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After a day of petty crime and research on the Batman, Richard inserted the key into the door and opened it. On the hotel bed laid a tux, still on the hanger. Richard had moved it from the laundry rack near the bathroom to the bed before he left for the precinct that morning.
"Damn." Richard said as he looked at it for the first time.
The tux consisted of black pants, black jacket, a red shirt, a black tie, and a black vest. It was made of high quality fabric too. Must've been a whole paycheck...well one of my paychecks. He noticed a white envelope on the nightstand. On the front, in neat cursive was Detective Grayson. Richard walked over, picked it up, and opened it.
Mr. Grayson, Jim Gordon filled me in on your arrangement, so I thought I'd relieve you of the hassle of going all the way back to Bludhaven for clothes. In the closet, there are clothes ranging from casual to formal and all are in your size. Alfred suggested the suit on the bed for the party.
Until then, Bruce Wayne.
I do hope you will attend.
Richard dropped the letter onto the bed and went over to the closet. He opened it and stood, flabbergasted. Just as the letter said, the closet was filled with clothes all in his size. Richard ran a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh.
"How the hell will I pay him back?!" He said to himself.
Deciding to forget that for now, Richard went over the bed, grabbed the suit, and changed. Richard knew he looked good in blue and black, but, damn, did he look good in red and black. He fixed his hair, grabbed his keys, wallet, gun, escrima sticks, and badge, then left the hotel room. As he approached his motorcycle and car honked at him. Turning his head, he noticed it was Gordon. The Commissioner was waving him over. Sighing, Richard walked over to the driver side window as Gordon rolled it down.
"Get in." The man said.
"What? Why?" Richard asked.
"You only have a motorcycle, right?" Gordon asked.
"Here, yeah." Richard answered.
"You want to wind whip that nice suit of yours?" Gordon asked.
"...Damn it. Fine." Richard said and went over to the passenger's side and got in.
"That's a really nice suit. That the one Wayne bought?" Gordon questioned as he pulled out of the hotel parking lot.
"Yeah. The guy even bought me clothes saying he did it so I didn't have to go through the hassle of going back to Bludhaven for clothes." Richard grumbled.
"Wow, he must have taken a liking to you." Gordon laughed.
A liking or he's trying to bribe me to drop the Batman case.
"Kind of wish he didn't. How the hell am I supposed to pay Wayne back?" Richard said, frustrated.
Gordon laughed.
"You don't. Even if you somehow got the money, Wayne wouldn't take it. He gave me a car, fully paid for, for my 38th birthday, and I tried to pay him back. When I finally got enough money, he wouldn't take it." Gordon said.
" A car? Just how much money does this guy have to just give away cars fully paid off?!" Richard asked.
"He is a billionaire." Gordon replied as they turned into Wayne's drive-way.
The party was already in full swing. Women in fancy dresses and men in nice suits were filing into the manor. The servers at the door were handing out drinks, and the valet drivers were quickly grabbing keys, getting into cars, and driving off to the parking area.
"Shit, with all that money, I'd do things that helped out Gotham." Richard said.
"He contributes to charities and things like that around Gotham." Gordon said.
Both detectives opened their doors and got out. Gordon handed his keys to the valet and started walking to the door. Well, a quick get-away is slim if things go sideways. A man opened the door for them, and they went inside the mansion. Richard knew Wayne knew how to party, but this wasn't what he expected. For some reason, Richard thought there would be dancers, drinks all around, and loud music. Instead, there was a singer on a stage, servers with fancy foods and champagne, and the music the singer had accompanying her wasn't loud.
"This how it usually is?" Richard muttered to Gordon as he took a champagne glass and nodded to the server.
"Hell no. Wayne's parties are usually loud with a lot of drinks, but this is for children, so none of that today." Gordon answered.
Richard hummed in response.
Gordon told Richard he was going to talk to someone and left the detective to roam around the room full of strangers. Richard had been walking around for a while before he saw Jason Todd, in a white shirt with a black vest, black tie, and black pants, and Tim Drake, in a regular suit, leaning against the wall with another male teenager. The unknown teen had red hair, serious expression, and a black suit on and a light green button up instead of a white one. Jason noticed him and waved him over. Richard smiled before walking over.
"Evening, gentlemen." Richard greeted.
"Hello, Mr. Detective." Jason replied.
Tim nodded in recognition.
Richard turned to the other teen and stuck out his hand.
"Detective Richard Grayson. Nice you meet you." He said with a smile.
"Roy Harper. You look a little young to be a detective." Roy replied.
"Just got promoted, and I'm 22 years old." Richard responded.
"Just old enough to drink, huh. None of us are old enough." Jason commented.
"How old are all of you anyway?" Richard asked.
"20." Jason said.
"I'm 15." Tim replied.
"I turn 21 in a few weeks." Roy answered.
Richard smiled at Roy.
"Maybe I'll take you guys drinking sometime." He said to Jason and Roy.
"I still have a few months until I'm 21." Jason replied.
"I can wait. When's your birthday?" Richard asked.
"August 16th." Jason answered.
"November 1st." Roy said.
"July 19th." Tim commented.
"A few weeks? It's October 9th. You have three weeks." Richard said.
"A few, three, same difference." Roy replied.
"Grayson!" A voice called from behind him.
Richard turned to see Gordon with another man in a suit.
"It seems you're being summoned." Tim said.
Richard laughed.
"Yeah, I'll see you guys around." Richard said over his shoulder as he turned to walk to Gordon.
"Gordon." Richard said with a nod.
"Detective Grayson, this is Mayor Anthony Garcia." Gordon introduced.
Richard put his hand out for a handshake.
"Pleasure to meet you." Richard said.
"Likewise." Garcia said as he shook Richard's hand.
The conversation was cut short as Bruce Wayne tapped the microphone to get everyone's attention. The billionaire was wearing a regular tux but had on a bow instead of a tie. He's not as dressed up as I am. RIchard looked down at the motorcycle boots he had on. Well...still not as nice.
"Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. We are here today to celebrate Gotham's Children and the orphanages that help them. As you've noticed, there are tables set up around the room where you can donate to an orphanage. Before we get started in spending all our money, I would like to announce that I am donating 10 thousand dollars to Gotham's New Hope Orphanage." Wayne said receiving an applause. "Allow me to call to the stage Detective Richard Grayson, an officer raised at New Hope. Richard?"
"Aw shit." Richard muttered under his breath.
Giving a small smile and wave, he walked up onto the stage and took the microphone from Bruce, who gave him a pat on the back. Richard cleared his throat.
"Thank you, Mr. Wayne." He began. "As you know, I was raised at New Hope after my parents" were murdered. His hand started shaking. "died. New Hope helped me cope and helped make me the man I am today, so I'm thankful for that." Richard said, leaving out the bad parts of New Hope.
He went on about how 'great' New Hope was and how it really 'helped' him. Before he made a fool of himself, Bruce was back on stage.
"Let's give the detective a round of applause." He shouted.
Just as he said, the room was filled with claps. Richard gave an awkward smile as he left stage. He could out on a show; he just couldn't talk in front of people.
"Glad you came, Detective." Bruce said with a smile.
"Yeah, well had I known I was going to talk in front of an audience, I wouldn't of." Richard said.
Bruce laughed before getting serious.
"You lied about New Hope." Bruce said. "Why?"
"Well, I can't just let children get kicked out onto the street because of something I said, even if true. How do you know I lied anyway?" Richard asked.
"Your hand, and I know someone who was there for a short time." Bruce answered.
"You noticed my hand shakes a little when I lie?" Richard questioned.
"I'm a businessman. I have to know when people are lying." Wayne replied.
"...Right, yeah." Richard said.
"Tim told me you talked to him, Jason, and Queen's ward, Roy." Bruce changed the subject.
"Yeah, saw them all huddled near the wall, decided to crash the party." Richard responded.
"Thank you. Not many people talk to the boys." Bruce said, guiding Richard through the crowd. "Let me introduce you to Oliver Queen."
Richard knew who Oliver Queen was, the billionaire from Star City. Said billionaire had his arms wrapped around two lovely women, laughing.
"Oliver." Bruce said a bit loudly.
"Bruce Wayne! How are ya?" Oliver replied, retracting his arms and stepping over.
"Good. I'm good. This is Detective Richard Grayson." Bruce replied.
"Hi! Oliver Queen. Nice to meet you." Oliver said and outreached his hand.
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Queen." Richard replied shaking his hand.
"I heard you talked to Roy." Oliver said.
Why is that so important to these two?
"Uh, yes, yes I did." Richard replied with a smile. "I said I'd take him and Jason out drinking when they turned 21."
Oliver grinned.
"I like you." He smiled.
Richard laughed.
"I'm glad." He said.
A hand laid on his shoulder.
"Forgive me for intruding, I'm Clark Kent, a reporter for Daily Planet. I'd like to ask you a few questions." A man, Clark, with glasses and a suit said.
"Uh, yeah, sure." Richard said.
Oliver left with the women, and Bruce made his escape as well.
"Excuse me, I have to find Alfred, but feel free to find me after the interview. I'll introduce you to Lex Luthor." Bruce said with a smile.
"Yeah, ok." Richard nodded before turning his attention to Clark.
"So, Detective Grayson, I've heard that you're a Bludhaven officer who's a genius. Can you tell me why you're being split between Gotham and Bludhaven?" Clark began.
Gordon didn't tell me to keep the Batman thing on the down low, but I feel like I should.
"I'm here to help." Richard replied vaguely.
"Can you be anymore specific?" Kent asked.
"Sorry, no." Richard answered.
"Can you tell me about your solo arrest of the Joker?" Clark questioned.
"I went in, worked with the Batman, saved hostages, got the bad guy. Nothing too interesting." Richard replied.
"I'm sorry. Did you say you worked with the Batman?" Clark asked.
"And Red Hood, yes." Richard responded.
"Can you go into detail with that?" Kent questioned.
"Sure. They were creeping around in the dark and I saw them. I noticed Robin was in danger and offered to help them out. We made a plan and caught Joker." Grayson summed up.
"Okay, now back to why you're here. Can you tell me if it has anything to do with the Bat trio?" Clark asked.
"Afraid not, but I will get back to you if I have information I can share." Richard offered.
Maybe I can strike a deal with him.
"Are proposing a deal, Detective Grayson?" Kent asked.
"If we trade information for information then yes." He answered.
Kent stuck out his hand. Richard shook it.
"It seems we have a deal." Clark said.
"You made a deal, Kent?" A woman said from behind Clark.
"Lois Lane, meet Detective Richard Grayson." Clark introduced.
Lois had black hair and wore a long red dress.
"Hi." She said.
"Evening." Richard nodded.
"So this deal?" She asked.
"Information for information." Clark explained.
Lois nodded and smiled at Clark.
"Well, I promised Mr. Wayne I would find him after the interview, so I'll leave you two alone." He said with a suggestive grin.
Richard turned and scanned the crowd for Wayne. He saw the man talking to Mr. Queen and the three boys. He started navigating the crowd towards them. He was a little ways away as he strained to hear them talk.
"...think he'll get close?" Roy asked.
"He's smart." Tim commented.
"We've protected them effectively. It'll be tough." Bruce said with an uncharacteristic tone.
"Hey Mr. Wayne." Richard said from right behind him.
All head snapped towards him and he swears he saw some hands form into fists before relaxing, realizing it was just him.
"Mr. Grayson, you're done with the interview, I take it." Bruce said.
"Yeah, you said you wanted to introduce me to someone." Richard reminded.
"Oh, yes. Come along." Bruce nodded and started walking through the crowd.
Behind them, the other four talked.
"Damn guy sneaked up on us. I'm telling you. He's a natural… Let's...the fold." Jason said.
Richard couldn't make out everything he said.
Wayne stopped as he reached a bald man in a suit.
"Lex Luthor, meet Detective Richard Grayson." Bruce said.
"Hello." Lex said and shook Richard's hand.
"...Hi." Richard replied.
"Mr. Luthor would you mind answering some questions?" Lois said from behind Luthor.
"Reporters, let's go." Bruce said and pulled Richard away.
Luthor gives me a weird vibe.
"Something wrong?" Bruce asked.
Just everyone hiding what they really are.
"No." Richard smiled.