Wayne stares at Blake.
BLAKE
So they stopped understanding and sent the angry kid to a boys’ home – St. Swithin’s. Used to be funded by the Wayne Foundation. See, I figured it out too late. You have to hide the anger. Practice smiling in the mirror. Like putting on a mask. You showed up one day in a cool car, pretty girl on your arm. We were so excited – Bruce Wayne, billionaire orphan. We made up stories about you. Legends. The other boys’ stories were just that. But when I saw you I knew who you really were … (Beat.) I’d seen that look on your face. Same one I taught myself.
Blake gets up to leave. Wayne is lost in thought.
BLAKE
I don’t know why you took the fall for Dent’s murder, but I’m still a believer in the Batman. Even if you’re not.
WAYNE
Why did you say your boys’ home used to be funded by the Wayne Foundation?
BLAKE
Because the money stopped. Might be time to get some fresh air and start paying attention to the details. Some of those details might need your help.
INT. HALL, WAYNE MANOR – MOMENTS LATER 52
Wayne and Alfred watch Blake drive away.
WAYNE
You checked that name? ‘Bane’ –
ALFRED
Ran it through some databases. He’s a mercenary. No other known name. Never been seen or photographed without a mask. He and his men were behind a coup in West Africa that secured mining operations for our friend John Daggett.
WAYNE
Now Daggett’s brought them here?
ALFRED
It would seem so. I’ll keep digging.
Alfred turns to leave.
WAYNE
Why did the Wayne Foundation stop funding boys’ homes in the city?
ALFRED
The Foundation is funded from the profits of Wayne Enterprises … (Off look.) There have to be some.
WAYNE
Time to talk to Mr. Fox, I think.
ALFRED
I’ll get him on the phone –
WAYNE
No. Do we still have any cars around the place?
ALFRED
(lights up)
One or two.
WAYNE
And I need an appointment at the hospital. About my leg.
ALFRED
Which hospital, sir?
WAYNE
Whichever one Jim Gordon’s in.
Alfred is less excited by this part of the request.
EXT. WAYNE ENTERPRISES – DAY 53
Moving towards the tall skyscraper downtown.
MIRANDA
(voice-over)
Mr. Fox, I believe in what Mr. Wayne was trying to do …
INT. BOARDROOM, WAYNE ENTERPRISES – CONTINUOUS 54
Miranda is talking to Lucius Fox at the table.
MIRANDA
I’m only asking for explanations because I think I can help.
FOX
I’ll pass along your request. Next time I see him.
Miranda catches something in this.
MIRANDA
He doesn’t talk to you, either?
FOX
Let’s just say that Bruce Wayne has his … eccentricities.
MIRANDA
(rising)
Mr. Fox, are you aware that John Daggett is trying to acquire shares in Wayne Enterprises?
FOX
I was not. But it wouldn’t do him any good – Mr. Wayne retains a clear majority.
Miranda leaves. Fox moves into his office – stops.
FOX
Bruce Wayne. As I live and breathe.
Wayne rises, pushing hard on his cane.
FOX
What brings you out of cryo-sleep, Mr. Wayne?
WAYNE
I see you haven’t lost your sense of humor … even if you have lost most of my money.
FOX
Actually, you did that yourself. 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.
WAYNE
Even with –
FOX
A wildly sophisticated CEO, yes. Wayne Enterprises is running out of time. And Daggett is moving in.
WAYNE
What’re my options?
FOX
If you’re not willing to turn your machine on –
WAYNE
I can’t, Lucius.
FOX
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.
WAYNE
FOX
We all just want what’s best for you, Bruce. Show her the machine.
WAYNE
I’ll think it over.
FOX
Anything else?
WAYNE
No, why?
FOX
These conversations used to end with some … unusual requests.
WAYNE
I retired.
FOX
Let me show you some stuff, anyway.
Fox hits a button – the bookcase opens into a hidden elevator.
INT. APPLIED SCIENCES – MOMENTS LATER 55
Fox leads Wayne into the vast, gadget-filled space. They pass Tumblers with different weapons configurations …
WAYNE
I figured you’d have shut this place down.
FOX
It always was shut down, officially.
WAYNE
But all this new stuff?
FOX
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.
WAYNE
Why?
FOX
Stop them falling into the wrong hands. Besides, I thought someone might get some use out of them …
Wayne shakes his head.
FOX
Sure I can’t tempt you to something? Pneumatic crampons? Infrared contact lenses? Least let me get you something for that leg.
WAYNE
It’s fine the use it gets these days.
FOX
Well, then I have just the thing for an eccentric billionaire who doesn’t like to walk …
Fox opens a door – we glimpse a sleek vehicle. Wayne’s eyes light up.
WAYNE
Now you’re just showing off.
FOX
Defense Department project for tight-geometry urban pacification. Rotors configured for maneuvering between buildings without recirculation.
WAYNE
What’s it called?
FOX
It has a long and uninteresting Wayne Enterprises designation. So I took to calling it the Bat. And yes, Mr. Wayne, it does come in black.
Wayne touches its sleek side. Marveling.
FOX
Works great except for the autopilot.
WAYNE
What’s wrong with that?
FOX
Software-based instability. Take a better mind than mine to fix it.
WAYNE
Better mind?
FOX
I was trying to be modest. A less busy mind. Yours, perhaps.
Wayne looks wistfully at the machine. Turns away.
WAYNE
I told you. I retired, Lucius.
INT. EXAMINATION ROOM, GOTHAM GENERAL HOSPITAL – NIGHT 56
Wayne listens, distracted, while a Doctor examines an X-ray.
DOCTOR
I’ve seen worse cartilage in knees –
WAYNE
That’s good –
DOCTOR
No, that’s because there is no cartilage in your knee. And not much of any use in your elbows and shoulders. Between that and the scar tissue on your kidneys, residual concussive damage to your brain tissue and general sca
rred-over quality of your body … (Takes a breath.) I cannot recommend that you go heli-skiing. About the only part of your body that looks healthy is your liver, so if you’re bored I recommend you take up drinking, Mr. Wayne.
Wayne smiles. The Doctor leaves. Wayne pulls on a ski mask, steps to the window, hops up, pulls a wire from his cane, which he clips to his belt. He props his cane behind the frame – jumps out. The wire unspools from the cane as –
EXT. TENTH FLOOR, GOTHAM GENERAL HOSPITAL – CONTINUOUS 57
Wayne drops three floors …
INT. PRIVATE ROOM, GOTHAM GENERAL – CONTINUOUS 58
Gordon lies in bed, hooked up to machines. Wayne, in ski mask, stands over him. Gordon’s eyes flutter open. He tries to speak with a weak, hoarse voice …
GORDON
We were in this together. Then you were gone …
WAYNE
The Batman wasn’t needed any more. We won.
GORDON
Built on a lie. Our lie. Now there’s evil rising from where we tried to bury it. Nobody will listen … The Batman has to come back …
WAYNE
What if he doesn’t exist any more?
GORDON
He must. He must.
INT./EXT. LAMBORGHINI ON GOTHAM STREETS – NIGHT 59
Wayne pulls up in front of a row of shabby subdivided town houses. Checks a tracking device. Jen, provocatively dressed, leads a Yuppie Banker-type in through a front door.
INT. SELINA’S APARTMENT – CONTINUOUS 60
Selina sits in a small room getting ready to go out. She picks up the pearls – hears a disturbance in the hall.
JEN
(o.s.)
I told you – money first –
YUPPIE
(o.s.)
Goddammit, you took my wallet!
INT. STAIRWELL OUTSIDE SELINA’S APARTMENT – CONTINUOUS 61
The Yuppie has Jen against the wall – he reaches back to hit her with an expensive wristwatch-clad arm. But Selina has grabbed his wrist with a powerful grip.
SELINA
Get out.
YUPPIE
She took my wallet!
Selina twists his arm around behind him in a blinding move.
SELINA
Now.
She releases the Yuppie, who moves off down the stairs. Selina turns to Jen. Who is examining a wallet.
SELINA
I’ve told you not to try it with the assholes, Jen.
JEN
They’re all assholes.
SELINA
Okay, the assholes who hit.
JEN
I don’t know what he’s so upset about, he only had sixty bucks in here.
SELINA
Probably the watch.
YOUNG WOMAN
Watch?
Selina opens her hand and gives Jen the Yuppie’s Rolex.
EXT. SELINA’S BUILDING, OLD TOWN, GOTHAM – LATER 62
Selina exits and hails a cab. Wayne watches her go. Then pulls out. Checking his tracker.
EXT. MUSEUM, GOTHAM – LATER 63
Town cars dispense Gotham society in tasteful masquerade. Wayne pulls up to the Valet. Paparazzi line the entrance. Wayne uses his cane to get out of his Lamborghini …
PAPARAZZI
Another stiff too old to climb out of his sports car.
PAPARAZZI 2
No, that’s Bruce Wayne! Hey, Wayne, where you been hiding?!
Lenses swing onto Wayne, who pushes a button on his key fob – a pulse. The cameras die. Wayne heads to the door.
WAYNE
I’m not sure if my assistant put me on the guest list –
GREETER
Right through here, Mr. Wayne …
INT. MUSEUM – CONTINUOUS 64
A lavish ball – the expensively attired dance under falling confetti … Even Bruce Wayne is struck by the ostentation. He spots Selina dancing with a deeply smitten Rich Twit. She wears a small, velvet pair of cat ears. And the pearls.
MIRANDA
(o.s.)
Bruce Wayne at a charity ball?
Wayne turns to find Miranda Tate, amazed, a small mask her only concession to fancy dress.
WAYNE
Miss Tate, isn’t it?
MIRANDA
Even before you became a recluse, you never came to these things …
WAYNE
True. Proceeds go to the big fat spread, not the cause. It’s not about charity, it’s about feeding the ego of whichever society hag laid it on.
MIRANDA
Actually, this is my party, Mr. Wayne.
WAYNE
Oh.
MIRANDA
And the proceeds will go where they should, because I paid for the big fat spread myself.
WAYNE
That’s very generous of you.
MIRANDA
You have to invest if you want to restore balance to the world. Take our clean-energy project …
WAYNE
Sometimes the investment doesn’t pay off. Sorry.
MIRANDA
You have a practiced apathy, Mr. Wayne. But a man who doesn’t care about the world doesn’t spend half his fortune on a plan to save it … (Gentle.) And isn’t so wounded when it fails that he goes into hiding.
Wayne looks at Miranda. Intrigued.
MIRANDA
Have a good evening, Mr. Wayne.
Wayne watches Miranda glide away. Then turns to Selina.
WAYNE
Mind if I cut in?
Rich Twit turns, annoyed – Wayne hands him his cane. Takes Selina by the waist. She glares at him.
WAYNE
You don’t seem very happy to see me.
SELINA
You were supposed to be a shut-in.
WAYNE
Felt like some fresh air.
SELINA
Why didn’t you call the police?
WAYNE
I have a powerful friend who deals with this kind of thing. (Admires her cat ears.) Brazen costume for a cat burglar.
SELINA
Yeah? Who are you pretending to be?
WAYNE
Bruce Wayne, eccentric billionaire. Who’s your date?
SELINA
is wife’s in Ibiza. She left her diamonds behind, though. Worried they’d get stolen.
WAYNE
It’s pronounced ‘Ibeetha’. You wouldn’t want these folks realizing you’re a crook not a social climber.
selina
(flash of anger)
You think I care what anyone in this room thinks about me?
WAYNE
I doubt you care what anyone in any room thinks about you.
SELINA
Don’t condescend, Mr. Wayne. You don’t know a thing about me.
WAYNE
Well, Selina Kyle, I know you came here from your walk-up in Old Town – modest place for a master jewel thief. Which means either you’re saving for your retirement – or you’re in deep with the wrong people.
SELINA
You don’t get to judge me because you were born in the master bedroom of Wayne Manor.
WAYNE
Actually, I was born in the Regency Room.
SELINA
I started off doing what I had to. Once you’ve done what you had to they’ll never let you do what you want to.
WAYNE
Start fresh.
SELINA
There’s no fresh start in today’s world. Any twelve-year-old with a cell phone could find out what you did. Everything we do is collated and quantified. Everything sticks. We are the sum of our mistakes.
WAYNE
Or our achievements.
SELINA
The mistakes stick better. Trust me.
WAYNE
You think that justifies stealing?
SELINA
I take what I need from those who have more than enough.
I don’t stand on the shoulders of people with less.
WAYNE
Robin
Hood?
SELINA
I’d do more to help someone than most of the people in this room. Than you.
WAYNE
Maybe you’re assuming too much.
SELINA
Or maybe you’re being unrealistic about what’s really in your pants other than your wallet.
WAYNE
Ouch.
SELINA
You think all this can last?
Wayne glances around at the sumptuous party.
SELINA
There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits you’re all going to wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.
WAYNE
Sounds like you’re looking forward to it.
SELINA
I’m adaptable.
WAYNE
Those pearls do look better on you than they did in my safe …
Wayne rolls her into his shoulder – reaches up to the back of her neck, unclasps the necklace.
But I still can’t let you keep them.
The pearls slide off her neck into his other hand. Selina looks at him. Angry. Then kisses him, hard, and disappears into the crowd. Wayne’s cane appears.
RICH TWIT
(annoyed)
You scared her off.
WAYNE
Not likely.
EXT. MUSEUM – MOMENTS LATER 65
Wayne approaches the Valet. Pats down his pockets.
WAYNE
I must have lost my ticket –
VALET
Your wife said you were taking a cab home, sir.
WAYNE
My wife?
INT./EXT. LAMBORGHINI RACING DOWN STREETS – CONTINUOUS 66
Selina permits herself a little smile as she guns the engine.
INT. ROLLS ROYCE – LATER 67
Alfred watches in the mirror as Wayne climbs into the back.
ALFRED
Just you, sir?
Wayne gives him a withering stare.
Don’t worry, Master Wayne. Takes a little time to get back into the swing of things.