Um. This took a while. Sorry. But we've got a chapter now! That's good, right?

Anyway... the chapter. Right. So, this is supposed to be the 'Titans get back together' chapter, and it sorta is, but it didn't really turn out how I was expecting. I started typing it out like a normal reunion, you know, but it was sorta boring. We've already gone through that. And then Michael showed up out of nowhere and inserted himself into the story. He's an OC. I have no idea where he came from. He just kinda appeared. It made the chapter more interesting though, so I left him in. Maybe I'll sneak him in some other time.

Four months after the rescue:

It was an ordinary day in Jump City. Birds were singing, the sun was shining, and for once no villain was acting like an idiot. Which was nice.

The Titans were just chilling in the tower. Raven, like always, was meditating, Star was playing with Silkie, and Cyborg and Beast Boy were playing some video game. In short, nothing was really going on. As far as the Titans knew, it was just a normal, unremarkable day that would eventually join the blur of memories of random, unremarkable days.

Oh, how wrong they were.

Dick wasn't sure if he was excited or nervous. Today was almost as big of a day as the day when Young Justice formed. After all, today would be the day when, hopefully, he would rejoin the Titans.

He'd been staying in Gotham with Bruce for the past four months. At first, he'd just wanted to stay home for a while. Then, Bruce had wanted him to stay a bit longer. Then Damian came, and, well, he was the only one that Damian was comfortable around. He couldn't just abandon the kid with Bruce, who had the emotional range of a teaspoon, and Tim, who wasn't exactly a fan of him. So he'd stayed another month.

Now, though, Damian was… fairly comfortable at the manor. At least, he wasn't trying to kill everyone every five minutes. Which, for Damian, meant that he liked Bruce and Tim. Somewhat. Enough not to murder them, anyway.

So, he'd brought it up during dinner. He'd announced that he wanted to move back to Jump, to rejoin the Titans. He missed it. He missed fighting crime, he missed his friends.

Bruce hadn't wanted to let him go at first, but Dick talked him into it. Damian had acted angry, and then like he didn't care, but Dick knew he was upset. He promised to visit often, maybe bring Damian to stay with him in Jump for a while. But he had to leave. He had to go back.

Now he was, and he wasn't sure if he was happy or sad about it.

Dick arrived in Jump City in the middle of the afternoon. The Titans didn't know he was coming, so they weren't expecting him to be at the Tower at any specific time. He chose to wander around town for a little, relive old memories and reacquaint himself with the town.

He wandered past the pizza restaurant, the video game store that BB and Cyborg would drag him to, the bookstore that he would willingly visit with Raven. He grinned. It was good to be back. He loved Gotham, but Jump was his home now.

It was a bit strange being back though. So much had happened, but Jump was pretty much the same. The same stores, the same people, the same feelings. He didn't quite fit anymore. He'd changed.

He shook his head. Too much musing. With a slight grin, he turned and jogged towards Titans Tower. It was about time he rejoined his team.

For the citizens of Jump, having picnics or hanging out on the shore near the island where Titans Tower was located was a popular activity. Of course, the tourists would camp there for days, trying to get a glimpse of the Titans. Most did; some were really lucky and got to witness a battle, or see some of the other heroes there. Some bragged about how they'd been there when the League visited. The League! Of course, they weren't always believed.

Michael was one of those citizens who enjoyed hanging out on the shore. He was there often, and usually talked with the tourists a bit or gave them tips about when the Titans might be there. Quite a few people approached him for help; he was one of those people that people trusted instantly; he had a nice, open face, and spoke with a slight accent. In return, he got a bit of pocket money. He was fresh out of college and needed to repay some loans, so it was a win for everyone.

On this particular day, there weren't many tourists. It was known that Nightwing wasn't in Jump, Raven had left the Tower earlier, and the villains were quiet, so it wasn't likely that the heroes would be appearing. That didn't prevent Michael from hanging out there, of course. He liked it there; the water was peaceful and it was quiet.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a young man stroll up to the shore. The guy was tall, black-haired, and was wearing a red hoody and blue jeans, and had a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes. Michael didn't recognize the guy, which meant he was probably a tourist. The guy just stood there, hands in his pocket, staring out at the Tower. Michael got up from where he was sitting and strolled over to the guy's side.

"My name's Michael. You new around here?" He drawled. The guy glanced at him. "Nope." He answered quietly. "Just haven't been here for a while. Bit more than half a year, actually." He didn't give his name.

"Mmm." Michael nodded. Probably wouldn't need help then. He figured he might as well stay and talk for a little anyway. It was wasn't like he had anything better to do.

"Where've you been then?" He asked, trying to prolong the conversation. The guy looked at him, lips quirking up in a small smile. "Nosy, are you." He acknowledged. "Gotham, mostly. Metropolis for a bit in the middle. I assume you live here- I remember seeing you hanging out here a lot."

Michael grinned back, glad the other man hadn't taken offense at his question. "Yup. I think of it of my job- I help out the tourists, give them tips for their hero-watching. Why on earth would you leave this awesome city for Gotham, of all places?"

The guy laughed. "My family lives there. Haven't seen them for a while. We've been arguing. It was only supposed to be a week, really, but… things happened."

"Everything ok now?"

"Right as rain." The man answered easily. "At least, as soon as I get off my behind and go surprise my friends with my return. They've been waiting for a while."

"You should probably stop staring at the Tower and go back to town then." Michael advised. The guy smirked, a knowing, I know something you don't smirk. "That wouldn't really help. I probably should get moving though, before one of them realizes I'm back."

"Too late." A voice said dryly behind them. Michael turned around and almost had a heart attack- it was Raven! Actually talking to them! Sure, he hero-watched a lot, but he'd never actually met them!

The other guy didn't seem as excited. "Oops." He said sheepishly. "Um. I'm back?"

"I can see that." Raven eyed him. "About time too. Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

"I wanted to surprise you. Didn't work that well I guess. I didn't think you'd recognize me right away." The guy said. Michael looked back and forth between the two in confusion- what the heck?

Then, shockingly, Raven smiled. "I wouldn't have, if not for the bond, idiot." Even more shockingly, she flew forward and gave the guy a hug. "Welcome back."

"Huh?" Michael's mouth finally decided to work. Kinda. The guy turned to him with a sheepish smile. "Sorry. Michael, this is Raven, Raven this is Michael. Apparently he help the tourists, which is why he's here all the time."

Raven nodded at him. Michael still wasn't caught up. "You two know each other?"

"Yup." The guy said cheerfully. He looked over at Raven. "Oh! I swiped a book from B's library for you. It's about a whole bunch of different 'magic' systems- not sure why B has it, since he hates magic, but whatever. I think Zatara added to it a bit. And maybe Jason Blood. I figured you'd be interested in it. He also told me that since you kinda know who I am already, you're welcome to go swipe some more. I'll give you the location later."

"Thank you." She accepted the book. "I'm going to go back to the Tower, are you coming?"

"I'll meet you there." He smiled. "I should probably sort Michael out first. I owe him an explanation at least."

Raven nodded and shot off towards the Tower. The guy turned towards Michael. He blinked. "Are you alright?"

"Who are you?" Michael blurted out. "I mean, are you a hero or what?"

"Yeah." The guy rubbed the back of his neck. "Um. I'm Nightwing, actually. Just not in uniform right now, obviously. Like I said, I've been away."

Michael almost fainted. "You're Nightwing?" He asked weakly. He'd been standing there having a casual conversation with Nightwing. Unreal.

The guy- Nightwing- smiled. "Yup." He said, popping the 'p'. "Congrats, you're the first person to know I'm back. Besides Raven. Look, I really probably should go, so I guess I'll see you around? I'll stop and say hi every so often, now that I know who you are."

Michael was speechless. "Um… yes. Sure. That would be nice."

Nightwing grinned, amused by his reaction. "So, see you sometime!" With that, he took out his communicator and pressed a button on it that apparently made the bridge between the shore and the tower come up. He waved and started jogging down it. Michael just stood and stared.

Unreal.

One day later, the Titans went out and fought some villain, and Nightwing's return was confirmed. Speculation was rife about why he'd been gone for so long, but no one was really sure. When he heard the theories, Michael just grinned. He knew more than they did, even if he didn't know the whole story.

And, like he'd promised, Nightwing did indeed stop by and chat every so often. He introduced Michael to the rest of the Titans, although they never really talked to him. Nightwing, however, would usually visit in civvies, although he did stop by once in costume, right before the Titans went on a week-long mission somewhere, to tell him that the Titans would be away for a few days. He passed the info on to the tourists, many of whom had seen Nightwing stop to talk to him.

Needless to say, he got quite a bit more business.

End chapter!

So, I hope you like Michael, or at least don't hate me too much for introducing an OC. I think he's my first one. Like, ever. Huh. Did I just reach some fanfic author milestone or something?

Anyway, next chapter... I think will be Dick and Slade meeting up again after all of this. It might take me a while though, I've been pretty busy.

REVIEW! Please.