Ok, so the gala won. Here it is!

It's a very wordy chapter. Lots of long paragraphs. Oh well.

Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Ugh I hate these things.

"Bruuuuuce!" Dick whined. "Do I really need to wear a monkey suit?"

"Yes Dick." Bruce rolled his eyes. "You do. This is a fancy gala. A suit is necessary, so quit whining."

"I don't even have a suit." Dick grumbled. "I haven't worn a suit since I left. Heck, I haven't worn civvies since I left."

Bruce blinked in surprise- he hadn't been Dick Grayson at all? "Well, regardless, you need to wear a suit. Alfred bought you one in preparation for this."

Dick grinned. Of course he did. Alfred was prepared for everything.

As Dick was protesting the need for a suit, the ballroom downstairs was being prepared for the party. As previously mentioned by Bruce, he was practically obligated to throw a party because of Dick's return. After all, he was the infamous playboy billionaire, and needed to keep up appearances. So, that night there was going to be a large gala which, apparently, meant Dick had to wear a suit. Terrific.

Apparently Bruce could interpret his feelings from his face. He chuckled slightly. "Oh, cheer up Dick. At least Barbara will be there. And Timmy. Roy might come with Ollie as well. It won't be so bad."

Dick muttered something about how even seeing Roy wasn't worth this but put on the suit without further arguments, although he still looked annoyed. Bruce had to hold in a smirk at his son's discomfort. He knew exactly how Dick felt, but watching him squirm was amusing.

Tim burst into the room, dressed in his own suit. "Dad, can you help me tie my tie? It won't stay put." Bruce reached over to fix his tie as Dick snickered. "Jeez Tim, you would think that after so long…" Tim scowled at him. "Oh, shut up." Dick laughed. "You know, Jay could never get the ties right, either." Both Tim's and Bruce's expressions darkened. Dick rolled his eyes at them. "Oh, calm down. Jay isn't that bad." Tim raised an eyebrow. "And how would you know, exactly?" Dick grinned nervously. "Um.. he's kinda… in Jump?" Tim's eyes widened. "You mean he knew?"

"Well, yeah. That's why he's there. To bug me. Not that the Titans know how he's related to me…"

Tim blinked, several times, and then shook his head. "Ok. Sure. Our psychotic zombie brother had been hanging out with you, who has been missing for 3 years. That's really likely." Dick just shrugged. "Guess he caught my hints."

They continued bantering and teasing each other until the party began. Then, they descended the stairs to join the people arriving.

"Richard!" Dick was suddenly enveloped in the embrace of some lady elite. "Oh my, look at how much you've grown!" "Thank you." He said politely, quickly extricating himself from Mrs. What's-her-name's embrace. "It's quite nice to see you too. If you'll excuse me, I think Bruce wants to speak to me." He speed-walked away, to where his little brother was leaning against the wall, laughing at his pain. Dick glared at him slightly. "You know, you could try to hide you amusement just a little." "Nah." Tim giggled. "Too much effort."

Dick grumbled more under his breath and turned to survey the room. His gaze landed on a man on the other side of the room, and he stiffened. Curious, Tim followed his gaze. It looked like an ordinary man, getting along in the years with brown eyes and a military air. He was wearing a gray suit. Nothing remarkable.

"What's Wintergreen doing here?" Tim just barely heard Dick murmur. "Who's Wintergreen?" Tim inquired. Dick started and tore his gaze away from the man. "No one, TImmy. Don't worry about it." But there was a hint of worry in Dick's blue eyes. He turned back to the room and scanned the rest of the crowd, apparently looking for someone else with a tense expression. He relaxed slightly when he finished. Evidentially, he hadn't seen whatever he was looking for.

The two Bats sensed someone coming up behind them. "Hey, Roy." They said together. A muffled curse came from behind them. "Freaky Bat-kids." Roy muttered. He came up next to Dick and whapped him upside the head. "That was for disappearing like that." Roy informed him. "We've all been worried sick."

"Oh, come on!" Dick pouted. "Did none of you get the hints? Aren't you still hanging out with your 'little brother'?" Which was, of course, code for Speedy. Roy looked at him uncomprehendingly. "Well, yeah. What does that have to do with anything?" Dick groaned and hit his head against the wall. "He's a Titan. Hell, he's on Titans East. And he's never talked to you about Nightwing?" Roy stared at him. "You're…" He face palmed. "Of course you are. That's why you searched him out, right?"

"Duh." Dick rolled his eyes again. "Honestly, I'm surrounded by idiots who can't look past their own noses." He teased. Roy and Tim stared at him. "What?" Dick asked. "Dude, you sounded like Batman right there." Roy said. "Really?" Dick asked, not really seeming to care. That surprised Roy and Tim. "Before you left, saying that would have made you explode." Roy commented.

"Things have changed. I've changed." Dick looked away. "There are worse people to be like." He pushed himself off the wall. "Hey, there's Babs." He walked off to find his old friend. Roy looked appraisingly after him. "He is different." Tim nodded. "Yeah. And I'm not sure if it's completely a good thing." He suddenly remembered something.

"Roy, do you recognize the man over there?" Nodding to the man that Dick had been looking at. He had been joined by another man who, upon closer inspection, had a glass eye. Roy narrowed his eyes. "Nope. Why?" "Dick was looking at him before. It seemed like something was wrong." Roy shrugged. "I'm sure it's not that bad."

"Richard!"

Dick looked around and found Bruce in the crowd and made his way over to him. He was standing near two men and chatting while waving him over. Internally, Dick sighed. More people to socialize with that he didn't care about at all.

He realized how wrong that thought was when he saw just who Bruce was talking to. Great. Just great.

"Richard, this is Major Wintergreen and Mr. Wilson. Major Wintergreen, Mr. Wilson, this is my son, Richard."

"Nice to meet you." Dick muttered, avoiding ' 's' eye. Wintergreen smiled at him. "Hello Richard. We've heard a lot about you." Dick forced a smile on his face. "Only good things, I hope. Excuse me, I just saw a friend walk in. Maybe we can talk later." Dick hurried away, swearing in multiple languages in his head. Hopefully they hadn't noticed anything.

Bruce looked slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry, he's just returned and hasn't seen many of his friends yet. You'll have to excuse him." "Of course." Mr. Wilson replied smoothly. "He must be excited to be home." Bruce smiled and left after a little more small talk. Once he was gone, Wilson narrowed his eyes. "There was something familiar about that boy." He mused. Wintergreen looked at him. "Well, he is a celebrity. Maybe you saw him on TV or something." Wilson wasn't entirely convinced, but he let it drop.

And the party continued.

And that's it! Back to the pre-planned storyline after this. There's actually only a few chapters left.

I wanted this chappy to have something to do with the storyline, so I put Slade and Wintergreen in. It doesn't have much significance, just confirms they're in Gotham.

Review!