After much work on getting Bruce to look presentable for going out in public, I finally deemed him to be looking nice enough. The whole ride to Wayne Enterprises was quiet, save for Bruce's constant fidgeting. I glanced over at him as I drove. I'd be damned if Bruce was about to tell me to pull the Lamborghini over because he was terrified of me driving. I never got to drive Bruce's Lamborghini, only the Land Rover. There was no way in hell I would let him ruin this for me, too.

"What's going on with you? You keep fidgeting," I said, keeping my eyes on the road. Bruce shifted some more in the passenger seat next to me. He sighed as he finally kept still for the first time during the whole ride.

"I guess I'm just not as accustomed to wearing a suit as I used to. It feels so different from the pajamas and robe," he muttered.

I resisted smirking. I guess Bruce had a point. Before today, I didn't think I'd ever seen Bruce in one of the nice suits collecting dust in his closet. The one time I had, it was in a newspaper and he'd also been clean shaven without his cane. Seeing Bruce with his face shaved now, I realized how much of a good job I'd done cleaning him up. I was proud of myself.

"Well, that's no surprise. You basically wore those pajamas to the point where they could walk by themselves without you in them," I commented. Bruce barked out a laugh.

"Very funny. But, I have to admit, you've cleaned me up well," he said. I smiled a bit, coming to a stop at the red light. Bruce shifted a little more to look at me. "So, what was going on with you before you asked? You seemed a little bothered yourself," Bruce observed.

I shrugged, glancing at him. "I assumed you were going to say something about my driving since you kept moving like you had ants in your pants," I admitted.

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Your driving? That's the least of my concerns when it comes to you," he said.

The light turned green and I stepped on the gas pedal, taking a sharp right turn. Bruce scrambled to grab onto something. I managed to hold back a laugh as I looked over to see a rather frazzled-looking Bruce. "Good. Because there is no way in hell I'm going to pass up driving this car," I told him, taking another turn.

...

After having arrived at Wayne Enterprises and taken a seat in Mr. Fox's empty office, Bruce and I didn't have to wait long for Mr. Fox to return. He looked genuinely surprised to see the both of us sitting in his office as he entered.

"Bruce Wayne. As I live and breathe," Lucius said. I stood to meet Lucius, helping Bruce up as he pushed hard on his cane. Lucius gave me a warm smile as he shook my hand first. "And you must be the lovely Miss Emily Wayne," he said, his handshake firm.

I nodded and smiled. "That would be correct. It's a real pleasure to finally meet you. I've been trying to get Bruce to bring me here for years," I said.

Lucius smiled as he shared a look with Bruce. "The pleasure's all mine, Emily. I'm just glad you've finally been able to come visit your family's company," he told me. Lucius then turned to completely face Bruce as they shook hands. "What brings you out of cryo-sleep, Mr. Wayne?" he asked jokingly.

Bruce halfheartedly smiled as he leaned heavily on his cane. "I see you haven't lost your sense of humor...even if you have lost most of my money," he commented dryly.

Lucius waggled a finger at that, shaking his head even with a smile on his face. "Actually, you did that yourself," he corrected Bruce.

I resisted snorting. Lucius was openly correcting Bruce with no backlash. I was starting to like him already. Bruce pursed his lips as Lucius went on to explain himself and the whole money situation.

"See, if you funnel the entire R and D budget for five years into a fusion project that you then mothball, your company is unlikely to thrive," Lucius explained.

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Even with-"

Lucius quickly nodded, seeming to already know what Bruce was going to ask. "A wildly sophisticated CEO, yes. Wayne Enterprises is running out of time. And Daggett is moving in," he finished for Bruce.

Bruce sighed, clearly annoyed at that bit of information. "What're my options?" he asked.

Lucius shrugged. "If you're not willing to turn your machine on-" he started, but Bruce cut him off with a shake of his head. "I can't, Lucius," he said resignedly.

With that said, Lucius nodded, accepting what Bruce wanted. "Then sit tight. Your majority keeps Daggett at arm's length while we figure out a future for the energy program with Miranda Tate-she's supported your project all the way. She's smart, and quite lovely," he told Bruce.

That last comment caught both Bruce and I's attention. I nearly had to stifle a little laugh at the look on Bruce's face. So Lucius was on Team Miranda as well. Bruce sighed, looking at Lucius. "You too, Lucius?" he asked.

Lucius simply shrugged at his question, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "We all just want what's best for you, Bruce. Show her the machine," he said.

Bruce seemed to be thinking it over hard in his head before he sighed again, seemingly defeated by everyone telling him to let Miranda Tate in. "I'll think it over," Bruce said reluctantly.

Lucius nodded, moving towards the chair behind his desk. He glanced between the two of us. "Anything else?" he asked, seeming to be asking not only Bruce, but me as well. I'd been so caught up in their conversation that I'd practically forgotten that I was actually a person standing there in the room as well.

However, before I could say anything, Bruce spoke for me. "No, why?" he asked.

Lucius smiled, toying with a pen on his desk. "These conversations always used to end with some...unusual requests," he drawled out slowly.

The instant he said that, I knew what he was talking about. Being the supplier of all of Batman's gadgets, Lucius had to assume that Bruce's return might have one of those requests.

Once again, I didn't even get to open my mouth before Bruce interrupted me. He had a slight dark look in his eyes as he looked over at Lucius. "I retired," he stated, clearly wanting to drop the subject as quickly as it had come up.

I frowned at Bruce, disappointed. I finally got to meet Lucius Fox, the man who helped make Batman a reality, and Bruce wasn't even going to let me see any new gadgets? This was not fair, plain and simple.

Somewhat stubbornly, and seeming to have caught my disappointed look, Lucius hit a button. "Let me show you some stuff, anyway," he said.

I grinned widely at Lucius as the bookcase behind him opened into a hidden elevator. His constant defiance of Bruce was making me like him more and more each time he did it. I practically skipped into the elevator next to Lucius, turning to grin and make puppy-dog eyes at Bruce. Bruce rolled his eyes and began to hobble over to the elevator, muttering something under his breath while I could barely contain my giddiness.

As soon as the elevator doors opened to the Applied Sciences wing in the building's lower level, my mouth nearly fell open in utter fascination at everything I saw. Still, I managed to contain myself as Bruce and Lucius exited the elevator after me with Lucius leading the way into the vast, gadget-filled space. My eyes widened as we passed Tumblers with different weapons configurations. They were so ridiculously cool.

"I figured you'd have shut this place down," Bruce observed next to me, hobbling a little to keep up with Lucius and I. Lucius shrugged. I was beginning to think this was one of his regular gestures. I liked it.

"It was always shut down, officially," he told us. I glanced around us at everything.

"But all this new stuff?" I asked Lucius. I was certain it was new, seeing as how I'd never seen any of it down in the Batcave.

Lucius didn't exactly look at Bruce as he spoke. "After your father died, Wayne Enterprises set up fourteen different defense subsidiaries. I've spent years shuttering them and consolidating all the prototypes under one roof. My roof," he explained.

I nodded along with Lucius as we walked. "Why?" I asked, curious to know.

Lucius glanced back at Bruce and I as he walked and talked. "Stop them from falling into the wrong hands. Besides, I thought someone might get some use out of them..." he said, not at all being subtle as he looked directly at Bruce when he said it. I smiled as Bruce simply shook his head at Lucius.

"Sure I can't tempt you to something? Pneumatic crampons? Infrared lenses? Least let me get you something for that leg," Lucius finally said, nodding to Bruce's cane and gimpy leg.

Bruce shook off the comment about his leg, waving Lucius off in the kindest manner he could muster. "It's fine the use it gets these days," he told Lucius.

Lucius smiled at that. "Well, then I have just the thing for an eccentric billionaire who doesn't like to walk..." he said.

Lucius then opened a door, letting us glimpse a sleek vehicle behind it. I didn't miss Bruce's eyes lighting up when he saw it. I couldn't blame him. Whatever kind of vehicle it was, it looked amazing.

"Now you're just showing off," Bruce said, limping beside me into the vehicle's room.

"Defense Department project for tight-geometry urban pacification. Rotors configured for maneuvering between buildings without re-circulation," Lucius told us, watching us eye the vehicle.

I inched closer to the vehicle, my eyes widening in fascination. "What's it called?" I asked.

"It has a long and uninteresting Wayne Enterprises designation. So I took to calling it the Bat," Lucius said. He turned to look at Bruce, a smile on his face. "And yes, Mr. Wayne, it does come in black," he added.

Bruce smiled at Lucius while I touched the Bat's sleek side, marveling. I could still hardly believe I was down here with all this cool stuff.

Bruce came over beside me to look at the Bat as Lucius watched us. "Works great except for the autopilot," Lucius told us.

I looked up at Lucius. "What's wrong with that?" I asked.

Lucius folded his hands together in front of him. "Software-based instability. Take a better mind than mine to fix it," he said.

I touched the Bat again as I raised a brow at Lucius. "Better mind?" I echoed.

Lucius cocked his head a little to the side as he looked at me. "I was trying to be modest. A less busy mind. Yours or Bruce's, perhaps," he suggested.

I looked wistfully at the beautiful machine before me and turned away. It was futile for me to even think I could possibly fix the Bat, what with Bruce not being the Batman anymore. It wasn't like I'd get to have any use of it. Bruce would destroy the Bat before he even let me use one of his more dangerous gadgets. And I was right.

"I told you. I retired, Lucius," Bruce said, shaking his head.

I dropped my eyes to the floor as Bruce took hold of my arm, leading me back towards the elevator. "Again, it was nice meeting you," I told Lucius quietly as we passed by him.

Lucius nodded and waved to us. "And you as well, Emily," he said, watching us as the elevator doors closed and took us back up to the main floor.