Nightwing grinned at him. To the Dark Knight it was starting to feel like a familiar experience...a decidedly disturbing one. One that he'd been subjected to for far longer than he could stand. When he got back to the Watchtower he was going to ban anyone -including Superman- from so much as smirking for at least the rest of the year.

Hopefully, their similarity in facial expressions meant placing Bird Brain with Dick was a perfect match and not a horrendous error that would come back to bite him in his Kevlar-enhanced britches.

"So, where's this newbie you wanted me to meet?" Richard Grayson a.k.a Nightwing asked

In answer, a colorful bird swooped down from the sky. Nightwing immediately went into a defensive crouch. This was all they needed. If the likes of Joker and Croc were not enough...now they had some new Pirate wannabe and his mutant Polly to contend with?

Wait...no, not a bird (or a plane either), it was a man? With wings?

"Nightwing, this is Flash."

"Who?" Rising up, Nightwing tilted his head to avoid a swipe from primary feathers that would have taken out an eye if he wasn't on the ball and wearing a domino mask.

"You're new responsibility for the next week."

"My what?"

"This is Nightwing?" Parrot Man asked with clear skepticism in his brilliant eyes. "How can he be Nightwing? Where are his wings? He doesn't even have a cape thing. Is this another of your weird Earth jokes?"

"Huh?"

Flash pranced around the dark-garbed hero by executing a series of hopping pivots. (Nightwing, to his credit, kept pace by swiveling to face the newcomer, not knowing what to expect and not willing to find out it would be something involving a stab to the back.) "I don't see any wings. Bats here said you're supposed to be a bird...or maybe a bird bat, but you don't have any wings. Did..." the red head swallowed "did Batman make you amputate yours?"

"Hardly." Nightwing spared a glance at his mentor while keeping one eye out for those feathery hazards.

The odd birdman reached up and removed his aerodynamic helmet, exposing more of his red hair and pale face. Tucking it under the crook of his arm, he scratched at the back of his head. "Then how do you fly?"

"Like this."

Richard Grayson hurled himself backwards, twisting in midair after he cleared the roof edge. After performing a somersault, he employed his grapple and swung away in a wide arc, disappearing behind a skyscraper. After a moment, he reappeared from the other side, swinging high and landed with catlike grace mere inches from where he'd taken off.

Bruce thought Wallace West looked ready to explode. He was hopping in place like an excited fledgling waiting to be fed. "Wanna race!"

Nightwing looked confused, but game. "Um...sure?" He grinned. "Afterwards, want to prank Batman?"

"Why not?"

Thus was the start of a beautiful friendship.

a/n: Because I was asked to and...damn, in case you haven't heard, the DCnU 52 #1 titles that are going to start in September will only have Barry as THE Flash and Bart as THE Kid Flash. Wally, Jay, Max, Jessie and all other speedsters not villains are not to be found in any of these 52 'diverse' books. You love Wally West? DC says "Too bad." You say that DC had been promising Wally would get to be awesome despite the emphasis on Barry? DC shrugs and says "Plans changed. Read the new books with Barry or Bart in Flash, Justice League, and Teen Titans."

Well, there's still inept!Wally in Young Justice DCAU. Unless... The creators of that show did say that one of the characters would be killed. 0.0