Bruce walked up to the secretary.

He was uncomfortable with being in a building like Wayne Tower, wishing he was back down at the streets of Vale, walking among the people. But he'd have all the time in the world to do that when he was done up here.

Bruce approached the secretary, who didn't look up at him. He put on a phony, but very convincing, smile to charm her once she looked up.

"Good morning, Mr. Earle's office," the secretary said to the phone. "Yes, he's confirmed for the dinner tomorrow evening."

Bruce leaned against her desk, in an attempt to mask himself as a ladies man. "Good morning. I'm here to see Mr. Earle."

"Name?" the secretary asked, hanging up the phone.

"Bruce Wayne."

She stopped in her tracks, and looked up to him. The moment she laid eyes on him, she seemed to light up.

"Bruce?!" she said. "You're supposed to be dead!"

Bruce chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint. May I just say, that's a lovely dress?"

She paid no attention to that, still trying to comprehend what was happening.

Bruce looked around for a moment, and spotted golf equipment lying against the wall. He decided to continue playing this role.

"Hey, um . . ." he looked at her name tag, "Jessica. Have you ever played golf?"

Acting as this exaggeration of what people imagine a man like him to be was oddly natural for him. Perhaps it came from the act of blending in, which he had learned from League of Shadows. Or perhaps he just had the identity somewhere deep inside, locked inside after what had happened to his parents. Either way, this was working out far better than he'd anticipated.

"Eye on the ball," Bruce said to Jessica as he taught her how to play golf, "and..."

Before they could hit the golf ball, the door to the board room opened, and Earle yelled for Jessica. "Why is no one answering the phone?!"

Bruce turned to him. "It's Wayne Enterprises, Mr. Earle. I'm sure they'll call back."

"Bruce?" Earle said, his jaw dropped at the sight of him. "You're supposed to be dead!"

Bruce smiled, repeating what he had said to Jessica. "Sorry to disappoint."

Bruce's arrival was clearly interrupting a board meeting, not that he cared.

Shortly after the board fully processed what had happened, Bruce and Earle sat in an isolated room together to discuss the future of Wayne Enterprises.

"I'm sure you realize I can't stop the big machine," Earle said, pouring a glass of wine for Bruce. "Too many wheels turning. We're going public."

Bruce was disappointed in that, but wasn't going to break character. "I understand. And I'll be handsomely rewarded for my shares. I'm not looking to interfere. I am looking for a job."

"Oh?" Earle said, intrigued.

"I just want to get to know the company that my family built," Bruce said.

"Any ideas where you would start?" Earle asked.

"Applied Sciences caught my eye."

"Fox's department," Earle nodded. "I'll let him know you're coming." He paused for a moment, smiling as he observed Bruce. "You look like him. Your dad."

Bruce tensed at that, but he knew how to keep those emotions under control. He allowed Earle to continue.

"You're the only one left of the Wayne family. This is where you belong." He raised his glass with a smile. "Welcome home."

Bruce smiled, raising his own glass.

Not long after the discussion, Bruce was brought down to the basement of Wayne Enterprises, where he was introduced to Lucius Fox, a dark-skinned fox faunus, with a fox tail trailing behind him.

"Environmental procedures, defense projects, consumer products," he looked over the information on his computer, and turned to Bruce. "All prototypes. None in production. On any level whatsoever."

"None?"

"What did they tell you this place was?" Lucius made his way to a light switch on the wall.

"They didn't tell me anything," Bruce replied.

"Earle told me exactly what it was when he sent me down here," Lucius said, turning on the lights. "Dead end. Place to keep me from causing the board any more trouble." He smiled with a chuckle, gesturing for Bruce to follow. "Come on."

Bruce followed him further into the basement, along all of the equipment. There were tanks, weapons, guns, and other forms of weaponry. Some for the military, some for Huntsmen or Huntresses. Bruce wasn't interested in those. Guns were not in his interest. Some were everyday equipment of Vale, such as TV screens and scrolls.

"You were on the board?" Bruce asked.

"When your father ran things."

"You knew my father?"

"Oh, yeah," Lucius nodded. "Helped him build his train. The company didn't respect a faunus."

Already, Bruce had an extra respect for this man, even though he was a faunus. The citizens of Remnant were always discriminatory toward his kind, so of course he was discriminated. Bruce had grown a respect for faunus when encountering some during his travels.

"Here we are," Lucius stopped, opening a case, and showcasing the weapons inside. "Kevlar utility harness. Gas-powered, magnetic grapple gun. The 350-pound test monofilament."

Lucius walked away, as Bruce looked over the equipment for a moment. Shortly after, he followed him.

"Wonderful project, your dad's train," Lucius continued. "Routed it right into Wayne Tower, along with the water and power utilities. Kind of made Wayne Tower the unofficial center of Vale. Of course, Earle let it go to rot."

Bruce's respect for Lucius just kept on growing. This man seemed to have an understanding of everything his father had envisioned, which he hadn't seen in Earle. He was the perfect man to help with Bruce's crusade, even though he had no intention of telling him about it.

"Here we are." Lucius walked up to a cabinet, and pulled it open, showcasing a suit inside. "Nomex survival suit for advanced infantry. Kevlar biweave, reinforced joints."

"Tear-resistant?" Bruce asked.

"This sucker will stop a knife."

"Bulletproof?"

"Anything but a straight shot."

"Why didn't they put it into production?" Bruce asked.

"Bean counters didn't think a soldier's life was worth grand," he closed the cabinet, and looked to Bruce. "So, what's your interest in it, Mr. Wayne?"

"I want to borrow it," Bruce said. "For spelunking."

Lucius raised an eyebrow. "Spelunking?"

"Yeah, you know, cave diving?"

"You expecting to run into much gunfire in these caves?"

Bruce avoided the question. "Look, I'd rather Mr. Earle didn't know about me borrowing--"

Lucius stepped toward Bruce. "Mr. Wayne, the way I see it . . ."

"All this stuff is yours anyway . . ."