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Crow glanced at Nightwing out of the corner of his eye. They were taking a break from their patrol on a building across from the Knights Stadium, people got pissy over baseball season and the game’s been over for a while.
<Hey G?>
Gotham hummed in acknowledgment.
<You think you could help me win a race?>
Gotham gives him a mental nudge, On one condition.
<And that would be?>
Make it a touch race, have to get to different areas to win?
<Done, any specific areas?>
Yep, the General Hospital, the Guardsmen Arena, and the old S.T.A.R. Labs building.
<Damn, that’s basically the whole city. Any specific reason?>
I’ve been needing to renew some of my claims on Song Bird, these are the easiest places to do it.
<Gocha.>
Crow throws one leg over the edge of the building, and faces his partner for the night, “Hey Wing?”
Nightwing turns to him, and does the Head Tilt™, “Yeah Crow?”
Crow grins, “How do you feel about a touch race?”
“I’m always up to kick your ass. Any specific points?”
“Gotham General to the Guardsmen Arena then the old STAR Lab place?”
“Sounds good.” Nightwing gets up and positions to jump off the ledge.
Crow grabs at his bicep before he can leap, “Wait a sec.”
“What is it?”
Crow grins, “I just wanted to tell you you’re a loser,” and falls off the ledge. He laughs as Nightwing curses at him for cheating and follows.
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“Come on Wing! You’re getting slow in your old age!” Crow shouts as he shoots his grapple out over Cathedral Square.
“Shut up! At least I’m not a cheater!”
People shout and point at them from below, Nightwing, always the showman, does a few flashy moves and swings up to a roof, and does a few somersaults as the street below cheers. Crow, being the annoying younger brother that he is, tackles Nightwing off the roof.
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Nightwing makes it to the roof of Gotham General first and starts the mandatory thirty-second rest time.
When Jason had first started out as Crow, while his stamina was incredible, there were some things he had to get used to and the only way to do that was to hit the streets. So when Nightwing had started their first touch race, he had to stop at every touchpoint for a few seconds to catch his breath. Nightwing didn’t have this setback, so to make it a bit fairer, they implemented a thirty-second rest time at each touchpoint.
Crow lands on the roof seven seconds after Nightwing does, and Nightwing sticks his tongue out at him. Crow puts his thumb on his nose and wiggles his fingers in the air.
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Crow makes a small detour to the Red Lotus while they swing over Chinatown, and Nightwing follows him out of curiosity.
He stops on a roof across from the restaurant and waves at one of the waiters, Koh Eliza, the child of the restaurant owner. Crow had rescued them from Two-Face some months earlier and had been checking up on them every now and then. They wave back and blow a playful kiss before turning back to their table.
Nightwing nudges Crow and wiggles his eyebrows, Crow shoves back and laughs as he swings off the roof.
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Crow makes it to Guardsmen Arena first, grabs the flag pole on the top of the building with one hand, and wraps his leg around it. He throws his other limbs out to the side and spins down the pole, singing an off-key version of ‘Cheeseburger in Paradise,’ Nightwing providing the backup lyrics as he lands on the roof soon after. They’re both laughing by the time Crow gets to the base of the flagpole
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A kid on the roof of an apartment complex, flags them down as they’re about to cross the river separating Somerset and Burnley.
Nightwing lands first and approaches the kid, speaking softly. Crow hangs back, watching the streets and other buildings.
“You’re sure about this?”
The kid nods so hard Crow thinks his head is about to fall off, “Yes I heard them talk about it! I even have a recording!” the kid holds up the camera strapped to his neck, “It’s supposed to be on Saturday, I can give you the SD card if you want?”
Nightwing smiles, “That would be good, I can just insert it into my gauntlet then give it back, how’s that?”
The kid nods and moves to take out the SD card, then hands it to Nightwing, who downloads the info and hands the cards back, “Where’s home kid?”
“Oh! I live here!” He points to the rooftop.
Nightwing stands and ruffles the kid's hair as he walks over to Crow, “Alright, stay safe kid!”
They both leap off the rooftop, the kids yelled, ‘you too!’ barely heard over the wind rushing past their ears.
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Crow lands on the STAR Labs building a full fifteen seconds before Nightwing. He sits with his feet dangling over the ledge of the building, waiting for his older brother to catch up. Before Nightwing turns up, he feels a certain someone behind him, and a voice speaks from behind him.
“Let me guess, slow night?” Batgirl joins him on the roof's ledge.
“Yep, we started a touch race, I just won.”
“You’re kidding,” Batgirl grins.
“Nope,” Crow pops the p.
“You still cheated,” Nightwing says from behind them.
“You got to the hospital first anyway! And we left the last rooftop at the same time!”
Nightwing sits down on the other side of Crow and shoves his shoulder, Crow, being the mature fifteen-year-old he is, sticks his tongue out. Batgirl laughs at them.