haven't given up on him?"

"Never." Jenna looked down, and took the letter out of her coat pocket.

"Send this to Danny if things take a turn for the worst," Jenna instructed, handing Alfred the letter.

"I hoped I'd never have to be given another letter."

"I wouldn't ask this of you if there was any other way." Alfred nodded and the two embraced. "Goodbye Alfred," Jenna whispered.

"Goodbye Jenna," Alfred said. The two broke apart, and Alfred left. Jenna took a deep breath and looked to the hall Bruce had disappeared down. If this was her last chance to stop Bruce, she was going to shove her words in his ears if that was what it took to get him to see reason.

"Bruce! Bruce, listen!" Jenna pleaded, racing after Bruce.

"What?" Bruce asked, irritated and not bothering to stop and look at her.

"Look, if you go up against Bane right now, you are going to die."

"What do you suggest I do?"

"Let the cops know where he is and let them take him out."

"You know that the cops are incompetent. They'll let him get away just like they did with the Joker."

"That's not fair and you know it. The Joker was crafty, he fooled us all."

"So, what would you have me do Jenna? Give up my life, sit back, and watch my city be destroyed? Because that sound like what you want me to do."

"You think that me, of all people, would tell you to become a bystander and simply watch evil happen? No, no I'm just trying to stop you from getting yourself killed!"

"You really think that I can't do it?" Jenna stopped, choosing her words carefully.

"I believe that you can stop Bane. But not this way. And I think it's time for us both to stop living in the past and move on." Bruce just shook his head. "Please, Bruce, just give up the mask before it kills you."

"What am I without the mask Jenna? Name one real thing I am when I'm not Batman." Jenna swallowed, tears in her eyes.

"You're my family." Bruce faltered slightly. Jenna bit her lip and shook her head. "If that's not enough for you though, maybe we shouldn't see each other any more." Jenna started to walk away.

"Jenna–" Bruce pleaded and tried to grab her hand but she pulled away.

"No! Bruce, I've watched you waste away for eight years. I'm not going to watch you finish yourself off." And with that she left. That was the last Jennifer Dawes and Bruce Wayne saw of each other for five months.