The air rushed past his face as his body arced, arms outspread like an eagle. He embraced the weightlessness of falling, the welcome rush of adrenaline that came with it. Nightwing fell further than necessary, only shooting a line from his gauntlet at the last moment when he knew the terminal velocity was a second from ripping his arm off. The agile torque of his body spun through the air with the finesse of a swimmer in water. His feet greeted solid concrete through the padding in his boots, no louder than the wind howling occasionally at this height.

So he was a bit of a show-off. It wasn't like anyone was watching.

Well, okay, he was watching. But he didn't count.

After popping open a vent cover, Nightwing dropped in. He pulled a penlight from his gauntlet and bit it, the circle of light illuminating a black box that he reached toward and flipped open. Colored wires twisted and coiled within, and Nightwing spent a good several minutes fumbling through them, readjusting the light between his teeth once. He finally decided to yank two wires out, a blue and green that gave lone sparks and lapsed into nothingness. He moved on without waiting for the verdict, the lack of alarms blaring reinforcing his choice.

His body slid down the vents to an open elevator shaft, occasional dim lights running down the walls to inky blackness below.

"Going down," he quipped, jumping out with his body swinging around the taut elevator cord. His hands nimbly dropped him several feet at a time, but he halted when vibrations pulsed through the cord. A quick glance at the concrete wall with yellow paint him he was at floor forty-three.

Nightwing let his hands go and slid several yards down, his feet on either side of the cord controlling his momentum

Movement in the darkness quickly materialized into the elevator, and Nightwing came to a stop. With powerful arms, he swung his body at an angle through the nearest vent. Warm air rushed past him and the loud grating of the elevator grew distant.

At least he could add elevator dodging to his growing repertoire.

Nightwing traversed the maze of vents, and then slapped a metallic object down before dropping into a white room. Fluorescent strips lit every inch of the room, the center standing out with a glass container in front of a control panel.

Nightwing strolled over to it, his hands resting comfortably over the keyboard into a pattern of taps. The computer denied him more than once, and he jabbed a USB device into the port with a flick of annoyance. His typing continued, nearing the point where he doubted he'd find a loophole.

Then the glass encasing clicked, spiraling down into the floor. He stepped forward and plucked the small computer chip from its stand, then pressed a hand to his ear. "You don't mind if I make things a little interesting, right?"

An unintelligible grunt replied through the comlink.

"Taking that as a no."

He yanked his USB device out and slapped a key on the control panel. Alarms blared instantaneously.

Nightwing swung his body back through the vent as voices yelled on the other side of the door. "There's been a breach! Wayne Tech, sector 47B!" "Someone get these doors open!"

He grabbed his electrical interference device on the way. "How much time do I have till lock-down?"

"Under three minutes."

"You upgraded!" Nightwing accused, moving nimbly, and dropping down onto the elevator. He flipped the hatch, then hoisted himself through with his hair hanging down. He jabbed the 79th floor button, then swung back up, waiting in a crouch. His masked eyes fixated above him, lights rushing by in a blur as the elevator careened upward.

It wasn't long before he broke out into the night air, Gotham's impressive skyline surrounding him. "Woo. New record?"

"Red Robin has the top time."

"He's a master hacker," Nightwing remarked with a casual wave. "But speaking of Red Robin, call him next time. I swear these vents are shrinking."

"He's busy with Titan business."

"Alright, Robin then." Nightwing ran a hand through his hair. "'Course he's liable to burst through the front doors and incapacitate all the guards."

Batman grunted.

"And then you'd just get stuck-"

"Report the flaws back at the cave. Batman out."

Nightwing chuckled.